RICHARDSON LOSES SC CO-CHAIR

[PatSeg]

This may have been posted before. If so, I apologize for the redundancy.

<rom NBC/NJ’s Carrie Dann
Gov. Bill Richardson's proposal for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq has won him accolades from the anti-war left and in the blogosphere, but it lost him a key supporter in primary state South Carolina today. State Rep. Fletcher Smith of Greenville County, formerly a co-chair for Richardson's South Carolina campaign, announced this morning that he is endorsing Sen. Joe Biden instead.

Smith told NBC News/National Journal that he became concerned about his support of Richardson after hearing the governor advocate for a six-month timeline to for withdrawal from Iraq.

"Those of us who have had some idea about military evacuations understand that you cannot redeploy troops, or take troops out, or evacuate them within a six-month period of time," he said, adding that Richardson's plan could bring about the same morale-damaging image evoked when Americans were airlifted from Saigon in 1975. "We do not need a Vietnam-style evacuation.”>

snip

<Smith said neither Richardson nor Biden has raised money on the representative's behalf.>

More at: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/06/400441.aspx

[jillan]

1. ouch!

That had to hurt.

[PatSeg]

6. Richardson took some risks by promising to get the troops

out of Iraq in an unrealistic time frame. He should have known better.

[gateley]

2. I'm sorry to hear that. Richardson sincerely believes in his plan and he does

offer some good strategy. I am pleased for Biden, of course, but kind of sad it's at Richardson's expense.

[PatSeg]

3. Yes it is

Richardson is a decent guy and I'm sure it was a difficult decision for Smith to make, but it appears to be a genuine one, not based on political considerations. Its not like he defected to a front runner.

[slick8790]

4. No sympathy here.

Richardson made an irresponsible statement, and he has to pay the price. He tried to distinguish himself from the frontrunners at any cost, and paid the price. Biden played it right and is reaping the benefits.

I like biden a lot. He's not my first choice, but he's easily second or tied for third.

*edit* spelling.

[PatSeg]

5. This is true

When it comes to something as serious as the war, one cannot say something that appears to be politically expedient. It is especially disappointing coming from someone with extensive foreign policy experience.