Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Richardson Drops Out

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http://www.breitbart.com/artic…

Sources say he will make it official tomorrow.

Richardson brought unique experience to this race, so it is sad to see him go.

Unfortunatley, it seems the dual media-driven stars of the race and the front-loading have crowded out a lot of potentially good candidates like Richardson, Warner, and Feingold to name a few.

Any other post-mortem thoughts?

Update Richardson campaign denies report, but indicates the campaign may be “suspended” for upcoming legislative session…

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  1. The Globe is reporting (that the AP is reporting) this also.

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    p>I’m surprised that he’d drop out before Nevada, where conventional wisdom said he’d get much more support.

  2. It’s too bad — I like Richardson and his experience, but he certainly didn’t do particularly well in the debates or on the stump, which limited him. He wasn’t polling particularly well even in Nevada.

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    p>I wonder who this will end up helping more, Clinton or Obama. Clinton has received more Latino support in polls, but I’m not sure Richardson was even doing that well among that demographic group. One thing in polls (and somewhat in the NH exit polls as well) is that Richardson did much better among men, so maybe a greater percentage of Richardson’s support is more likely to drift to Obama.

  3. Richardson knew education like nobody else in either race, and with him goes our best hope of straightening out the public system for a while.  Its laughable to compare the bromides of “making the system better” and “helping it achieve its promise” or “reform” or “change” to Richardson’s off-the-cuff debate answer:

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    p>

    I would scrap it. It doesn’t work.  It is the law. It is not just an unfunded mandate, but the one- size-fits-all doesn’t work.  It doesn’t emphasize teacher training. It doesn’t emphasize the disabled kids. It doesn’t — English learning kids don’t get help.

    The worst thing it does is it takes districts and schools that are not doing well, takes their funds away, penalizes them. If a school is not doing well, we help that school.

    The last thing we need to do, relating to teachers, is the key to a good education in this country is a strong teacher. I would have a minimum wage for all our teachers, $40,000 per year.

    And I would emphasize science and math.  I would also bring, to make sure our kids that are not scoring well in science and math, 29th in the world, to unlock those minds in science and math, I would have a major federal program of art in the schools… music, dancing, sculpture, and the arts.

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    p>I had to cut out the five breaks for applause that are noted in the transcript.

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    p>Richardson also has visited more countries than half these candidates have heard of.  There are people alive in the Sudan because Richardson brokered a fragile cease-fire there…and that’s not the only place.  North Korean negotiators made one stop from Pyongyang to Washington, DC for a meeting with the State Department — they wanted to talk to Governor Richardson.

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    p>And dang it, Richardson as our nominee would have been the threshold to a comfortable and inviting home in the Democratic Party for Latino voters.  How are you going to argue immigration with someone from New Mexico?

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    p>Oh well.  It’s over.  It’s obvious why he didn’t make a splash, and I won’t re-hash that here.  It’s just a sorry night in so many ways.

    • One never knows until these things are final, how the ticket will be set up and what the real reasons for folks leaving the contest.

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      p>I am concerned that all the democratic candidates will be broke and begging for $$ by the time this bruising primary is over, frankly.

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      p>After all, if the Republicans set up a McCain/Huckabee ticket, what then?

        • or Vilsack or Bayh. What I’d like to see, though, is a Obama/Clark ticket because it would help bridge the divide between the Obama team and the Clinton team. I’m really hoping that whoever loses the nomination still feels that they have a big enough stake in the Demcorat winning the election. I’m more than a little worried that if Obama wins, the Clinton camp will undermine Obama’s chances of winning so she can come back in 2012 strong. Also, an Obama/Clark ticket would lend national security/foreign policy experience, balance it out geographically as well. As an added bonus, Clark was a favorite of many folks on the netroots back in the 2003-2004 election so he can be a bridge to the left and the right.  

          • I just don’t see anything that the guy brings to the ticket.  Dull on the stump; small and relatively unimportant state.  No thanks.

  4. For all the talk about front-loading the primaries and letting a few states choose for the rest of us, this campaign has been remarkable for the fact that all of the candidates have had plenty of time to try and impress voters.

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    p>Richardson got some early buzz, most notably at last year’s DNC winter meeting but then failed to follow through. He stumbled through the debates and never proved himself as someone who could build support on the campaign trail.

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    p>His experience is commendable, but that alone hasn’t been enough. It’s not the fault of the system that in the past year he hasn’t been able to build himself out of the 2nd tier.  

    • He had a shot to be at least as competitive as Edwards.  But he was flat and gaffe-prone in the early going.  He needed to be sparkling in the early going, and he wasn’t.

      • I agree, though, that whatever the ‘ability to connect’ that a candidate needs, somehow, this time out, Richardson did not connect.  

        • one worries that if the guy gaffes during multiple pre-arranged public debates, he’ll gaffe even worse when his audience (a national enemy, perhaps) won’t have the cultural context necessary to recognize the gaffe for what it is and overlook it.  some people excel when given parameters to work within, but suck at knowing how to set those parameters themselves.  this is the impression richardson has left with me.

  5. I think we all pretty much knew that this would happen sooner or later given his poor showing in Iowa an NH. In my opinion, he could have benefited from a much better campaign staff.

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    p>Who knows? If Barack wins the nom, he would be a good VP choice. Balances out the perceived lack of experience baggage that Obama carries with him…but he probably axed himself out of a job with Clinton.

  6. what a cryin’ shame that the most able to BE president cannot get elected president in our celebrity-driven, pundit-driven, poll-driven, money-driven political system.

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