It looks like the end of the road has come for my candidate. According to sources within the campaign, Bill Richardson decided on Wednesday to withdraw from the presidential race. He will make the announcement today.
I don't regret being a supporter of Bill Richardson at all. I still think he was the most qualified candidate of either party. But he never seemed to catch on with enough voters, and after the disappointing finish in New Hampshire, I expected he would soon withdraw. He's not the type who would continue to throw money at a hopeless cause.
I do hope the eventual nominee will consider him seriously as a running mate. He is a talented politician and a superb diplomat, who would be a valuable asset to the coming Democratic administration. He could help to mend a lot of the bridges to other countries that Bush has burned.
While I think any of the remaining Democratic candidates would make a far better president than any of the Republican candidates, I'm going to wait a few days before I make my choice. I don't feel like giving any of them the "kiss of death" right now (I've never supported a winning presidential candidate).
I just hope it's still a three-way race when Texas gets to vote. It would be nice if my vote actually mattered this year.
I'm sorry to see Richardson drop out, too. I may disagree with him on a few issues, but he is still far and away the best qualified candidate.
ReplyDeleteI haven't decided who to support either, though a number of Richardson supporters in AZ are going with Obama.
Obama is a great choice, but Edwards is good too.
Of course, that statement alone may have given the race to Clinton. :))
Oh well; I've got 4 weeks to decide.
Later!
As I've mentioned here before, I agree that Richardson had one of the best (if not the best) resume among the presidential candidates of either party. Like cpmaz, I didn't always agree with Richardson's positions, but I respected him for his broad experience and especially for the civility he brought to the campaign.
ReplyDeleteOne of the problems with the nominating process of both parties is that the skills required to get the nomination have little or no applicability to actually serving effectively in office.
It's the Peter Principle in action: Just as many a competent girlfriend gets "promoted" to become an incompetent wife (or boyfriend to husband), many a competent campaigner get "promoted" to become an incompetent office holder.
Let's all hope this doesn't happen in 2008.