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Debate gives guv chance to move from second tier
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Eclipse Clinton? Upstage Obama?
That's more than Gov. Bill Richardson should be trying for tonight in the first debate of Democratic presidential contenders, one political analyst says.
"There really are two debates," said University of California-Irvine political science professor Louis DeSipio. "There's the front-runners and then there's everybody else. What he has to do is distance himself from the `everybody elses.' "
Richardson joins the seven other candidates tonight in Orangeburg, S.C., for the debate, which will be televised live on MSNBC.
Candidates will get a minute to answer each question, and analysts say Richardson will need to pack in as much information about himself as he can.
"Richardson has got to get here and show his credentials," said Blease Graham, a political science professor at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. "He may be well qualified, but he's got to present his experience."
Also on Richardson's to-do list, the analysts say: charming a national audience while appealing to the locals.
South Carolina's primary is the fourth in the nation, on Jan. 29, 2008. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards won the state's last Democratic primary race, in which about 350,000 people voted. President Bush won the last general election there.
Richardson isn't considered a front-runner like Sen. Hillary Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama by Democratic strategists. He is seen as at or near the top of the second tier - somewhere behind Edwards.
Along with the national and local viewers, Richardson must impress another crucial audience, DeSipio said - reporters.
While he's answering questions and keeping track of all his various audiences, Richardson also should emphasize that he's from the West.
"He wants to be remembered as someone who is not from inside the Beltway," DeSipio said.
The event takes place at South Carolina State University. The theater holds 800 people and another 3,000 are expected to attend a watching party, organizers said. About 550 members of the news media will be credentialed for the debate.
Richardson said he's pacing himself.
"This is a marathon. This (primary) is 10 months away. I'm fine where I am," he said in Washington, D.C., after a meeting with the National Jewish Democratic Council on Wednesday.
"I don't want to be at the top right now," he said, recalling that Bill Clinton and John Kerry started out behind.
"I think through debates and through differences between the candidates that this field is going to narrow," he said.
Richardson said he was reading a lot and doing a lot of debate preparation.
"I am going to show that I'm the candidate who not only has the experience, but I've actually done things in the areas that need change in this country," said Richardson citing his work on energy efficiency, jobs and schools in New Mexico.
Tribune reporter James W. Brosnan contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
