Convincing people to like Bill Richardson isn't a problem for Andy Howarth, but when it comes to winning their votes, his job as a campaign volunteer gets tricky.

Howarth, the father of a war-weary soldier, is going door-to-door touting Richardson's plans to quickly withdraw troops from Iraq. The folks he meets remember Richardson's funny ads, know a little about his public service resume and agree he's an all-around great guy. But, most of the time, they plan to vote for someone else.

"Bill Richardson is unanimously everybody's second choice," said Howarth, of Keene. "Even the people who are strongly Obama, strongly Clinton, strongly Edwards say, 'Oh yeah, I like your guy, too.' "

So why then is Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, struggling to remain in the race and scoring single digits in most polls? His staff, his supporters and the candidate himself blame the power of celebrity and the conduct of the national news media. It's hard, they say, for Richardson's humor-laced message of diverse experience to stand up to the glitz, glamor and cash of the rest of the field.

"I can't say he doesn't have the charisma," said Walter Smith, a retiree from Walpole who had a "Veterans for Richardson" button on his hat. "But he's not from the same walk of life as the others."

Smith and his wife, Susie, will cast their ballots for Richardson tomorrow, but they worry what that will mean for the rest of the race. Neither wants Hillary Clinton as president, calling her the "status quo," and are drawn to Richardson's broad resume, which includes a long career in Congress, a term as U.N. ambassador and a stint as secretary of energy under President Clinton. Still, they worry about Richardson's lagging support.

"We don't want to just give our vote away," Susie Smith said. "It does give us some pause. If we vote for him, we might hurt someone else."

His is not a fly-by-night campaign: Richardson began laying the groundwork for a run well before the 2004 election, lobbying successfully to lead the Democratic National Convention and schmoozing with New Hampshire politicos. Two New Hampshire newspapers, the Conway Daily Sun and the Claremont Eagle Times, have awarded him endorsements. He's written two books in recent years, including one about energy policy, and has been stumping for votes for more than a year.

At the Barley House in Concord on Saturday night, a crowd thick with Clinton and Obama buttons laughed at Richardson's jokes, nodded in agreement when he described his energy policy and remarked to their buddies how much they liked the guy.

"Our next vice president," more than one predicted.

Publicly, Richardson seems to take the situation in stride, calling himself an "underdog" or a "maverick" and joking that he'll take more questions to help bring his poll numbers above the margin of error. These last few days, he's decried the national media, telling voters he's glad that they, not national news outlets, cast ballots.

His national press secretary, Tom Reynolds, is more pointed.

"The overall coverage of this race by the national media has been abysmal," Reynolds said. "The national political reporters have chosen to script this race rather than report on it. . . . They've chosen to focus on celebrity and stardom, rather than substance and real policy. . . . Voters don't care about leaked campaign memos or the backbiting he-said-she-said. They want to know what you're going to do about education, how you're going to fix health care."

Richardson maintains a brisk pace. He estimates that he's shaking 1,000 hands a day; his schedule today includes at least nine events.

Jotham Miller of Hinsdale missed the last primary because he was serving aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. He's completed two tours and would prefer not to be ordered into a third.

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