http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080110/ap_po/richardson_6

AP: Richardson to end presidential bid

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson ended his campaign for the presidency Wednesday after twin fourth-place finishes that showed his impressive credentials could not compete with his rivals' star power.

Richardson planned to announce the decision Thursday, according to two people close to the governor with knowledge of the decision. They spoke on a condition of anonymity in advance of the governor's announcement.

Richardson's campaign would not comment on the governor's decision, reached after a meeting with his top advisers Wednesday in New Mexico.

Richardson had one of the most wide-ranging resumes of any candidate ever to run for the presidency, bringing experience from his time in Congress, President Clinton's Cabinet, in the New Mexico Statehouse as well as his unique role as a freelance diplomat. As a Hispanic, he added to the unprecedented diversity in the Democratic field that also included a black man and a woman.

But Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama dominated the spotlight in the campaign, and Richardson was never able to become a top-tier contender. He accused his rivals of failing to commit to bring troops home from Iraq soon enough.

He portrayed his campaign as a job application for president, and ran clever ads that showed a bored interviewer unimpressed with his dazzling resume. The commercials helped fuel his move to double-digit support in some early state polls, and advisers argued he was poised to move past former vice presidential nominee John Edwards for the role of third-place challenger.

But he was not able to build the momentum and came in a distant fourth place in Iowa and New Hampshire. Richardson didn't get quite 5 percent in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday and came in with just 2 percent in the Iowa caucus last week.

Edwards congratulated Richardson, saying he had run a good race.

"He was a very good candidate, a serious candidate ... I congratulate him. He ought to be proud of what he's done," Edwards said in Columbia, S.C. He pledged anew to remain a candidate himself, and said Richardson's decision means Democrats in South Carolina will get to choose on Jan. 26 from three candidates who are running vigorous campaigns.

"What's happened is, over time the race is becoming more focused. I think that's good for democracy. I think this thing's going on for a long time," Edwards said. "I assume the other two are. I know I am. I'm in it for the long haul."

Richardson was born 60 years ago in Pasadena, Calif., after his American father sent his Mexican mother there to give birth and erase any doubts that his son would be a U.S. citizen. His father was an international banker from Boston, and Richardson spent his childhood in Mexico City before being sent to boarding school in Massachusetts, where he was a standout baseball player.

After graduating from Tufts University in 1971 with a master's degree in international affairs, Richardson worked first as a congressional aide and then for the State Department. He was a staffer for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when he decided to leave Washington in 1978 to launch a political career.

Richardson settled in New Mexico partly because of the state's large Hispanic population, and he won election to the House. Richardson is a master negotiator, and put his diplomatic skills to work to rescue Americans held hostage abroad. He earned a reputation for a mix of patience, toughness and cultural sensitivity that served him well on mercy missions from North Korea to Cuba to Sudan.

President Clinton recruited Richardson to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, then secretary of Energy two years later.

He was easily elected to two terms as governor but will be forced from office by term limits in 2010. His closest advisers hope that even if his presidential campaign didn't bring him many votes, it built his reputation so that he'll one day be able to add even more to his resume.

According to the reports I saw, Richardson denied this story.

Here's an updated article from this morning from CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/09/ric....out/index.html

updated 12:46 a.m. EST, Thu January 10, 2008

New Mexico Gov. Richardson will drop out of '08 race, sources say

Story Highlights

Richardson drew 5 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses

New Mexico governor was trailing Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

A public announcement was planned Thursday, a strategist says


(CNN) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will quit the race for the Democratic presidential nomination after fourth-place showings in the campaign's first contests, sources said Wednesday.

A party strategist says "The numbers are the reason" for Richardson's departure -- a lack of votes and money.

Richardson, who served as United Nations ambassador and energy secretary in the Clinton administration, drew 5 percent of the vote in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.

He received 2 percent in last week's Iowa caucuses, far behind leading Democratic senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

"The numbers are the reason -- not enough votes and not enough money," a Democratic strategist involved in the campaign told CNN.

However, "He enjoyed it and believes he made a contribution," the strategist said.

A second source close to Richardson confirmed the governor's plans to CNN.

His campaign had no comment on the sources' accounts, but the party strategist said a public announcement was planned Thursday in New Mexico.

As of September, Richardson had raised about $19 million during his White House bid and had spent about $13 million of that, according to Federal Election Commission records.

A year-end report is due at the end of January

In New Hampshire on Tuesday night, Richardson was looking ahead to the Nevada caucuses on January 19.

"We head out West, and the fight goes on," he told a crowd of cheering supporters. "And we will continue to raise the issue of getting all our troops out of Iraq, and America becoming a clean-energy nation, and getting rid of No Child Left Behind."

CNN's John King, Candy Crowley and Mark Preston contributed to this report.

Bill Richardson is a good man and I believe we haven't seen the last of him. Perhaps he will be a US Senator from New Mexico or a cabinet member for the next President. :D