Hoff backs Richardson for President, but Salmon, Mallary undecided

Former Gov. Philip Hoff supports Bill Richardson for PresidentFormer Gov. Philip H. Hoff says he is supporting Bill Richardson for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, but another former Democratic Governor, Thomas M. Salmon, remains undecided about his vote in the March 4 Vermont primary.

On the Republican side, Richard W. Mallary, who represented Vermont in Congress from 1972 to 1975, said he has also not decided on a presidential candidate.

Hoff, who served as Governor from 1963 to 1969, told PolitickerVT.com that he has contributed money to Richardson’s campaign. “He’s a very capable guy who will get things done,” Hoff said of Richardson, the Governor of New Mexico and a former United Nations Ambassador and U.S. Secretary of Energy.

But Hoff, 83, said that he can’t tell how the race is going to turn out.

”I am not a magician,” Hoff said about his ability to predict the outcome of a campaign he predicted to be close. He noted that his choice of Richardson is “fluid,” suggesting that he could pick another horse before Vermonters go to the polls in March – especially if his candidate is no longer in the race.

The 75-year-old Salmon, who served as Governor from 1973 to 1979, said he had not “made any conclusions” about whom to support among the eight Democrats currently in the race.

Mallary, 78, who left the House after three years to seek an open seat in the U.S. Senate – he lost by just three points to Patrick Leahy in the Watergate year of 1974 – said that he was “not enthusiastic” about the GOP presidential field.

“I haven’t made up my mind,” he said, adding: “I am a Republican and the choices all leave something to be desired.”