Outtakes
There's Something About Bill: President of Spin
By David Alire Garcia

Published: January 9, 2008

Never give up, never surrender.

Gov. Bill Richardson is hardly the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, but that hasn’t stopped him from putting his best rhetorical foot forward.

“We made the final four and we’re on to New Hampshire!” Richardson told cheering supporters at the Des Moines Quality Inn following his fourth-place showing in the Iowa caucus. While the guv won only 2 percent of Iowa caucus-goers, the campaign spin immediately turned to the future. “When you’re outspent 20-1 it shows, but this race is not over. Wait until we get to New Mexico, Arizona, California and Colorado,” Richardson told The Associated Press on Jan. 3, looking even beyond the Jan. 8 New Hampshire caucus.

But Richardson’s “final four” spin was widely panned following his dismal Iowa showing. Here’s a roundup of some of the commentary:

“Making it to the Final Four is a terrific accomplishment for an NCAA-basketball team, but not so much for a presidential candidate. Gov. Bill Richardson put the best spin possible on his poor performance Thursday in the Iowa caucus, claiming ‘We made it to the final four.’ While that may sound good, it ignores the fact that the top three…collected all of the committed delegates and nearly all of the votes.”