That’s unfortunate. I was an original supporter of Richardson, and I think he probably has more relevant experience than anyone in the Democratic race, foreign and domestic. I never understood why his campaign never took off.
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myiq2xu
Bill was the third most qualified of the Democrats running, at least on the basis of experience.
The other two (Dodd, Biden) dropped out last week
Life isn’t fair.
demimondian
Michael didn’t actually represent the situation entirely accurately. In this case, he might have benefited from consulting some other sources. I’m shocked, shocked, simply shocked that he let his enthusiasm get ahead of his investigation.
JR
It’s hard to march to victory when you shoot yourself in the foot at every step.
Whizzer White?
Being gay is a choice?
Musharaff should resign?
Sorry, but Richardson was like a giant gaffe with feet.
Pb
He had feet?!
myiq2xu
Byron “Whizzer” White was a distinguished Justice on SCOTUS.
What does that have to do with Richardson?
Kewalo
Nice man, smart too. But boring. Sleep inducing boring.
But smart and nice.
Tax Analyst
Yeah, I checked “Wikipedia” and could find no connection between Byron “Whizzer” White, the SCOTUS member and Bill Richardson. White was from Colorado, so I can’t see any Richardson attachment there. ???
Dustin
Simple answer: $
Richard Bottoms
>I never understood why his campaign never took off.
Because Democrats want someone who will take a lead pipe to the GOP?
Bill D.
He has no sizzle, no charisma. We all know those are the essential traits for a president to do a good job.
Maybe he’ll be selected for the vice-presidential candidate, or if not then for a cabinet position. Way too much compentance and talent to waste.
Dustin
I’ll provide the pipe; just tell me who to mail it to.
Bill D.
Now if I could just learn to catch my spelling mistakes before posting, I’d show more competence at this.
Maybe his overweight appearance also hurt him.
Kewalo
During one Q & A Richardson was asked his favorite Supreme Court Justice. He said “Whizzer” White. I can’t remember which “debate” it was, but that’s what he said.
r€nato
I watched just enough Richardson to get the impression that while he would make a fine Cabinet secretary (which he was, of course), there’s nothing about the man that screams – or even softly whispers – ‘leadership’.
Incertus (Brian)
If relevant experience mattered to the electorate, we’d be finishing up the second term of Al Gore right now, instead of slogging through the final months of King George the Lesser.
Apsalar
Richardson has all the personal charisma of, I don’t know, corn flakes. I was at a panel at Yearly Kos where he was giving a talk, and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I’m sure there are many good places in government for him, but I don’t think he ever had a good shot at the presidency.
srv
In this time of Great Clash of Civilizations, Bill would make a good red shirt on Star Trek.
myiq2xu
Yeah, he’s more the type that ends up in the Oval Office by accident (or assassination) rather than the type that wins at the ballot box. He doesn’t inspire people, but he doesn’t scare the hell out of them either.
Brian
And don’t forget his “Soviet Union” moment in the last debate.
Watching him speak extemporaneously (spelling?) was only slightly less painful than watching Bush talk.
CraigM
Smart? I never, ever got that impression. Every time I heard him in the debates he sounded like a bit of a dope. And that Meet the Press appearance was like watching a puppy get offed. People looked at his resume, then back at him, and thought, is this the same guy?
Tax Analyst
HAR! Perfect.
Ninerdave
Liked Richardson…then he got destroyed by Russart
What you think of of Russert is inconsequential. Fact is, MTP is the most watched political show. How you do on his show is pretty major and not a test that’s hard to pass.
Richardson looked like an idiot when he was on.
oh really
Obviously, people have different impressions of Richardson.
Every time I saw and listened to him, he struck me as not very bright, not very articulate, and utterly lacking in a compelling rationale for running. Faced down the North Koreans. Wow. I’m impressed.
A lot of Fredheads are absolutely confounded that everyone is not lining up behind their man. But non-Fredheads think the line looks like a parade to nowhere.
In the cases of both Richardson and Thompsom, I can’t see why anyone would support either one.
Cassidy
This sucks. I hate our primary system. By the time it gets to me, I’m gonna have three choices…yay.
