Governor Richardson's withdrawal from the Democratic Presidential Primary speech

It is with great pride, understanding and acceptance that I am ending my campaign for President of the United States. It was my hope that all of you would first hear this news from me and not a news organization. But unfortunately, as with too many things in our world today, it's the ending of something that garners the most intense interest and speculation.

I knew from the beginning that this would be an uphill climb. When I entered the campaign, it was clear that we, as Democrats, had the most talented field of candidates in my lifetime running to change the direction of our country. And in the end, one of them will.

Despite overwhelming financial and political odds, I am proud of the campaign we waged and the influence we had on the issues that matter most to the future of this country.

A year ago, we were the only major campaign calling for the removal of all of our troops within a year's time from Iraq. We were the only campaign calling for a complete reform of education in this country, including the scrapping of No Child Left Behind. And we were the campaign with the most aggressive clean energy plan and the most ambitious standards for reducing global warming.
Now, all of the remaining candidates are coming to our point of view. I am confident that the next President of the United States will implement much of what we've been urging for the last twelve months, and our nation and world will be the better for it.

There are so many of you who gave so much to this campaign. For that, I will be forever grateful. Running for president has been, at times, humbling and at other times, exhilarating. I have grown and learned a great deal from the experience, and I am a better person for it.

Also, because of your close friendship and support throughout the ups and downs of what is a very grueling and demanding process, I have never felt alone.

Running for president brings out the best in everyone who graces the stage, and I have learned much from the other candidates running. They have all brought great talents and abilities to the campaign.

Senator Biden's passion and intellect are remarkable.

Senator Dodd is the epitome of selfless dedication to public service and the Democratic Party.

Senator Edwards is a singular voice for the most downtrodden and forgotten among us.

Senator Obama is a bright light of hope and optimism at a time of great national unease, yet he is also grounded in thoughtful wisdom beyond his years.

Senator Clinton's poise in the face of adversity is matched only by her lifetime of achievement and deep understanding of the challenges we face.

Representative Kucinich is a man of great decency and dedication who will faithfully soldier on no matter how great the odds.

And all of us in the Democratic Party owe Senator Mike Gravel our appreciation for his leadership during the national turmoil of Vietnam.

I am honored to have shared the stage with each of these Democrats. And I am enormously grateful to all of my supporters who chose to stand with me despite so many other candidates of accomplishment and potential.

Now that my time in this national campaign has come to an end, I would urge those who supported my candidacy to take a long and thoughtful look at the remaining Democrats. They are all strong contenders who each, in their own way, would bring desperately needed change to our country. All I ask is that you make your own independent choice with the same care and dedication to this country that you honored me with during this campaign. At this time, I will not endorse any candidate.

Now I am returning to a job that I love, serving a state that I cherish and doing the work of the people I was elected to serve. As I have always said, I am the luckiest man I know. I am married to my high school sweetheart. I live in a place called the Land of Enchantment. I have the best job in the world. And I just got to run for president of the United States.

It doesn't get any better than that.

With my deepest appreciation for all that you have done,

Bill
Governor Bill Richardson
The Governor's Mansion
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Tonight Talk to Governor Richardson

Dear Richardson supporter,

Out here in Iowa it feels like we're in the middle of a whirlwind -- there is so much going on, and so much to do in the 8 days leading up to the Iowa caucuses.

And the Governor wants to tell you about it personally. Can you join the Governor, me and Amanda tonight on a conference call?

The call begins at 9:20 PM ET / 7:20 PM MT.

Please RSVP if you can join.

At this point we're trying to reach out to as many voters as possible, and this is something we're hoping you can help out with. Just this morning hundreds of Richardson Roadrunners left New Mexico to join us in Iowa in this last sprint to the caucuses. I understand you all can't personally make it to Iowa this week, but I hope you'll take a few moments to help the Governor get his message out from wherever you are by joining our voter contact team.

We have built an online tool to allow people to phone Iowa voters and talk to them about the issues and the Governor's record. These are critical contacts in these last few days as undecided caucus goers are making up their mind. Every voter you call for the Governor helps us maintain our momentum and brings more Iowans into the Richardson camp.

And, you can make these calls on your own time, at your own pace, from your own home. It is easy, with the scripts, tips, and the answer responses all built in.

Go to http://www.richardsonforpresident.com/calliowa now and get your first few people to call.

Thank you for all your help -- and I hope you can join us tonight on the conference call.

Talk to you soon --

Dave

What if Governor Richardson is just genuine?

The most annoying thing about being a Richardson supporter is that people say he'd be great for VP, but can't articulate it. In fact, that "conventional wisdom" has colored everything in this campaign. He won't attack Hillary because he wants to be her VP. He jumps on other candidates for being negative and it is only because he angling for someone's VP. Lately, Governor Richardson has rightly been turning up the heat on other candidates to guarantee a US departure from Iraq. Patrick Healy assumes that is because Governor Richardson blasted Hillary Clinton for flip-flopping on her position, that he is no longer in the running for her VP.

