Richardson Watch, 08/09/2007
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Wed Aug 8, 2007 6:51 pm
The stealth strategy
Most pundits, bloggers and other commentators seem to feel that Gov. Bill Richardson did little to stand out in Tuesday’s AFL-CIO debate in Chicago.
But a handful of analysts believe he’s doing that on purpose. Here’s some of those:
►Taegan Goddard in The Huffington Post
“The candidate running fourth in most polls, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, remains somewhat quiet. He seems to remember what happened to Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt in the run up to the Iowa caucuses in 2004. Both men engaged in relentless attacks on each other and ended up finishing behind John Kerry and John Edwards when the final votes were tallied. Richardson may be hoping Edwards and Obama cross the line into negative campaigning and annoy the average Iowa caucusgoer.” ~
►Chuck Todd, MSNBC’s First Read
“Richardson is going to be the under-the-radar candidate; it's obvious; he's not getting involved in the bashing of Obama, Edwards and Clinton and that could pay dividends in Iowa.” ~
“Bill Richardson's under the radar theme seems to be playing well. He just unveiled a moderate healthcare plan that may very well be the one that the voters are looking for. And his idea to eliminate the union-busting attorneys generated the loudest shouts of the night. This one might help his campaign in Iowa, but probably not too much nationally.”
'Homer' Richardson?
“Richardson is so much like Homer Simpson I almost want to vote for him.”Other voices
Here’s more views of Richardson’s performance Tuesday:
►Time magazine’s Mark Halperin, who gave Richardson a grade of “C plus”
“(Richardson wants) so much to move up in the (conventional wisdom) rankings and national polls and had his best debate yet — but was stylistically out of sync with the Roman Coliseum mood of the event. This was a debate that required more energy and less thoughtfulness, and the governor was playing the wrong game.”
►Reporter Dan Baltz in The Washington Post’s campaign blog The Trail
“... Bill Richardson did not have a particularly bad night but got lost in the barrages among the other candidates. He is still looking for a memorable debate performance.” ~
►Ross Smith in The Huffngton Post
“Bill Richardson had to be happy. Despite a "needles" moment when he said, "We need enormous challenges to face," Richardson seemed to have surprisingly labor friendly trade policy stances and was never caught in the crossfire. Biden's take down of Edwards might well benefit Richardson. “ ~
“Bill Richardson is probably on paper the most qualified to be President but he has yet to have a strong enough performance in any of these candidate forums to improve his numbers. He simply has not seemed Presidential.”
►Anthony Palmer in The 7-10: Palmer on Politics blog (South Carolina)
“Richardson showed his humorous side a few times tonight, especially when he joked that he was looking forward to labor's continued financial support. Unfortunately for Richardson, he didn't get many chances to get his message out tonight, so he seemed a bit lost in the shuffle. He did remind voters of his vast experience, but other than that, Richardson was fairly invisible tonight. ... Richardson is running in place. He's well positioned, but didn't do himself any favors at the debate.”
“While all the candidates did well as usual, I though last night belonged to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Rep. Dennis Kucinich. Richardson, for once, looked comfortable, had the best one liner (‘My V-P would NOT be Dick Cheney’), stayed out of the bickering, and, most importantly, he wasn't boring.”
►Steve Benen in The Carpetbagger Report
“Was Richardson even there? He didn’t say anything noteworthy, though he managed not to mention the Balanced Budget Amendment, so I guess that’s a plus.”
“And was Bill Richardson even there tonight? I love his experience, and thought a few months back he'd be a perfect VP candidate, but he has not impressed me at all.”
►Oooh, nuance! blog (Yonkers, NY)
“Bill Richardson doesn't seem to have the intensity or the drive necessary to make it all the way, although I think he has some very good accomplishments”
