Submitted by Stephen Cassidy, Jul 15, 2007 14:12

An important 2008 Presidential campaign story that the Sun is missing is Bill Richardson's impressive second quarter of fund raising. The impact is we have a four person race (assuming Gore stays out). Richardson (unlike Biden or Dodd) is going to have sufficient funds to wage a competitive campaign in all of the January primaries/caucuses.

Only Richardson and Obama showed over a 10% growth in contributions from the first quarter. Even more important, Richardson's campaign has had a low cash burn rate. Richardson has $7 million in cash on hand as of June 30, 2007.

While obviously Richardson's sums are substantially lower than the amounts raised by Obama and Clinton, the cost of TV ads and employing staff has not exploded upward over the past four years in Iowa and New Hampshire. Richardson raised more in 2Q 2007 than Edwards and Kerry raised in 2Q 2003, and has more cash on hand than Dean had at this point in 2003.

Clinton and Obama can't place all of their money into the January primaries/caucuses as that means they risk having nothing for Feb. 5th. And I highly doubt that their mega millions are going to be spent only on positive TV ads on each other.

Richardson has built strong organizations in all the early primary states. His TV campaign was the most extensive of all Democrats during the quarter. He ran almost 2,000 ads in Iowa alone, helping him gain name recognition and boosting his poll numbers. Richardson's poll numbers in Iowa are close to what Kerry was polling at in July 2003.

Also, you shouldn't overlook Richardson's appeal to moderate and conservative Democrats. They just need to be introduced to him and that will come with time. Here is part of a profile of Bill Richardson by Lee Bandy of The State from today:

"Democrats might have the best presidential candidate in New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. "I haven't seen anybody in either party who has the depth that this fellow has," said Francis Marion University political scientist Neal Thigpen, a staunch Republican. "He has got a wealth of experience."

Just check Richardson's resume. He has been a member of Congress and a diplomat, represented the United States in the United Nations, was U.S. energy secretary under President Clinton and was re-elected governor of New Mexico in a landslide.

Richardson has crept into contention for the Democratic presidential nomination as an easygoing candidate. He now leads the Democratic party's second tier of presidential hopefuls and could move into the top tier as others fall by the wayside. Those who have observed him closely on the campaign trail say he's a natural, the real thing. He has a big smile and an easygoing manner that makes voters feel extremely comfortable around him."

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