Iowa: Richardson rising, but top tier is a tough climb

[Adelante]

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In Iowa, Richardson has moved from 1 percent support in the state to a middle tier all his own. That's more movement than any other Democratic candidate has seen this year.

According to data maintained by the Web site RealClearPolitics.com, the average of all recent polls of likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers has Hillary Clinton at 25.4 percent; John Edwards at 24.6 percent, Barack Obama at 19.9 percent and Richardson at 11.6 percent. The single most recent survey pegged Richardson at 14 percent in the state, just 8 points behind Obama.

Richardson's rise in the state raises two questions: Why did it happen? And can he sustain it as other single-digit candidates such as Joe Biden and Chris Dodd start moving?

Richardson has set the ambitious goal of finishing in the top three contenders in Iowa, which means he has to beat Clinton, Edwards or Obama, a feat that would deal an almost mortal blow to one of them and slingshot him into serious contention.

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He lit his campaign rocket in Iowa with some early, humorous television ads. Several in his Coe College audience here told him they loved the commercials.

But caucus campaigns are more than just air wars. It takes a ground game, too, and Richardson seems to love retail campaigning. He's done more than 50 town meetings, including his often lighthearted talk-a-thon here Tuesday night. He calls them "job interviews," to dovetail with his paid media message.

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070830/OPINION01/708300365/1035/OPINION

[Broke Dad]

1. I saw Richardson at Coe College

He is funny, glib, self-deprecating.

It took him 45 minutes just to state what he would accomplish in his first six days in office. I was impressed, but left wondering if he could get any of it through a divided Congress, especially with Hillary, Dodd and Biden in the Senate.

He threw out a lot of what I call "urban legend" figures in his Coe College speech. A couple of times, I wanted to shout "Where did you get that statistic?"

[Adelante]

2. He's a charmer, for sure

It's easy to see how retail politics suits him.