Bill Richards-zzzzzzzz-on

Bill needs sleep. I sympathize: I'm running on caffeine vapors myself. But what's this about none of the candidates getting enough sleep again until the Iowa Caucuses are over? Are they nuts? And firefighters, soldiers and other emergency responders can go long periods without much sleep, but no one is asking them to argue fine points of federal budgeting while on camera.

But then, I remember, in 2005, how Dave Lack got through opening night of RSP's "Victor, Victoria" with very, very little sleep. The most impressive command of the sleep impulse I've ever seen, while simultaneously reciting mounds of lines from memory! It probably does matter that Dave is a firefighter....

Dave Lack for President!:

Richardson, tired and apparently worn down by a long stretch of campaign travel, caused a stir last week when asked during a debate whether it was a person's choice to be gay.

"Yes," Richardson said.

"No," he said the next day.

Then, when clarifying what he really meant to say, Richardson said a long flight was to blame.

Although no one is calling for Richardson to leave the Democratic presidential race after the gaffe, the moment might be an example of how the cruel pace of campaigning can catch up with the candidates, said David Redlawsk, a University of Iowa associate professor of political science.

"Already this year, we had Senator (Barack) Obama claim 10,000 people died in a Kansas tornado back in May - Obama later said he was really tired when he made that misstatement - and Richardson called being gay a choice during the Human Rights Campaign forum, apparently not quite understanding the question," he said.

...However, Richardson campaign spokesman Pahl Shipley said the governor is getting the winks he needs.

"The governor has never required much sleep," Shipley said Wednesday morning.

Shipley added that the 59-year-old Richardson thrives on being in motion.

"If he gets more than one or two days off, he gets antsy," Shipley said.

Richardson staffers have long talked about the governor's ability to catnap and wake up refreshed.

"We'd joke that you'd be talking to him and he'd nod off, and then he'd wake up in 30 or 40 minutes and complete the sentence he was talking about before," said Shipley, who worked in the Governor's Office before moving to the campaign earlier this year.

...Nonstop activity doesn't necessarily mean Richardson isn't well-rested, said Richard Seligman, the medical director of the Presbyterian Sleep Disorder Center in Albuquerque.

"Unless there is a specific point, such as he's having trouble with his memory or words, or yawning in public, unless you can identify those, I don't know that you can say he is that tired," Seligman said.

Richardson did have a memory lapse on a "Meet the Press" interview this spring when he called a New Mexico journalist - whose release from captivity in Sudan he'd helped secure - by the wrong first name.

Still, Seligman said, many people have hectic schedules but are able to perform well.

"There are many examples of people in the community that work pretty grueling schedules and function fine," he said. "There are examples of police and firemen, first responders and emergency workers who put in extensively long hours and function pretty well."

...Richardson long has said he'll outwork anyone on the campaign path.

A check of his schedule for Wednesday bore that out.

He had five events planned in four cities. Obama had three cities and two events on his calendar, while Clinton was slated to make four events in three cities.

Since he announced he's seeking the nomination, it hasn't been uncommon for Richardson's travel to include six states in a week. On one June day, Richardson was in New Hampshire for some campaigning, flew to Iowa for a dinner and then back to New Hampshire for a debate.

On the same April day this year that he returned from a six-day trip to North Korea, Richardson flew to Dallas for a fund-raiser - and then back to Santa Fe.