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SANTA FE — He meant it in jest, but Gov. Bill Richardson's first sentence of the night might have reflected his position in the 2008 presidential campaign.

"By the way, I'm Bill Richardson, I'm governor of New Mexico. Nice to meet you, Wolf," Richardson said after being called on for the first time Thursday night, 25 minutes into the Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Nev.

The debate, hosted by CNN's Wolf Blitzer, at first was dominated by bickering between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Richardson was trying for a lighthearted moment.

But there's little doubt the governor needs better name recognition in Nevada so he won't still be introducing himself when that state's Democratic caucuses roll around Jan. 19.

His remark was telling, political analysts said.

"He introduced himself, and it's fairly late in the game to be introducing himself," said Mark Wrighton, chairman of the Millikin University political science department in Decatur, Ill.

"If it's seven weeks away (until the Iowa caucus) and you're still introducing yourself, that's a symptom of the crisis he finds himself in," Wrighton said.

The debate was conducted at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and was the first in the Silver State for the 2008 election.

While Richardson, who turned 60 on Thursday, has struggled to separate himself from the other Democratic contenders in past debates, he got an opportunity to distinguish his candidacy on an issue that is front and center in Nevada: immigration.

The governor spoke out against a wall being constructed along the U.S.-Mexico border and said "we should stop demonizing immigrants."

Does he support driver's licenses for immigrants?

"My answer is yes, and I did it. You know why? Because the Congress . . . also failed miserably to pass comprehensive reform," he said.

Richardson signed a measure in 2003 that allows immigrants in New Mexico to use a Mexican government-issued identification card to get a license. Newer state rules require an additional form of identification from immigrants seeking a license. A handful of states have similar license laws.

The license question came up after a debate last month in which Clinton gave a jumbled answer about whether she supports licenses for immigrants. The issue has been contention in her home state, New York. On Thursday, she answered no.

But most of the post-debate attention will go to Clinton's answer Thursday rather than what Richardson said, predicted University of New Mexico political science professor Christine Sierra.

"He seized the chance to be much clearer on immigration issues, but the focus will be on Hillary saying no, not Richardson saying yes," she said.

Richardson might have trouble getting national media attention for the rest of his answers, too, Wrighton said.

"I think the problem continues to be that unless you watched (the debate) or were there, no one else is likely to hear those lines," he said.

That's because the national news media are focused on the front-runners, Wrighton and others said.

It might also be because Richardson is polling poorly in places like Nevada, where 5 percent of Democrats in the most recent CNN poll favored him to be the Democratic nominee.

"I think he's got a long way to go at this point," said University of Nevada at Las Vegas political science professor David Damore.

"It's going to be tough for him," Damore said, because the Richardson campaign recently transferred some of its Nevada staff to Iowa.

But Richardson has frequented the state more than some candidates and is getting to know residents like Jo Ann Orange, who met the governor in January in Minden.

"I personally think that of all the Democratic candidates, he's probably got the most experience, especially in foreign policy," said Orange, who is the public relations chairwoman for the Douglas County Democratic Central Committee.

"The problem that I think is the governor's biggest drawback is he doesn't perform well in debates," Orange said. "When he's answering questions, he even has this look on his face like he's pained."

Richardson did some squinting during Thursday's debate but seemed less fidgety than in past debates.

Could he have done any better in Las Vegas?

Wrighton didn't think so.

"Other than physically getting in between Clinton and Obama to get in the highlight reel, no," he said.