Bill Richardson Email

[Catchawave]

This made me tear up, gonna miss the guy....


Dear (subscriber),

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

[Muttocracy]

1. What a great letter. Well done, Governor. We should take that to heart.

[rox63]

2. Very gracious farewell

He's one of the good ones. :)

[livetohike]

3. Thanks for posting this

He has class.

[dmallind]

4. Yep that's a good'un

Both the guy and the letter. I don't feel like I wasted the money I sent, and although he did not campaign and debate as well as I had hoped - which I cannot explain as he has always been a very competent debater before - I am glad he got the message out at least a little bit. Personally I would have suggested he stay in till 2/5, even running a minimal campaign, but this way gets him back to his real job sooner I guess and obviously he was never going to win.

Pity.

[dmallind]

5. Yep that's a good'un

Both the guy and the letter. I don't feel like I wasted the money I sent, and although he did not campaign and debate as well as I had hoped - which I cannot explain as he has always been a very competent debater before - I am glad he got the message out at least a little bit. Personally I would have suggested he stay in till 2/5, even running a minimal campaign, but this way gets him back to his real job sooner I guess and obviously he was never going to win.

Pity.

[ceile]

6. Too bad....

He is (was) the only candidate I could really get behind.

[Catchawave]

9. That's what was touching about the letter

Get behind a Democrat, they're all great! Even a shout out to Gravel, very classy.

[CarolNYC]

7. I was just coming here to post it as well...

What a classy letter...Very nicely done.

[flpoljunkie]

8. Very gracious words for all our candidates. A very classy statement from Richardson.

[ronnykmarshall]

10. Let's see who tries and pull a "hidden" endorsement in that.

[Catchawave]

11. LOL....I saw it as "leaving all my options open"

in a very classy way :hi:

[seasat]

12. I was just about to post that. It was a very classy withdrawal.

I was pretty sure that he would withdraw after the fourth place in NH. He's a realist and short of a major melt down by at least two of the top three, he didn't have a chance. I changed my avatar that night from a Richardson 2008 to a yellow dog. I'll support whoever is the nominee and will probably vote for Obama in our meaningless FL primary.

IMHO, he was the best of the bunch and would have made a great president. I really liked how he complimented every candidate. He did accomplish the goal of moving the other candidates towards his position of complete and immediate withdrawal from Iraq. I hope he is used by either Obama or Clinton in some capacity. They need to listen to him on foreign policy. His ideas are the change that our country needs.

With the exception of his first rough debate performances and terrible "Press the Meat" interview, he ran a pretty good campaign. The only thing I can really fault him on is that he should have hired some debate and media consultants before the start of the campaign to prep him for "Timmeh" style interviews and the debates. He needed a really good start in this shortened media dominated campaign season. His name recognition was lower than everyone except Gravel from the start. Yet he ended up a solid fourth in most polls. Being a state governor, he couldn't transfer funds from his previous campaign to his presidential campaign like the senators could. Yet he ran some very solid fund raising numbers pulling from a diverse group of individuals. His moderate fiscal positions and support for the 2nd amendment cost him votes from the left and his liberal foreign policy, environmental, civil liberty, and education policy cost him votes from the right. He didn't compromise and pandered the least of most politicians I've seen. He would have done great as a candidate in a general election.

[Rainbowreflect]

13. I received that as well. I am so sad he is ending his campaign.

He was my second choice and I honestly believe our best chance for winning in 2008 & moving our country forward.

[jillan]

14. And we are lucky to have Richardson on our side.

What a great letter :(