More Bill Richardson's Quest

• Presidential campaigns court Richardson's big-name New Mexico backers
• TRIB TALK
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McCain down, Richardson up

In a syndicated op-ed, Cokie and Steve V. Roberts said John McCain's presidential star is falling while Richardson's is rising.

They cited Richardson's fund-raising success and appeal to "MoveOn.org" voters, who ranked him second to John Edwards after a recent online forum. Besides that, the Robertses note Richardson's résumé, along with his considerable energy - figure it, the guy turns 60 next fall. By contrast, they said McCain has yet to find a campaign message, is cozying up to far-right Christians he once shunned, and seems to have lost his zest.

"McCain and Richardson have the same bank balances, but their similarities end there. In the political marketplace today, one is a junk bond, the other a growth stock."

Something good about Texas

A blogger named "Jobsanger" analyzed Texans' presidential donations and deduced that Richardson is doing best of all the Dems in West Texas cities - the ones most likely to be familiar with his New Mexico work. Here's that breakout:

Bill Richardson: $127,996

John Edwards: $50,880

Hillary Clinton: $18,775

Barack Obama: $10,514

Dennis Kucinich: $205

"This makes me think that Bill Richardson has a really good chance of making up a lot of ground when the debates start, and he is able to get his message out to a wider audience."

Maybe, but there's a lot of ground to be made up. Across the miles and miles of Texas, here's the total fund-raising haul:

John Edwards: $1.5 million

Hillary Clinton: $1.2 million

Barack Obama: $695,289

Bill Richardson: $396,946

Christopher Dodd: $53,525

Joseph Biden: $35,647

Dennis Kucinich: $2,480

Mike Gravel: $135

Wooing in Iowa

Mike Hlas of the Cedar Rapids Gazette covered Richardson's attempt to woo Iowans with humor last week. Among his lines at a senior center: "I'm going door-to-door. Well, door-to-door is a little difficult. I just drove up from Des Moines. There weren't too many doors when I drove up."

Hlas points out that Iowa skews old, so loving up those seniors was a wise move. Even if it makes you lose your mind. According to Hlas' story:

"During his address to the Cedar Rapids crowd, he struggled to remember the name of a regional economic agency.

"`It's hell to get old,' Richardson said about himself. Now that got a laugh."

Snubbed by his own

Las Cruces blogger and, debuting this Wednesday, Tribune columnist Heath Haussamen wrote about an online "Roll Call" article that said Hispanic congressfolk aren't lining up behind Richardson, despite his Hispanicness and former congressfolkness.

"(T)he publication reports that Richardson `has made no major outreach efforts in recent months' to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus," Haussamen wrote. "Richardson's deputy campaign manager, Amanda Cooper, told `Roll Call' that's because the governor isn't focused on endorsements right now, and is instead focused on grass-roots campaigning."