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Gov. Bill Richardson's New England supporters stick by their man
Associated Press/M. Spencer Green
Democratic presidential hopeful Gov. Bill Richardson shakes hands with the crowd as Sen. Barack Obama prepares to take the stage behind him. The candidates were at the 100 Club Dinner, a statewide New Hampshire Democratic Party fund-raiser in Manchester, on Friday in advance of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary.
Who's in the debate?
NEW YORK - ABC News is eliminating Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter and Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel from its prime-time presidential debates tonight because they did not meet benchmarks for their support.
Also missing from the Democratic debate will be Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, who dropped out of the race Thursday night after faring poorly in Iowa.
The Democratic debate three days before the New Hampshire primary will include Iowa caucus winner Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Gov. Bill Richardson.
It will not be broadcast locally but can be viewed online at koat.com, starting at 5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
Before the Democrats take the stage in Manchester, N.H., Republicans Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul will hold their own forum.
ABC anchor Charles Gibson will moderate both debates.
To be included in the debates, candidates had to meet at least one of three criteria: place first through fourth in Iowa, poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major New Hampshire surveys, or poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major national surveys.
Associated Press
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WASHINGTON — Gov. Bill Richardson's New Hampshire supporters are hoping for a miracle comeback in Tuesday's primary, but they are not optimistic.
"I don't think he will be, but it would be nice to see him in the running. His campaign has not really been doing a thing," said Stan Holz, owner of Village Gun Store in Whitefield, N.H., in a phone interview.
Holz, who finds the New Mexico governor to be the only Democrat with a "reasonably good" record on guns, was one of the Democrats tagged as a "prominent" supporter by the Richardson campaign last year.
Heading that list was Democratic state Rep. John Cloutier of Claremont, who said tonight's debate on ABC will be crucial for Richardson's chances to slip past former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards to capture third place on Tuesday and move on to the West and the Nevada caucuses Jan. 19.
"I don't know why the press doesn't cover him better, but he's going to be in the debate. I still believe in him. I believe he has a very bold platform," said Cloutier.
Rep. Dave Scannell of Manchester said he was with a group of fellow Richardson supporters Thursday night and no one said they were switching to another candidate.
"They're going to stand with the governor. He has the experience and leadership," Scannell said.
Carl Martland said he and his wife, who is the Democratic town leader in Sugar Hill, have already voted absentee for Richardson.
"We know that New Hampshire people are pretty independent and they vote what they think. I think it's going to be unlikely they are going to be overly swayed by what happened in Iowa," Martland said.
Richardson finished a distant fourth with 2 percent of the delegates coming out of the Iowa caucuses. Illinois Democrat Sen. Barack Obama won 38 percent to 29.8 percent for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and 29.5 percent for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. Two Democratic senators, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joe Biden of Delaware, got so little support they dropped out.
No recent poll in New Hampshire has shown Richardson with more than single digits.
The Richardson campaign contends that tonight's debate format should benefit Richardson.
Instead of all eight original Democratic candidates being spread out on a stage behind lecterns, just four candidates will be seated in a semi-circle around moderator Charles Gibson, who said he plans to focus on three issues in the 90-minute debate.
Dave Contarino, Richardson's campaign manager, said that format should allow Richardson to contrast his position on Iraq with Clinton, Obama and Edwards.
"We're the only candidate left with any executive experience or serious foreign policy experience. We're the only candidate who has a plan to get troops out of Iraq quickly. I think it's a format that will serve the governor well," Contarino said.
Contarino was noncommittal on Richardson's ad strategy for the final days or how much money Richardson has left.
"We're in this for the long haul," he said.
Richardson said in an interview on MSNBC that he believes has a good shot at third place.
"I feel that New Hampshirites, they're very independent. And my message of ending the war - I want to end this war - is going to resonate here. I'm the only candidate that really has a plan to end the war."
University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said that as a "very savvy politician, Richardson knows his chances of actually winning the nomination are now minimal," but that his shot at vice president is "very much alive."
