Richardson's expected to announce that he's dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination today, leaving just the top three, Kucinich and I guess Gravel in the race heading into Nevada. On paper, Richardson was one of the strongest candidates in the second tier, though he only mustered 2 percent of the caucus vote in Iowa and 5 percent in New Hampshire. And while his meandering monologues at the debates have been ... frustrating ... he has injected both a hard-line call for immediate troop withdrawal into the debate, as well as the most direct and repetitive discussion of climate and energy and arguably the best plan for addressing those issues. That's the value of strong also-ran candidates, which the Democrats had in abundance this year – pushing the frontrunners where they should be pushed, and knowing when the time is right to get out of the race.
The obvious question now is who will be the next to drop, and I'm guessing it's not going to be Kucinich or Gravel, who seem to be sticking around for the long, lonely haul.
--Kate Sheppard
