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You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Breaking: Jay Inslee Has Dropped Out

Breaking: Jay Inslee Has Dropped Out

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From AP:

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who made fighting climate change the central theme of his presidential campaign, announced Wednesday night that he is ending his bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

Inslee said that he was confident that Democrats would select a nominee who would champion climate change issues but that it had become clear that he wouldn’t be the person selected. Inslee said he was not endorsing anyone but would support whoever is the nominee.

“I believe we’re going to have a candidate to fight this battle,” he said on MSNBC. “I’m inspired by the people I’ve met across the country. I’m not going to carry the ball but we’re going to make sure somebody is.”

He has kept the option of running for a third gubernatorial term open throughout his presidential campaign and said he would discuss his political plans Thursday…

In addition to pushing for a dedicated debate on climate change, Inslee’s campaign has been rolling out climate proposals, including calling for the nation’s entire electrical grid and all new vehicles and buildings to be carbon pollution free by 2030. He’s also proposed a clean break between the federal government and the fossil fuel industry, ending tax breaks for oil companies and banning all drilling and extraction on federal lands and beneath federal waters.

Inslee released his sixth and final climate proposal, a plan focused on agriculture and farmers, hours before he announced he was dropping out of the race…

CNN will be televising a climate-change debate (which, IIRC, Inslee didn’t qualify for); it’s not unreasonable for him to announce that he’s accomplished his goal. Good for him, and I hope (assume) we’ll see more of him in a future Democratic administration…

Reader Interactions

76Comments

  2. 2.

    R-Jud

    Ugh, Nate Silver.

    I think Inslee would be just as good as Secretary of the Interior as head of the EPA. There are a lot of the second- and third-tier also-rans who’d make excellent executive branch members. Just not president.

  6. 6.

    zhena gogolia

    Anyone who uses “bearish” in a context other than the stock market (looking at my local weather forecaster) is a dick.

  7. 7.

    Yarrow

    I’m sorry to see him go. He was one of the better ones among the white guys I couldn’t pick out of the line up. I appreciate his focus on climate change.

  8. 8.

    Brachiator

    Nate Silver is, I suppose, a good pollster. But I am not interested in his opinion as a pundit, or even, in some circumstances, in his opinion as to the significance of a poll.

    Inslee made good contributions to the debate. I look forward to see what he does in the future.

  10. 10.

    jl

    Nate Silver is good when modelling polling statistics. But not so good when punditizing.

    I have mixed feelings about Inslee leaving. Maybe it was a mistake for him to present himself as a one-issue candidate, since that limited him in many voters minds right from the outset. Silver seems to ignore that aspect of it.

    I think he was one of the better of the ‘anonymous white guys who who had no chance’ candidates. I’d rather a couple of others would drop out before Inslee. At least he had a valid and legit big issue he wanted to emphasize.

  11. 11.

    JGabriel

    I was kind of hoping Inslee would stay in the race a little longer. Till Super Tuesday, maybe. I didn’t intend to vote for him, but I liked that he was keeping discussions about global warming in the campaign mix.

  13. 13.

    JGabriel

    @jl:

    I think he was one of the better of the ‘anonymous white guys who who had no chance’ candidates. I’d rather a couple of others would drop out before Inslee. At least he had a valid and legit big issue he wanted to emphasize.

    Yep. Seconded.

  15. 15.

    Mai naem mobile

    Inslee is a good guy, good governor but too white bread and male for the times. No doubt he would be good at EPA or Interior. I know hes older than dirt but Jerry Brown would be good in those two jobs as well being that California was fighting with the Trumpov administration.

  16. 16.

    TS (the original)

    @zhena gogolia: Reached his peak with the 2008 election. His political analysis was never spectacular, won with his polling analysis. Then he joined the nyt & became an each way pundit.

  18. 18.

    Jeffro

    @Brachiator: Seconded on Silver. What a dumb take re: Democrats and/or the voting public in general.

    @Yarrow: ‘more popcorn’ is what I thought too – Walsh and Sanford might join Weld. Surely this is a sign of the party’s great LOVE for trumpov! LOL eat it, you orange idiot. (And come on in, #PretendingWeWereDupedByTrumpov Republicans, the water’s fine, you’re welcome to abandon the country’s Worst President* Ever even at the last minute. We won’t welcome you or even treat you with respect but we’ll gladly take your vote and hold your beer while you and your fellow GOP enablers squabble amongst yourselves)

  21. 21.

