Vilsack ends presidential campaign

NASHUA, N.H. – Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has dropped his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination today, the Globe has confirmed.

A senior campaign official said Vilsack simply could not keep up with the level of campaign funds that rivals like Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were raising.

He joins fellow Democrats Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and former Virginia Governor Mark Warner who also ended their presidential aspirations in recent months, a reflection of how intense the campaign has become even though it is a full 11 months until the first state votes.

A two-term governor, Vilsack formally launched his presidential campaign last November. Known as a political moderate when he as governor, Vilsack took fairly liberal positions in calling for troops to begin leaving Iraq immediately, and for an energy policy that was among the more aggressive in moving the country off foreign sources of oil.

He often repeated that when it came to elections he often started as an underdog, but that he has yet to lose a race. Last week as a guest on the Tonight Show, host Jay Leno implied more than once he should be prepared to lose this time.

Strategically, Vilsack was in a bit of a tough spot. To have any shot at the nomination he would have to win his home state's first-in-the-nation caucuses (where the latest Iowa poll showed him in third place), while at the same time developing a national organization.

He spent much of his time campaigning in Iowa. Yesterday he held his 18th town hall meeting in the Hawkeye State.

He had been scheduled to visit New Hampshire -- site of the nation's first primary -- on Monday and Tuesday. He didn't have any staff on the ground in New Hampshire, but did garner the support of two prominent activists, Stonyfield Farm CEO Gary Hirshberg and state Representative Jim Ryan.