Gov. Bill Richardson appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live Wednesday night to debate Hillary Clinton-supporter James Carville. Carville famously labeled Richardson’s endorsement of Barack Obama an act of betrayal, even comparing Richardson’s choice to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus in an article late last month in the New York Times.

 

That bit of recent history barely came up in the CNN face-off. Instead, Carville and Richardson sparred over who’s winning the popular vote between the two Democratic contenders. Hillary Clinton today claimed she was the popular vote leader, a claim that relies on tallying Michigan primary votes even though Obama’s name didn’t even appear on the ballot and both candidates agreed not to compete there.

Carville: “Maybe the governor was on vacation and not taking calls but Sen. Clinton leads in the popular vote.”
Richardson: “How can you say that, James. That is lunacy!”
 
Referring to the states yet to vote—including Indiana, North Carolina and Oregon—Richardson offered his big picture analysis: “My point is if it’s decisive in those states, I think it’s time for the party to rally around the nominee. And my sense is you guys”—presumably Carville and the Clinton team—“want to drag it to the convention and hope the super-delegates change their mind.”
 
Carville didn’t bite, but Richardson dismissed Clinton’s ability to close the gap in the contests that remain: “It’s not going to happen,” he said.  And he offered one more pitch for Democrats to halt the internal battle.
 
“My point here is the time has come for this bloodletting to end because we need a nominee who can win the presidency,” he said. “Right now John McCain is probably laughing at all of us.”