Iowa becomes magnetic north

On a taping of the PBS Charlie Rose show on Nov. 6, Rose said to Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson, “I’m told you’ve moved into Nevada.” Richardson replied, “Well, I’ve moved into Iowa, too.” At about the time of the taping, news reports were breaking that the New Mexico governor was transferring 10 of his Nevada staffers to Iowa. The next day came word that Richardson was also shifting staffers from South Carolina to Iowa. Candidate John Edwards had already sent Nevada staffers Iowa-ward.

Richardson has been doing fairly well in Iowa opinion surveys and is apparently looking for a strong showing there to boost him in the next contests in New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina (though New Hampshire may move its primary ahead of Iowa). But Richardson still told Rose that, as a Westerner, he needs to do well in Nevada to be viable elsewhere.

On the Republican side, Nevada supporters of candidate Ron Paul are urging Paul supporters in the Democratic and Libertarian parties to re-register as Republicans in order to participate in the GOP “primary.”

And former Nevada governor Robert List, who has been lobbying to bring a nuclear waste dump to Nevada at Yucca Mountain, endorsed GOP candidate Rudolph Giuliani.