Thank you, Gov. Jerry Richardson

New Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson got a good review from a top Iowa political reporter for his speech at Tom Harkin's Sunday steak fry, which is really a steak grill.

Although some other observers had a different opinion, the Des Moines Register's David Yepsen said Richardson "gave the best overall speech of the day" in front of the 12,000 Democratic activists assembled in a field with the requisite bales of hay on hand for the C-SPAN cameras to catch. "He was forceful," Yepsen continued. "He was specific. He gave good sound bites."

Richardson has remained mired in the second-tier of candidates with Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. While his stump deliveries have improved, he has stumbled several times, having to apologize to gays for a statement in one debate, needing to clarify a claim that he was drafted to play pro baseball and rambling on about needles when answering a question about AIDS. So Yepsen's respected view was welcome news, touted by the governor's campaign in a mass e-mailing.

But then came the harsh light of Monday. Richardson like many Democratic candidates appeared in Washington to speak to a union Political Action Conference, whose endorsement is keenly coveted by any Democratic candidate.

Richardson concluded his remarks by saying, "Thank you, AFSCME."

Thanking the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees would have been fine, except that Richardson was addressing the Service Employee International Union.

Oh, well.

--Andrew Malcolm