Or maybe, as Chris Bowers says, it is because Governor Richardson is genuinely angry about keeping US troops in Iraq.

If you want troops out before 2013, vote for Governor Richardson for President!

Personal Touch for Richardson in Envoy Role

The New York Times did a great article about Governor Richardson's experience as UN ambassador and as Secretary of Energy. It is further evidence that he has more experience than the rest of the Democratic field combined.

Iraq: The Elephant in the Room

Governor Richardson writes over at Huffington Post that we cannot let Iraq fall by the wayside as an issue.

No other single problem is as crippling to this country right now as the war in Iraq. Our ongoing troop presence is preventing a real Iraqi reconciliation. Maintaining 170,000 troops in Iraq not only stretches our military to the breaking point, it keeps us from having the troops available to deal with other emerging crises -- whether it is peace keeping or disaster response.

We are spending upwards of $10 billion dollars a month in Iraq.

It is folly to believe we can continue on this path and conduct the necessary overhauls to children's insurance, health care, and our schools. It will be almost impossible to deal with global warming and lead the world in a new energy revolution while weighed down by the financial and diplomatic costs of the on-going war in Iraq.

We can't let ending the war become the "forgotten issue" in this campaign, and we can't let it continue. The costs are just too high.

The Governor is quite right to not let this issue go by the wayside. No Democrat can move forward with their domestic or international agenda if we continue to occupy Iraq at $10,000,000,000 a month. Make sure to sign his petition and help the campaign.

Two great posts on Richardson's Iowa victory plan

Bill Richardson's Blueprint For Victory In Iowa

and

Bill Richardson's Lay of the Iowa Land

"Clinton Slips as Richardson Gains Momentum."

I has been a good week for the Richardson campaign. The Governor got rave reviews for his debate performance. Then, recent polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire have shown a solid and sustained upward surge in support.

In fact, the news has been so exciting lately that Dave Contarino, the campaign manager, sent out this e-mail earlier today.

I hadn't planned on any more e-mails before the holiday, but one of our volunteers in New Hampshire sent me this link from a television station in Manchester and I wanted to pass it along:

WMUR poll

First of all, I love the headline: "Clinton Slips as Richardson Gains Momentum."

But what it shows is even more important. It says that Bill Richardson has "made the most headway" of any of the Democratic candidates and has doubled his support in New Hampshire since the summer. He is now statistically even with John Edwards and closing in on Senator Obama.

It also featured a nice quote from the Governor:

"I have campaigned everywhere, shook so many hands and visited so many New Hampshire towns," Richardson said. "I love doing it, but when you see the fruits of your labor producing momentum, that's where I want to be."

Richardson said he thinks voters are making the connection that he's qualified to bring change to the country.

"What's happening in New Hampshire is they are seeing me as a candidate who has serious experience -- as a governor, as a diplomat and as a secretary of energy," Richardson said. "That I've been able to bring change."

But perhaps the most important number in the poll is how many New Hampshire voters still don't know who they're going to vote for in the primary: a whopping 47%!

That's a huge number. And it supports the point we've been talking about for months. No matter what the pundits say, this race is still wide open.

I'm sure you're thinking more about tomorrow than next January right now. But as somebody who has played a big role in creating this momentum, I thought you'd like to know about it before you started your holiday.

I'm heading back to New Mexico tonight to be with my family but let me wish you a Happy Thanksgiving from everyone in the campaign!

All the best,

Dave

And all this positive news has John Nichols over at The Nation saying, "NH PRIMARY: KEEP AN EYE ON RICHARDSON...". The key graft is:

And then there is Richardson, who has been campaigning aggressively in New Hampshire as an anti-war candidate -- promising to bring all U.S. troops home from Iraq in short order.

In September, Richardson was at 6 percent. Now, he is at 12 percent.

That's a dramatic jump when the two CNN/WMUR polls are compared. But it appears to be the continuation of a pattern of improvement for Richardson that becomes clearer when the Boston Globe survey from earlier this month is factored in. That survey showed the New Mexico governor moving from 6 percent in September to 10 percent.

So we've got two polls tracking an uptick for Richardson from 6 percent to 10 percent to 12 percent.

If the pattern holds, the New Mexican will easily overtake Edwards and could begin closing in on Obama by the time New Hampshire holds its first in the nation primary.

It is worth noting that, according to the polls, Richardson is now viewed as more experienced than either Obama or Edwards by the New Hampshire voters. His numbers are dramatically up in other categories, as well, especially on measures of trust -- the New Mexican now leads Clinton in this category.

Richardson's move into double digits in New Hampshire parallels his under-covered rise in the first caucus state of Iowa. While much of the discussion about recent polls from that state has focused on the news that Obama has moved narrowly ahead of Clinton -- they are actually in a statistical tie -- some of the most interesting movement in the first-caucus state has been toward Richardson, who is now at 11 percent.

Richardson has a long way to go to win the nomination, but he is the only candidate moving in the right direction. What more do you need to hear to cast your support behind him?