Friday, January 11, 2008
Bill Richardson is Out
In a surprise move, Bill Richardson decided to bow out of the race for the Democratic nomination for president of the U.S. This came after he placed fourth in both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. Richardson had hopes for beating out Edwards for 3rd in the Democratic primaries, but he had terrrible percentage counts. This means that his voters will likely to go Obama, giving him another slight edge, with the already mentioned Kerry endorsement. However, if Richardson decides to back another candidate, it can give them another major boost.
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4 comments:
This happened a few days ago, and thanks for stating the obvious. Why the special mention of Obama, because of Kerry's endorsement?
I think Bill Richardson was a great Democratic candidate that had some nice and realistic policies. But the problem was name recognition, and it seems that it is a two-horse race between Obama and Clinton. But it seems strange to drop out of a race after only two state primaries. I mean, there are 48 more state primaries to go. I guess we'll see what happens next.
I liked the post Yak no worries. I think it is quite significant when candidates drop out. However, I am unhappy as their base voters just scurry on to the next best thing. I think the voters of a candidate who drops out should wait to see who their previously favorite choice backs, as if one was willing to vote for him/her, one should be willing to back who they feel is the best choice!
I completely agree with Paul that Richardson's main problem was name recognition, because in terms of qualifications I think Richardson has had more international experience than almost any of the other candidates, including experience with negotiating with "Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic, Cuba's Fidel Castro, Kenya's Daniel Arap Moi, Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko, Nigeria's Sani Abacha and most recently, Sudan's Omar al-Bashir." He also "was ambassador to the United Nations in the Clinton administration, served on the intelligence committee during his 14 years in the House and has done international work from his perch as a small-state governor" (those are just some of his qualifications I found from the AP). Although I don't know much about his policies, I think his international experience would have been a HUGE asset if he was elected president, especially in deciding what to do about the Iraq war. His experience could possibly have improved US foreign relations, and it's a pity that Hillary and Obama don't have as much experience as Richardson in areas of international affairs. Although foreign policy is not the only area a president needs to be knowledgeable in, it would help a lot considering we are in a war.
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