In the Darwinian struggle for position in the game called King of the Primary Mountain, one of the fastest ways to rise in stature is the ability to bring an opponent down. So far in this extended primary season, The Democrats haven’t been quite as insistent on this tried and true practice as the Republicans (I miss the regular snits between Sam Brownback and Mitt Romney) but we are starting to see some regular salvos (beyond Mike Gravel who is clearly just a loose cannon).
Dennis Kucinich is criticizing all his Democratic rivals (especially on Iraq and health care) and John Edwards has been particularly tough on Hillary Clinton (who, with the exception of few jabs at Obama, has been rather quiet in her quest to run an inevitability campaign), and there’s feisty Chris Dodd who keeps his communications people with a regular supply of statements and cirtical punches at almost of his rivals. His latest target is Bill Richardson who insists on pulling all the troops out of Iraq but leaving some behind to well, protect the civilians left behind.
Seems sensible but the Dodd folks jumped on this tactic as just the sort of thing that should disqualify Richardson from being the Dems nominee. Richardson’s sin, according to the press release I’ve pasted below is that he’s not smart enough to endorse Dodd’s "efforts in the Senate."
Surely this is a joke given that the "efforts" in the Senate are an exercise in political futility. Your humble Primary Pundit detects politics at play: namely the real reason for such outrage is that Richardson is rising to top three level in the polls. In an interesting story in the Oct. 8 Nation, John Nichols senses that Richardson may be surging at the right time — in part because of the combination of his strong anti-war stance and extensive diplomatic may be attracting more Democratic voters than the polls are reflecting. Read the story yourself here.
HERE’S THE DODD CAMPAIGN RELEASE FROM EARLIER TODAY
Today, the Richardson campaign launched a new website claiming that Bill Richardson was the only candidate that had a plan for Iraq that would leave “zero” troops behind. However, just last week it was reported that Richardson would leave troops behind to protect the embassy, and earlier in the summer he suggested that he would leave up to 5,000 troops to do so.
Richardson Claims He Would Leave “Zero” Troops in Iraq, But Just Last Week The Associated Press Reported that He Would Actually Leave Troops Behind to Protect the American Embassy in Iraq:
Richardson Claims He Would Leave “Zero” Troops in Iraq. According to Richardson’s new attack website, www.GetOurTroopsOut.com, Richardson would leave “zero” troops in Iraq. [Richardson Attack Website, www.GetOurTroopsOut.com, accessed 9/24/07]
Richardson Will Leave Troops in Iraq to Protect the Embassy. On September 20th, the Associated Press reported that Richardson would keep troops in Iraq to protect the American embassy: “Richardson criticized Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards - his leading rivals for the presidential nomination - for plans to pull out combat troops from Iraq but leave residual forces behind. He said he would keep the Marines that guard the U.S. embassy in Baghdad but would withdraw all other military personnel.” [Associated Press, 9/20/07]
Richardson Suggested that He Would Support Keeping Up to 5,000 Troops in Iraq to Guard the Embassy. In a July interview with Salon.com, Richardson suggested that he would support keeping up to 5,000 troops in Iraq to protect the American Embassy: “But if it said 1,000 [troops] to protect the American embassy, that’s fine with me. It’s a Marine detachment. It’s part of our diplomatic corps. I wouldn’t even consider that a residual force. Of course I would permit that. But residual forces -- 5,000 to guard an embassy -- that means that the embassy is not safe. I would pull the embassy if it is not safe.” [Salon.com, 7/20/07]
“Throwing up attack websites that try to draw false distinctions for political gain won’t end this war. Bill Richardson would be better served if he threw his support behind Senator Dodd’s efforts in the Senate that would actually end this war,” said Dodd spokesperson Colleen Flanagan.
END OF RELEASE
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