    Geeno

    @Mai naem mobile: Jerry Brown would actually be a good counterpoint to Trump in the Election, but he let that opportunity slide. But really, having “Governor Moonbeam” be the guy to drive the stake in the heart of Reaganomics would be delicious.

  22. 22.

    NotMax

    @Mai naem mobile

    No fault of his nor slam implied or expressed, yet interesting that looking like a central casting cookie cutter prez candidate may be becoming a detriment.

  23. 23.

    Jeffro

    PS Dana Milbank has a tongue-in-cheek column up essentially saying trumpov should ‘declare victory and go home’, ie, he’s done SO much for the country (but more importantly, shit is about to get a whole lot worse) that trumpov oughta say “GREATEST CHOSENONE EVARH” and get on the the helicopter already.

    I like it ‘cause it doesn’t get in the weeds about how trumpov would get pardoned, avoid state charges, etc etc. Just “STFU, Ill Douche, and get the hell out of here.”

    I know an orange jumpsuit is too much to ask for, but I think a ‘decline to run/SO MUCH WINNING!’ surely is a reasonable ‘ask’ here, FSM

  24. 24.

    Mike in DC

    If we wait for climate change to be the top concern of all voters, it will be 2040 and not coincidentally too late to do much about it.

  25. 25.

    NotMax

    Obviously people are seeing something from, by or about Silver in the post which isn’t showing up on my screen. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

  26. 26.

    Ken

    I’m trying to decide whether having Inslee as one of the moderators at the climate change debate would be a good idea. I have no feel for politics.

  27. 27.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Amir Khalid: sounds like a good reason to buy a Rick 360/12 or a vintage Les Paul or, if you have the cojones, a sea foam green 1957 Strat like a beloved B-J poster who shall remain anonymous at present.

  28. 28.

    NotMax

    @Ken

    My understanding is there is no climate change debate on the schedule. Rather, CNN is proposing a town hall format on climate change. Who will be invited (and who will accept) still undetermined.

  29. 29.

    cokane

    @Brachiator: Again, Silver is not a pollster. He’s an analyst of polls. And plenty of other things too.

    I dunno, his analysis here isn’t wrong. The Dem frontrunners haven’t really shown a seriousness about climate change that imo it merits. Obviously the Republicans aren’t even close. But the US is going to have to have serious talks about mitigating what’s to come, including internal migration as well what’s likely to be a flood of immigration from places like the Caribbean and Central America. Some of these changes are already baked into the cake even if emissions go to zero.

  30. 30.

    hells littlest angel

    @R-Jud: Yeah. He made some predictions in — when? 2008? 2012? — and was right, and has been coasting on that ever since. Which I guess just makes him a typical pundit.

  31. 31.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Geeno:

    having “Governor Moonbeam” be the guy to drive the stake in the heart of Reaganomics would be delicious.

    Almost as delicious as the chocolate budino I had a French bistro earlier this evening!

  32. 32.

    cokane

    What I’m saying here isn’t necessarily a criticism of the Democratic frontrunners. Rather, Silver is right that the American public, even among Democrats, doesn’t actually have an appetite for candidates who are truly centering the issue.

  34. 34.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    when does it become aphasia?

    Aaron Rupar @ atrupar
    “Ubsurd,” “Armed Forca,” Appliculble,” “Obstulcles” — Trump had a hard time pronouncing a number of words on Wednesday (video)

    From the Wiki article (so FWIW) on aphasia, symptoms include:
    Poor enunciation
    Excessive creation and use of personal neologisms
    Agrammatism (inability to speak in a grammatically correct fashion)
    Dysprosody (alterations in inflexion, stress, and rhythm)
    Incomplete sentences
    Inability to read
    Inability to write
    Limited verbal output
    Speaking gibberish
    Inability to follow or understand simple requests
    and it can be caused by herpes….

  35. 35.

    hells littlest angel

    @Yarrow: Donald Trump is one of a very, very few who can make Joe Walsh seem like a decent human being by comparison.

  37. 37.

    Yarrow

    @Jeffro: I look forward to Republicans like Weld and Walsh getting almost no votes from Republican primary voters. Those voters want their racist, sexist, criminal Trumpov and they’re gonna have him, dammit. They don’t want another choice.

