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RICHARDSON OUT.
Richardson's expected to announce that he's dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination today, leaving just the top three, Kucinich and I guess Gravel in the race heading into Nevada. On paper, Richardson was one of the strongest candidates in the second tier, though he only mustered 2 percent of the caucus vote in Iowa and 5 percent in New Hampshire. And while his meandering monologues at the debates have been ... frustrating ... he has injected both a hard-line call for immediate troop withdrawal into the debate, as well as the most direct and repetitive discussion of climate and energy and arguably the best plan for addressing those issues. That's the value of strong also-ran candidates, which the Democrats had in abundance this year – pushing the frontrunners where they should be pushed, and knowing when the time is right to get out of the race.
The obvious question now is who will be the next to drop, and I'm guessing it's not going to be Kucinich or Gravel, who seem to be sticking around for the long, lonely haul.
--Kate Sheppard
COMMENTS (2)
Kucinich is pig headed, but he's also likely to face a primary challenge (Ohio's primary is in May). Some of his constituents feel he hasn't been serving the basic needs of his district. Showboating does not go down well with Clevelanders and there's an element of that in his presidential candidacy. In addition, one of his brothers (a very troubled guy) just died). If he has any real political instincts, he'll get out of the race soon and go back to shore up his base in his home district. OTOH, he's a hardheaded guy and has gone th quioxotic route before,
Posted by: Rich | January 10, 2008 10:13 AM
Uh, by inference, since Obama and Clinton have each won one, are well-funded and well-organized and have been collecting new endorsements, and since gravel and kucinich aren't dropping out, that would seem to leave only one candidate as a possibility.
I do hear bizarro theories about Edwards staying in, all the way to the convention, but the guy's money will be vapor after 2/5, when he probably will be lucky if he wins a single state. He's not going to win Nevada or South Carolina, and isn't even on the ballot in Michigan(neither is Obama, and the DNC has basically voided that contest). He needs to finish second in Nevada or South Carolina to even rationalize staying in for 2/5. If he drops out after SC and endorses Obama, then I think we're headed for a really fascinating one on one debate between Barack and Hillary on 1/31, just before the Tsunami Tuesday.
Posted by: mike in dc | January 10, 2008 10:48 AM