Kirk Spencer
Richardson didn’t catch fire because he’s not got the “elvis” (as my wife calls it). And he was carrying a pair of NASTY bit of recent history that made the Powers That Be uncomfortable with helping him catch fire anyway — the events that occurred on his watch while Secretary of Energy. Finally, he didn’t have a significant source of wealth (personal or contributed) with which to strike out on his own.
You can overcome skeletons if you have the fire. You can lack the fire and still catch if your closet is empty. You can overcome lack of fire and a bony closet with enough money. Richardson lacked all three.
Bombadil
Hear, hear. We get “Super Tuesday” (February 5th). I’ll be doing my absentee ballot next week, but no gurantee that the people on that ballot will actually be running by the time election day rolls around.
Question, though — what would be better? Should it be a one-day primary (everyone goes to the polls the same day, like the general election)? Or maybe a lottery method, where the names of states are drawn from a hat, and matched with a set of dates (say two weeks apart) spanning several months? Either would be better than the current method, I think.
Doug
I think the “looks good on paper” part of the Democratic constituency was already on board with Clinton, and that probably sucked out any energy the Richardson campaign might have had.
André Kenji
Simple. Democrats they don´t want people with executive experienca and appeal to the middle. They want charisma(whatever the hell that means) and flip-flopping senators(Even considering that Edwards is not a flip-flopper, but a serial liar).
Then they lose and blame Nader or the Republicans.
Cassidy
I would prefer a 1-2 week primary system. Everyone in one day would be brutal, but spreading them out over a 2 week span would be acceptable, I think. It’s at least worth a shot. OTOH, a one day primary would spare us the news coverage which has been deplorable.
While we’re at it, the BCS system needs to go away and be replaced with a tournament bracket.
ThymeZone
Read an editorial comment recently on this, it basically said that Richardson is a resume candidate, and voters this year aren’t voting for resumes. They want a candidate who moves them in some way, and Richardson doesn’t do that very well.
tBone
If you’re a fan of Richardson, I’m not surprised you don’t know what this means.
ThymeZone
Nope, won’t work and won’t happen, for reasons already explained on these pages heretofore.
The amount of money, people. work and other assets required to carry out a pre-election and then election day effort is daunting. Compressing the schedule gives all the advantages to the candidates with big money and big resources, and the big early leads in polls. A candidate trying to get a foothold simply would not have a chance. It takes time to make a showing in a small primary, and then gain momentum, and leverage small resources and money forward into the process.
Cassidy
I’m sure Dodd and Richardson agree with you. [/snark]
Bombadil
Heh. We have a better shot at reforming the primary system.
ThymeZone
Another thing that will never happen. You’d need a longer season, and probably games being played during finals and holidays. The schools aren’t going to engage in this, IMO. And should not. Football season is over in November, and the big bowls happen at New Years, and that’s the window of time you have to work with.
ThymeZone
I’m pretty sure that just about everyone will agree, since I’m right, and it’s not exactly a big secret how this thing works.
As for Dodd and Richardson, they’d never have had a rationale for ever getting into the race in the first place, if the schedule were compressed. Their whole presence in the pool hangs from the extended schedule and their hope of building momentum, just like all the minor candidates on both sides.
Cassidy
Yup, they sure got their chance to build momentum beating out those big money candidates.
Vlad
“During one Q & A Richardson was asked his favorite Supreme Court Justice. He said “Whizzer” White. I can’t remember which “debate” it was, but that’s what he said.”
Which, to fill in the blanks, was an issue because White was in the minority on Roe v. Wade. As such, most Dems wouldn’t welcome a judge in the mold of White for one of the upcoming SC vacancies.
André Kenji
“If you’re a fan of Richardson, I’m not surprised you don’t know what this means.”
Sure, then we complain because the average voter in the South and in the West vote Republican because of charisma.
Grumpy Code Monkey
Which is why we always get the government we deserve.
Charity
My husband says he’s got a face for radio. WHICH I don’t think is true. (Funny, but true.) But his “WHY aren’t you voting for MEEEEEE?” thing didn’t work well. Biden at least speaks passionately from the heart, and Dodd has a bit of a statesman thing going on, but Bill hasn’t got gravitas.
Those job interview ads he did though were hilarious. Godspeed, sir.