  39. 39.

    Yarrow

    @Steve in the ATL: Ah, if only…

    @Amir Khalid: That’ll be fun! I will say that Joe Walsh the political guy has been fairly consistently horrified by Trump. I don’t trust him but I’ll give him that much. He’s recognized what a thread Trump is.

  49. 49.

    hueyplong

    Much younger Nate Silver: People will try to spin it differently, but Steve Forbes’ lackluster performance is an obviously bearish indicator of the prioritization of tax cuts in Republican politics.

    Oh, wait, it wasn’t.

  51. 51.

    Jay

    The harrowing story of how a Yale professor spent decades luring interns to a research facility on a Caribbean Island to allegedly molest them. Eight students say they were assaulted by the professor, who often gave gifts or money to his purported victims. https://t.co/S86aVcHSfY— Olivia Messer ? (@OliviaMesser) August 21, 2019

  57. 57.

    Jeffro

    @cokane: I think the D base…perhaps the Ds in general…just assume that fighting climate change is a given in our candidates. It’s like “ooookay…what else ya got?”

    Especially given the existential threat that is trumpov and his enablers

  61. 61.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Nate Silver is as good a pundit as Chuckles the Toddler.

    This is not a compliment.

  62. 62.

    The Fat Kate Middleton

    Just waiting for the same news about Kirsten Gillibrand. We’ve been boarding young campaign workers here in Iowa for her since early June, and today she she seriously fucked over a wonderful young worker. Absolutely no excuse for it. Go home, Kirsten.

  65. 65.

    Cacti

    Inslee having actual executive experience pales in comparison to the bona fides of Senators who don’t get anything passed.

  68. 68.

    Mandalay

    @Brachiator:

    Nate Silver is, I suppose, a good pollster.

    @jl:

    Nate Silver is good when modelling polling statistics.

    Nate Silver is not a good pollster. He got Trump’s Republican nomination hopelessly wrong, and he also missed Trump’s election victory. Silver plays being the cool nerd, but he’s no better than all the others. He’s crows when he is correct, and makes excuses when he gets it wrong.

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Nate Silver is as good a pundit as Chuckles the Toddler.

    Correct.

  70. 70.

    Gemina13

    I’ve been hoping Inslee would drop out. He’s been a good governor for WA, and I (selfishly) want him to stick around. That said, he’d be a great Secretary of the Interior or head of the EPA. I’d root for him for either of those positions.

    And Nate Silver should stick to his forecasts until he learns how to read a room as accurately as baseball stats.

  71. 71.

    jl

    @Mandalay: I think Silver had better probabilistic forecasts of the 2016 election than other polling gurus. This was because he understood that the individual state polls, particularly in mid size states that would determine the electoral college results, were unstable, and it was a mistake to put to much emphasis on the correlations between state polls and national polls.

    As a result, Silver had chances of Trump winning as high as one third, while others were saying Trump had essentially zero percent chance.

    The national polls predicted HRC’s popular vote versus Trump’s accurately. Where most pollsters and poll analysts messed up was in their use of correlations between individual state polls and national polls.

    So, I’m basing my evaluation of Silver as a pollster, relative to others, on that.

  72. 72.

    mrmoshpotato

    Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has ended his presidential campaign.

    More like this. Wilmer? Joejoe?

  73. 73.

    Steve in the ATL

    Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has ended his presidential campaign.

    This news is almost as surprising as “Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has launched a presidential campaign.”

  74. 74.

    Jesse

    I supported Jay and am sad to see him leave. The odds against him were big, but I appreciated his message and found him credible. One thing I think he should get credit for is dropping out early, in the face of evidence that things just aren’t going well for him. I hope he gets picked for something in the next Democratic administration.

  76. 76.

    Barb 2

    Jay Inslee was my Congressional Rep for years and was one of the best. Now he is Governor – and again one of the best. I’m sorry to see him leave the race. Rachel said he left the race with class – you can see her interview with him on her show. He did achieve his goal of moving the debate focus at times to global warming – which might have been an after thought without Inslee’s laser focus.

    Inslee is correct that all of the candidates are 100% better than Trump.

    This news on a day when Trump was acting like an escapee from a nut house! Nov 2020 can’t come soon enough.

    Inslee would do well in D.C. – he knows the culture well – perhaps heading the EPA? Nope I want him to stay here in this state.

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