All Blog Posts from Horserace

CBS News has confirmed that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is a serious contender to be tapped for Commerce Secretary. Richardson, a 2008 presidential candidate, had been on many lists for Secretary of State but that position appears to be New York Senator Hillary Clinton’s if she chooses. CBS reported yesterday that the transition is on track to possibly make that announcement soon after Thanksgiving.

Richardson is currently in his second term as governor of New Mexico and would bring a broad resume of government service to the administration. He has served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, has been Energy Secretary and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Washingtonpost.com’s Chris Cillizza, who first reported the possibility of the governor going to the Commerce Department, notes that the post was thought to be going to President-elect Obama’s former campaign finance chair and friend Penny Pritzker, but she removed herself from consideration yesterday.

When ABC News reported that Hillary Clinton had tried to convince Bill Richardson that Barack Obama "cannot win" the general election, it was the latest example of the concerted effort the Clinton camp has made to convince superdelegates to stick with her.

Clinton's aggressive attempt at persuasion didn't work in Richardson's case, but that hasn't stopped her campaign from honing its pitch to the party leaders who could decide the nomination.

Clinton adviser Harold Ickes recently admitted to bringing up the Reverend Wright controversy in his conversations with superdelegates, in order to try to convince them that Obama's baggage may be too heavy to beat John McCain.

Of course, the Obama campaign isn't just sitting on its heals while the Clinton operation tries to wrangle as many superdelegates as possible, and party leaders are being solicited actively by his campaign, as well. Al Gore even joked that he was getting so many call from both sides that in order to do his "60 Minutes" interview with Leslie Stahl, he had to disconnect his phones.

But Obama's frontrunner status affords him the luxury of taking a more nuanced approach to wooing superdelegates. The Illinois senator does not have to take the kinds of risks that Clinton does in trying to convince party leaders that his opponent is fatally flawed.

Obama has recently been described as more "magnanimous" in his approach to Clinton, an approach that the Obama campaign seems to hope will signal to superdelegates that when he becomes the nominee, the wounds of the party will heal rather quickly. The Clinton campaign, on the other hand, may not be able to attempt such subtleties.

Bill Clinton, "rural hitman," is continuing his swing through areas rarely seen by former presidents with four stops in southern Indiana today.

The Associated Press reports that "about 1,000 people filled a Columbus fire station for Clinton's appearance, while several hundred others gathered outside in a brisk wind."

Clinton pushed his wife's economic plan.

"Hillary believes we should bring back manufacturing in America. We don't have to give up on manufacturing,'' he said. "Middle class American taxpayers should not subsidize the loss of the manufacturing base."

But while Mr. Clinton is receiving "loud cheers" in Indiana, his behavior in San Francisco suggests frustration on the part on the former president, according to a San Francisco Chronicle dispatch.

The paper reports that Clinton had a "meltdown" when asked about Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama at a meeting with California superdelegates at the state convention last weekend:

"Five times to my face (Richardson) said that he would never do that," a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted.

The former president then went on a tirade that ran from the media's unfair treatment of Hillary to questions about the fairness of the votes in state caucuses that voted for Obama. It ended with him asking delegates to imagine what the reaction would be if Obama was trailing by just 1 percent and people were telling him to drop out.

A calmer Clinton eventually pushed a message of party unity, the newspaper reports, though one anonymous source said it was odd when he later told everyone to "chill out."

"We couldn't help but think he was also talking to himself," the delegate said.

While some other surrogates and supporters of the Democratic candidates have taken to distancing themselves quickly from harsh remarks they've made, Hillary Clinton supporter James Carville isn't one of them. Carville responded to the news of New Mexico Governor (and Clinton administration mainstay) Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama with this quote: "Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic."

Well, today he tells the New York Times Caucus blog that he's standing right by that comment. "I was quoted accurately and in context, and I was glad to give the quote and I was glad I gave it,” Carville said. “I’m not apologizing, I’m not resigning, I’m not doing anything.” Times reporter Patrick relays Carville's response this way: "For several seconds he laughed – cackled might be more accurate – and then said he stood by his quote fully."

Even in this marathon campaign (let's not forget that these presidential candidates have now been running full-time for well over a year now), the punches have for the most part stayed above the belt-line. That's not a small achievement for a political culture which has defined, and at times celebrated, terms like "dirty tricks."

It was supposed to be the "big" campaign, devoid of petty arguments about boxers and briefs, sexual witch hunts and whether or not the candidates inhaled. Through the course of 20-plus debates and all but ten primary and caucus contests, the campaigns on both sides have been fought out over issues, things like the war, the economy, trade, immigration, health care, taxes and. Even the forays into race and gender issues, while emotional and potentially divisive, have been important discussions. Barack Obama's well-received speech this week proved that. And voters have been engaged in the process like never before.

The hope that such discourse will continue is rapidly slipping away however, despite pledges and assurances from the remaining candidates themselves to keep their campaigns on the high ground. But the road to the gutter is paved with good intentions.

Plenty of questions remain but news that two State Department employees have been fired (and one disciplined) for apparently rummaging around in Obama's passport files should serve as a wake-up call for anyone thinking that the era of petty politics is over. So far, all we know is that these three people accessed Obama's files.

