Richardson’s Stock is on the Rise

By Emily Esterson, 4-23-07

Bill Richardson’s stock is going up, according to Cokie Roberts and Stephen Roberts, writing in the Billings Gazette. The two noted that, from a fund raising perspective, both Arizona’s John McCain and New Mexico’s Richardson were neck and neck. But in a “glass-half-full” or “glass-half-empty” analysis, Richardson’s $5 million was seen as a positive surprise, while McCain’s fund raising was seen as a disappointment.  The Roberts’ also note that the straw poll conducted by grassroots organization moveon.org showed Richardson in second place behind John Edwards (don’t forget, however, that Moveon.org was strongly supportive of Howard Dean, as well).

Or maybe Richardson’s stock is going down...Leave it to small town vitriol to cast doubt on the candidate, as if everyone out there is reading the Alamogordo News. In it, Harold Teeter waxes about the current democratic candidate list, and how unfit it is to run the country.

While the pundits (whoever and where ever they may be) debate Richardson’s ability to move ahead and run the country, the man himself isn’t waiting around. He’s the first democratic candidate to launch television ads in Either way, he’s getting play in New Hampshire and Iowa.  The 30- and 60-second spots were produced by Murphy Putnam Media writes the Washington Post. Look for the ads to begin running this week.

Little too little, little too late? Richardson finally decided to come out with a statement demanding the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, about a week after everyone else did. Um, operating on a “better late than never” philosophy is no way to win a campaign, but Richardson had long been a Gonzales supporter. Richardson was speaking to the National Action Network, founded by Rev. Al Sharpton and largely considered a key to winning over the African American vote, when he made the statement. And speaking of a little too late, Richardson noted during is address that if elected, he’d make Africa a priority. The Bush administration had let issues in Africa fall by the wayside in favor of a focus on the Middle East.