Governor Bill Richardson has pledged to refrain from campaigning in any state that schedules a primary or caucus before February 5th – other than Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
NHPR’s Dianne Finch reports.
The Governor from New Mexico may not be a front runner in the primary race.
But he’s the first Democrat to take the “Four State Pledge†– a political line in the sand crafted by the four early contest states.
Richardson’s spokesman Pahl Shipley said that the governor believes strongly that New Hampshire and Iowa should be first in line.
“The process is threatening to get out of control with all of the states playing leapfrog wit their primary dates. And we understand that everybody wants to have a say in the nomination and believes that if their primary comes top late or their caucus comes too late they won’t have that input or they wont play a significant role. But at this rate we’ll end up voting in October or November and that doesn’t serve anybody well.â€
Democratic candidate Chris Dodd signed the pledge soon after Richardson.
And Senator Joe Biden is planning to sign it.
Spokespeople for Senators Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton said that they are currently reviewing the pledge.
For NHPR News, I’m Dianne Finch