We don’t know what they were looking for, who they are or what their motivation was but it brings up memories of the search for dirt on Bill Clinton that led to a government investigation. We don’t know if they are sympathetic to the Republican Party or to Hillary Clinton or whether they were just mischievous or curious. But it's not comforting for the hopes this campaign was supposed to embody.

The news came on the same day that the McCain campaign suspended an aide for circulating a Web video with racial overtones that portrayed Obama as unpatriotic. The video was produced by the producer of a conservative talk-radio show, an industry which has found itself revived in this campaign. Many Democrats are up in arms over Rush Limbaugh's suggestions in recent primaries that GOP voters cross over to vote for Hillary Clinton in the hopes of continuing a divisive primary fight. Dirty tricks or savvy tactics?

Of course we saw some of this activity earlier. Anonymous e-mails spreading false information about Mitt Romney's religion and those insisting that Obama is a Muslim who was sworn in on the Koran instead of the Bible popped up early and often. But an e-mail campaign is small potatoes compared to what we’re likely to see when the 527 organizations kick in. Can the candidates control it even if they want to?

Read full post…

DES MOINES, IOWA - “The election of the next President of the United States should not be by the national media, it should be by Iowa,” an energetic Bill Richardson told a boisterous crowd of about 200 people in downtown Des Moines this afternoon.* He vowed to “shock the world” by winning the caucus and spoke of a recent poll that put him “within striking distance of the top three.”

In a 20 minute speech, Richardson ticked off his presidential plans, among them getting U.S. troops out of Iraq within a year, universal health care, more cancer research, eliminating No Child Left Behind, making mental health a priority, and “stopping the Bush administration from building condominiums on forests.”

In a shot at Dick Cheney, Richardson promised that “my vice president will be a member of the executive branch.” He engaged in a call and response with the crowd at both the beginning and end of the speech, opening by asking, “Are we ready to take our country back?” The crowd responded: “Woo!”

“Are we going to elect a Democratic president?,” Richardson then asked. “Yeeees!,” the audience yelled back. “What’s that president’s name?,” Richardson wondered. “Bill!,” they said.

Richardson entered the room to U2’s "Where the Streets Have No Name." He apologized to the crowd for the absence of Martin Sheen, the actor who played the president on “The West Wing,” who has endorsed Richardson. “I was ordered by my doctor not to travel to Iowa because I have a severe, contagious cold that would not allow me to fly,” Sheen said in a letter of support for Richardson, which was read to the crowd before the New Mexico governor spoke.

Before the speech began, Jim Uhl, a welder from Des Moines, explained why he supported Richardson.

“He’s got more experience with foreign policy, and I like what he’s done with veterans programs in New Mexico,” said Uhl. “His health care policies are a big thing too. My wife has medical problems and we have a hard time paying the premiums. We may need to get a divorce just so she can get some kind of health care.”

When Richardson was working the crowd before the speech, he and Uhl exchanged a high five.

*NOTE: After this post was published, the Richardson campaign wrote saying they estimated 500 people at the event.

Move over, Joe Biden: Chris Dodd would like to offer two cents about Bill Richardson.

Dodd’s campaign released a statement critiquing what it saw as bad math by the New Mexico governor, reports CBSNews.com's Joy Lin. Seizing upon today’s launch of “NoTroopsBehind.com,” an official website endorsed by the Richardson campaign, the Dodd camp pointed out that just last week Richardson suggested that he would keep some troops in Iraq to protect the American embassy.

The statement also noted that Richardson said he would support leaving up to 5,000 troops in Iraq in July.

“When does ‘zero’ = up to 5000?” asked the Dodd campaign.

“There’s nothing new here,” Richardson spokesperson Tom Reynolds told CBS News. “We have consistently said we would leave a Marine contingent to protect the embassy. That is different from residual combat troops.”

As CBSNews.com reported yesterday, Rudy Giuliani will seek to “clarify” his views on gun control and the Second Amendment when he speaks at the NRA’s “Celebration of American Values” today.

How he’s received there will help clarify Giuliani’s chances of winning the GOP nomination. Because of his past strong support for gun control laws – and some spats with the NRA itself – he’ll never be a darling of the organization. His challenge is to convince them he’s not public enemy number one, and it’s an issue his primary opponents are eager to discuss.

John McCain will be among several Republican candidates addressing the conference today and will jab Giuliani on the issue, according to the AP. McCain will reference the lawsuit Giuliani and other mayors filed against gun manufacturers in 2000 and remarks he made in a televised interview where he referred to the NRA as “extremists.”

“My friends, gun owners are not extremists; you are the core of modern America," McCain will say, according to prepared remarks. "The Second Amendment is unique in the world and at the core of our constitutional freedoms. It guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. To argue anything else is to reject the clear meaning of our founding fathers.”

How big a challenge is the issue for Giuliani? CBS News’ manager of surveys Anthony Salvanto takes a look:

In addressing Giuliani's stand on guns and how he handled the issue in New York City, Giuliani stresses local decision-making, as a statement on his Web site makes clear: "Rudy understands that what works in New York doesn't necessarily work in Mississippi or Montana."

Speaking to voters in rural states may be a general challenge ahead for Giuliani. In a recent CBS News/New York Times Poll, Republican Primary voters think Rudy only understands the issues of people in big cities – 43 percent do – compared to just 15 percent who think he also understands small towns and rural areas.

Read full post…