Bill Richardson calls no joy

I said it in my very first post this morning that he should drop out, and now it's official. Bill Richardson is withdrawing from the race:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson ended his campaign for the presidency Wednesday after twin fourth-place finishes that showed his impressive credentials could not compete with his rivals' star power.

Richardson planned to announce the decision Thursday, according to two people close to the governor with knowledge of the decision. They spoke on a condition of anonymity in advance of the governor's announcement.

The Richardson campaign would not comment on the governor's decision, reached after a meeting with his top advisers Wednesday in New Mexico.

Richardson had one of the most wide-ranging resumes of any candidate ever to run for the presidency, bringing experience from his time in Congress, President Clinton's Cabinet, in the New Mexico statehouse as well as his unique role as a freelance diplomat. As a Hispanic, he added to the unprecedented diversity in the Democratic field that also included a black and a woman.

But Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama dominated the spotlight in the campaign, and Richardson was never able to become a top-tier contender. He accused his rivals of failing to commit to bring troops home from Iraq soon enough.

He portrayed his campaign as a job application for president, and ran clever ads that showed a bored interviewer unimpressed with his dazzling resume. The commercials helped fuel his move to double-digit support in some early state polls, and advisers argued he was poised to move past former vice presidential nominee John Edwards for the role of third-place challenger.

But he was not able to build the momentum and came in a distant fourth place in Iowa and New Hampshire. Richardson didn't get quite 5 percent in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday and came in with just 2 percent in the Iowa caucus last week.

The AP is right to point out he had the most experience amongst the Democrat contenders. Obama is still in his first term as a senator. Edwards lost the White house bid in 2004, and then lost his Senate seat; again, a one-termer. Hillary claims she has tons of experience but most pundits (especially those of us in the 'Sphere) are still trying to find it. (For the record, greeting dignitaries and kissing their wives does not equate to experience.)

It's too bad that Richardson couldn't catch fire. Out of all the candidates in the running, Marcie and I agreed he would have been the Democrats best hope, next to former governor John Warner. It was obvious when he saw the lack of support from those that were for him that he'd be departing quickly in the primaries. IF the Democrats lose this year, and we believe they will, let this serve as a lesson to them that voters want candidates with solid experience. They don't want slogans. they don't want lip service. They want REAL experience and REAL ideas. Richardson sort of had the latter, and he did have the former. But we are happy that he decided to step aside and let the voters have the first aspect of the dogfight they've been itching to see.

Publius II