NPR: Richardson Finds Few Supporters in Nevada

Richardson Finds Few Supporters in Nevada

It's lonely at the bottom, too.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has been counting on a good showing in Nevada. He's visited the state more than any other candidate ... of either party. Yet a new Mason-Dixon poll released Sunday has him at only seven percent in the state.

Saturday he addressed a largely Latino crowd in Las Vegas, only most of them weren't there to see him. They were there for a Mockus, what the Nevada Democratic Party calls the many trainings sessions they've been conducting in advance of the state's first-ever January caucuses. (They're on the 19th).

Richardson looked out at a crowd where "Hillary" and "Obama" signs far outnumbered signs with his name. He was greeted with warmth, but the crowd was silent during his talk about Western issues and immigration. Anti-war talk was the only thing that got them going. It's another sign that national issues outweigh local ones here.

- Ina Jaffe

2:47 PM ET | 12- 9-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Anti-war talk was the only thing that got them going. It's another sign that national issues outweigh local ones here. - Ina Jaffe

It's also a sign that the antiwar vote isn't going to materialize on election day.

I'm here in New Mexico, Governor Richardson was the first Democrat to come out saying that he was going to pull the troops out of Iraq. Point blank.

Hillary and Obama have never said any such thing.

Nobody paid any attention to Richardson when he said those words. Like I said, the anti-war movement doesn't really exist.

Which is cool. The people of New Mexico like Bill Richardson as their governor.

Anyway, Tom.....keep an eye out for the hacker who is using my name. I sent you an email on it last night, and this morning. Once the hackers start fooling around with the blog, nothing but trouble follows on down the road.

Onward and sideways like a sidewinder.

fred call

Anyway

Sent by fred call | 9:32 AM ET | 12-15-2007

Ironic aspect I've discovered watching the so-called political anti-war advocates around here is that when a politician announces he has a plan to withdraw the troops from Iraq, you anti-war junkies are so busy screaming how corrupt Bush is, you don't hear the politician speaking words of troop withdrawal.

Such was the case with the first Democratic Debate, the one before the Democrats came to debate for NPR. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson not only said he had a plan how to withdraw the troops from Iraq, he was the only Democrat in that debate who professed having such a plan.

Nobody here heard him. Nobody around here ever wrote, "Hey, Bill Richardson is the anti-war Democratic candidate." Nobody around here in the anti-war ranks never, ever even mentioned Bill Richardson.

Except I did. And nobody listened.

There's instead been a lot of talk about the magic of religion. Like, somehow the anti-war advocates assuaged their guilty consciences by talking a lot about religion. You were feeling guilty cause you talked anti-war, but you never listened to anyone else talk anti-war. So, no anti-war ever got done. You felt guilty. You talked religion.

Okay, here's a comment Norman Mailer made about the magic of religion. Thought I'd share it with all you anti-war nuts.

MAILER: I think it began somewhere back with primitive man, when the first mediocrity discovered he could get power over men stronger than himself by employing magic for control over others rather than using magic for communion with his existence. Jacques Ellul, in his book The Technological Society, suggests that the beginning of all scientific technique came from a perversion of primitive magic.

fred camorra call

Sent by fred camorra call | 10:17 PM ET | 12-15-2007

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