I just received an email from the presidential campaign of Bill Richardson. The title? “Thank You”
And not only does Richardson thank his supporters, he applauds the others in the field:
Running for president brings out the best in everyone who graces the stage, and I have learned much from the other candidates running. They have all brought great talents and abilities to the campaign.
Senator Biden’s passion and intellect are remarkable.
Senator Dodd is the epitome of selfless dedication to public service and the Democratic Party.
Senator Edwards is a singular voice for the most downtrodden and forgotten among us.
Senator Obama is a bright light of hope and optimism at a time of great national unease, yet he is also grounded in thoughtful wisdom beyond his years.
Senator Clinton’s poise in the face of adversity is matched only by her lifetime of achievement and deep understanding of the challenges we face.
Representative Kucinich is a man of great decency and dedication who will faithfully soldier on no matter how great the odds.
And all of us in the Democratic Party owe Senator Mike Gravel our appreciation for his leadership during the national turmoil of Vietnam.
I am honored to have shared the stage with each of these Democrats.
This is the way that Democrats should be speaking of each other. Too bad Richardson will not be around to remind us.
The entire email is below the fold.
Dear Friend,It is with great pride, understanding and acceptance that I am ending my campaign for President of the United States. It was my hope that all of you would first hear this news from me and not a news organization. But unfortunately, as with too many things in our world today, it’s the ending of something that garners the most intense interest and speculation.I knew from the beginning that this would be an uphill climb. When I entered the campaign, it was clear that we, as Democrats, had the most talented field of candidates in my lifetime running to change the direction of our country. And in the end, one of them will.Despite overwhelming financial and political odds, I am proud of the campaign we waged and the influence we had on the issues that matter most to the future of this country.A year ago, we were the only major campaign calling for the removal of all of our troops within a year’s time from Iraq. We were the only campaign calling for a complete reform of education in this country, including the scrapping of No Child Left Behind. And we were the campaign with the most aggressive clean energy plan and the most ambitious standards for reducing global warming.Now, all of the remaining candidates are coming to our point of view. I am confident that the next President of the United States will implement much of what we’ve been urging for the last twelve months, and our nation and world will be the better for it.There are so many of you who gave so much to this campaign. For that, I will be forever grateful. Running for president has been, at times, humbling and at other times, exhilarating. I have grown and learned a great deal from the experience, and I am a better person for it.Also, because of your close friendship and support throughout the ups and downs of what is a very grueling and demanding process, I have never felt alone.
Running for president brings out the best in everyone who graces the stage, and I have learned much from the other candidates running. They have all brought great talents and abilities to the campaign.
Senator Biden’s passion and intellect are remarkable.
Senator Dodd is the epitome of selfless dedication to public service and the Democratic Party.
Senator Edwards is a singular voice for the most downtrodden and forgotten among us.
Senator Obama is a bright light of hope and optimism at a time of great national unease, yet he is also grounded in thoughtful wisdom beyond his years.
Senator Clinton’s poise in the face of adversity is matched only by her lifetime of achievement and deep understanding of the challenges we face.
Representative Kucinich is a man of great decency and dedication who will faithfully soldier on no matter how great the odds.
And all of us in the Democratic Party owe Senator Mike Gravel our appreciation for his leadership during the national turmoil of Vietnam.
I am honored to have shared the stage with each of these Democrats. And I am enormously grateful to all of my supporters who chose to stand with me despite so many other candidates of accomplishment and potential.
Now that my time in this national campaign has come to an end, I would urge those who supported my candidacy to take a long and thoughtful look at the remaining Democrats. They are all strong contenders who each, in their own way, would bring desperately needed change to our country. All I ask is that you make your own independent choice with the same care and dedication to this country that you honored me with during this campaign. At this time, I will not endorse any candidate.
Now I am returning to a job that I love, serving a state that I cherish and doing the work of the people I was elected to serve. As I have always said, I am the luckiest man I know. I am married to my high school sweetheart. I live in a place called the Land of Enchantment. I have the best job in the world. And I just got to run for president of the United States.
It doesn’t get any better than that.
With my deepest appreciation for all that you have done,
Bill
Governor Bill Richardson
The Governor’s Mansion
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Contributions are not tax deductible for Federal income tax purposes.
All content © 2007 Richardson for President, Inc.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
As someone who once lived in the Land of Enchantment and had the opportunity to spend some time with Bill Richardson, I gave him a lot of consideration but came to the conclusion that Barack Obama was better suited for the role of President. As he himself stated, “Senator Obama is a bright light of hope and optimism at a time of great national unease, yet he is also grounded in thoughtful wisdom beyond his years.”
And yes Vivian, he is a class act.
Obama also has ZERO experience. I’d be surprised if he’s even led a dog on a leash.
His bowing out bums me out. I was once asked, if I HAD to vote for a Democrat, who would I vote for, I answered Richardson. Sure I disagree with him on more than a few issues, but his experience domestically and world wide can not be ignored. He is a class act (As evident in his email and press conference) and works and plays well with others regardless of party.
I also found him to genuine.
FYI, my number 2 Dem, if I HAD to vote for one, was Biden. I know, hard to believe but I have to admit, I think his ideas on Iraq are good ones.
Ok, there are my two cents. If you like them, thank you. If you don’t, give me my change and GFYM 🙂
I hadn’t seen this. As a former New Mexican and (still a) supporter of Richardson, thanks for posting it.
Totally agree on the statements about the others in the field. I personally love how he doesn’t tell anyone who to vote for (yet), tells you to do your own research, and shows appreciation for where he is now and the opportunity he just had.
And it’s oh so typically down to earth. New Mexico (and probably the nation) keeps a good public servant.
I have a copy of the CD version of Richardson’s book, Between Worlds. It was pretty good, but I still don’t think Richardson’s record at the Department of Energy is anything to be proud of.
If any one wants the CD version of Richardson’s book just let me know and I will drop it in the mail to the first person who emails me and asks for it.
tyler.ballance@richmond.edu
Of course he “applauds others in the field.” The man has been silently screaming “appoint me Secretary of State” for months.
Brian – he applauded everyone, including Gravel. Now, are you thinking that Gravel has a shot at naming Richardson Sec of State?
As much of a shot as Hillary does 🙂
Bill Richardson was the best candidate that the Dems had, but he was probably the worst campaigner. Very disappointing. I’ll be saying the same thing about Fred Thompson soon enough I think.
Someone (Josh Marshall?) nailed it when he described Thompson as “taking Weekend at Bernie’s as a model for his campaign.”
I just noticed on Shawn O’Donnell’s site that he mentioned the letter but only quoted the blurb about how Obama’s a great guy, completely omitting the part where he says that *every* candidate should be praised and thanked for his/her service, thereby pretty much missing the whole point.
You stay classy, Shawn.
Someone (Josh Marshall?) nailed it when he described Thompson as “taking Weekend at Bernie’s as a model for his campaign.”
That sounds right to me. Too bad that the guy who showed up at last night’s debate wasn’t around for the last six months.
LOL … I’m a publicly endorsed supporter of Senator Obama … not some anonymous bystander … what Richardson had to say about my preferred candidate hit home … and a link to Vivian’s site where I read the letter was provided … I also do not chose to have links to all the candidates on my site … welcome to the world of real endorsements.
“[…]welcome to the world of real endorsements.” ~ Shawn O’Donnell
“At this time, I will not endorse any candidate.” ~ Governor Bill Richardson [D-NM]
Welcome to the world of implied but fictitious endorsements, is what I think you meant to say.