A Lack of Splash

Sorry I've been silent on the Bill Richardson "big announcement." I was snowboarding in Vermont with about a dozen childhood friends and didn't really have internet access on the big day.

However, I'm not sure it would have mattered if I did. Governor Richardson's announcement just didn't seem to generate a lot of buzz and excitement up in that corner of the country. Sure, the Albuquerque Journal gave it a lot of ink, but in Vermont, well, it was an unimpressive entry at best.

Richardson's got a long way to go, and it doesn't seem promising that his campaign is already trying to spin his inability to raise the money needed to be competitive on the national stage by claiming that he's going to run "a grassroots campaign." Ouch, nothing like making excuses right out of the gate.

Turning News into News

So, imagine that you're the Governor of New Mexico. Imagine you are consistently ranked at the bottom of the list of Democratic contenders for the Presidency. What do you do? My guess, you figure out how to get the most earned media possible.

For example, you go on Fox News and announce that you're running in 2008. Then you have your staff announce that the announcement wasn't an announcement. Now, you get twice the mileage out of your announcement.

Hmm, anyone in the mainstream media feeling a little used?