Bill Richardson Out of Race…”Corrupt Bargain”?

Bill Richardson is dropping out of the race for president.  Richardson finished 4th in the New Hampshire primary in which he only brought in 5% of the Democratic vote.  He performed even poorer in the Iowa caucuses, bringing in only 2% of the vote.  The question now emerges of whom Bill Richardson will put his support behind now that he has dropped from the race.  Richardson’s name has been floating around for sometime as a potential vice presidential candidate.  Here’s where things get complicated.  During the Iowa caucuses, rumors  were floating around that Bill Richardson’s campaign had instructed its supporters to back Barack Obama if he failed to muster the required 15% threshold.  Could there have been some type of “corrupt bargain” (A reference to the election of 1824 in which John Quincy Adams defeated Andrew Jackson for the presidency in a contested election that was decided by the House of Representatives.  Speaker the House Henry Clay backed Adams and was later named his secretary of state) made in which Richardson realized he stood a snowball’s chance in hell of acquiring the Democratic nomination and secretly placed his support behind Obama in exchange for the vice presidential slot on the Obama ticket or a spot in a future Obama administration? I highly doubt that such an agreement was made.  It seems highly improbably taking into consideration Richardson’s close ties to the Clinton camp.  Richardson served as U.N. ambassador and energy secretary under President Clinton.  If nothing else, the story makes for good political news/speculation. An Obama-Richardson would be hard for the Republicans to beat. Obama’s message of change has drawn many supporters to him.  Richardson has an impressive resume that includes a great deal of experience in foreign affairs and Richardson would greatly appeal to the Hispanic community.