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Last Updated: March 15, 2008 - 3:24 PM
Taking Richardson’s primary pulse.
There was never really any question “if” Gov. Bill Richardson would announce his presidential candidacy. It was only a matter of “when,” and that question was answered when Richardson
announced, on Jan. 21, the formation of a “presidential exploratory committee” in his first major step as an official White House candidate.
In order to find out what the Guv needs to do to separate his wheat from the other candidates’ chaff before the first Democratic presidential caucus (Jan. 14, 2008, in Iowa), SFR called up Dem politicos in early primary/caucus states and asked them to weigh in on Richardson’s candidacy:
“Gov. Richardson is obviously at a disadvantage compared to some candidates, but he’s on equal ground with others. What he needs to do is travel across the state, go into living rooms and look people in the eye and tell them his vision for the country. You can’t win Iowa by buying Iowa. You can’t just do a media war; you have to be involved in retail politics. That’s why Iowa is so important, because it gives every potential candidate a fair opportunity to succeed.” —Mike Milligan, executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party.
“We are very encouraged by the exploratory committee that Gov. Bill Richardson has created. He’s a wonderful voice for many people, and we look forward to seeing him here in New Hampshire frequently. He has great experience as a governor and as a former ambassador, and we look forward to his contribution to the presidential primaries.” —Sylvia Larsen, president of the New Hampshire state Senate.
“I think Gov. Richardson has a real advantage in Nevada because he has experience running a Western state. That puts him in line with some of the issues we’re dealing with—whether it’s Yucca Mountain or water. He’s come out here to campaign for me when I was running for governor, so he’s gotten to know some of the hardcore Democrats. Another thing is that Nevada has a large and growing Hispanic population. The voter turnout has been very low so far, but if he can get them energized, he’ll have a leg up.” —Dina Titus, Nevada state Senate minority leader and a 2006 candidate for Nevada governor (she lost).
“His name is not as widely known as Barack Obama, Hillary or John Edwards. But I think South Carolina is a state where lesser-known candidates like Richardson have a great opportunity to catch up with rank-and-file Democrats. This primary is going to be driven by retail politics, and it will be about how much time candidates spend here. I think Gov. Richardson is well aware of that—he’s been here about as much as anybody—and I think if he comes in and campaigns well, he has a great chance.” —Joe Erwin, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party.
“There are definitely people in New Hampshire that know of Gov. Richardson’s reputation and experience, and he’s definitely spent some time in the state. He’s been well-received here. I think people find him to be candid, engaging and smart, and they respect his opinions because of his experience. People in New Hampshire have a tremendous amount of respect for experience and credentials, so that will certainly help him up here.” —Kathleen Strand, communications director of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
“I don’t know of any negatives that Richardson has here. The whole buzz in Iowa right now is about renewable energy, and Richardson has probably been out front on that as much as any of them, so that will be to his advantage. But he’ll have to spend some time here, that’s for damn sure. I think the candidates that come in and spend time here really talking to voters—not just coming in for the photo ops—will be contenders. Our favorite son, Gov. [Tom] Vilsack, is running, but I still think it’s going to be a wide-open race.” —John “Jack” Kibbie, president of the Iowa state Senate.
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