Defiantly, they campaign onward

saxo-archive

Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008 | midnight

Listen to the polls and the media, and these 20 supporters gathered at New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's Las Vegas office wasted their time Saturday. Instead of knocking on doors, they should have stayed home and played with the dog or the kids, saving time -- and pride.

But in defiance of polls and predictions, campaigns for the “other” candidates -- those not for Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama or former Sen. John Edwards -- continue to work in Nevada, hoping that by exceeding expectations in this early-caucus state, their candidate can claw into the top tier of contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In the Richardson camp Saturday, volunteers knocked on doors and made the pitch for the governor, who, if you could measure buzz and news media attention, is a negligible blip on the political radar screen.

The campaigns for Richardson, Sen. Joe Biden and Sen. Chris Dodd -- all candidates with serious resumes -- have largely been written off by political experts. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is mentioned with a smirk and a nod to his attractive wife. And former Sen. Mike Gravel makes lots of quirky YouTube videos.

But those not among the big three are unwilling, before a single vote has been cast, to settle for the role of novelty candidate. And so they continue running, and running hard, backed by supporters who believe in them and who proclaim they don't believe or much care what the media and polls say.

Iowa's caucus Thursday could reshape the race, and these campaigns hope their candidate makes a surprise showing there. That could build momentum heading into the Jan. 8 New Hampshire primary and Nevada's Jan. 19 caucus.

These campaigns face significant barriers. They're seriously underfunded compared with Clinton's and Obama's, and to a lesser extent Edwards'. They largely lack the organization and staff of other campaigns. And they all trail significantly in polls.

Yet The Others and their supporters wrap themselves in the example of 2004, when the media and experts proved their ability to be spectacularly wrong.

In the lead-up to Iowa's caucus, common wisdom deemed the Democratic primary a two-person race between former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri.

But Sen. John Kerry won the Iowa caucus, with Edwards finishing second.

“If you look at the polls, with all due respect, they don't know who will caucus,” said Josh McNeil, Richardson's Nevada spokesman.

He said in rural areas, where the right to bear arms matters to Democrats and experience with the Bureau of Land Management could play big, Richardson is doing well. In Nevada's caucus system, rural support is more heavily weighted than support in urban areas to promote face-to-face politicking.

Ronnie Council, Biden's state director, said supporters are still phone-banking every night. They recently picked up the endorsement of the Nevada Plumbers and Pipefitters.

Biden has moved into fourth place in some Iowa polls. Now his campaign is citing “buzz.”

“We are confident as ever that by beating expectations on Jan. 3 and Jan. 19 we can build the support we need to win the Democratic nomination,” said Council, who is in Iowa now.

On Saturday, at Richardson's east Las Vegas office, Juan and Marcia Valdez put Richardson campaign stickers on their chests and gathered a folder of the names of voters they would try to talk to in the next few hours.

“It's frustrating that the media only focuses on front-runners,” Marcia Valdez said. Noting that polls reflect name recognition, she added: “It's hard to get name recognition if you're not in the paper.”

Eventually, she thinks, “people will come around” for Richardson.

“Fame is not as important as the resume,” she said.

Assemblyman Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, and state Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, also canvassed for Richardson on Saturday. Other campaigns courted them, but they chose Richardson.

Carlton admitted it was tempting to go with a front-runner.

“Mrs. Edwards came to my casino, my coffee shop, to talk with me,” said Carlton, a Culinary union member. “My co-workers thought that was pretty cool.”

Still, she decided to go with Richardson. Her endorsement was announced Dec. 8, after Richardson's poll numbers started plunging and most Democratic politicians in the state had gone with Clinton.

“Sometimes you have to go on your gut,” Carlton said.

Out on the street Denis and Carlton came face to face with an encouraging sign for the trailing campaigns -- the fact that many voters haven't settled on a candidate.

Denis approached “Coors” Trujillo, who was wearing a Laborers union jacket on his daily walk around the neighborhood.

Trujillo told Denis and Carlton he doesn't know whom he'll end up supporting.

Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen, D-Las Vegas, who besides Denis is the state's only Hispanic legislator, had already approached him about the caucus.

“I talked to Ruben, and Ruben's for Clinton,” Trujillo said. But he remains undecided.

He took some literature and promised to look more closely at Richardson.

And with that promise comes hope for the volunteers -- and the enthusiasm to knock on doors one more day.

David McGrath Schwartz can be reached at 259-2327 or at david.schwartz@lasvegassun.com.