Inslee Drops Out Of 2020 Presidential Race

(The Hill) John Bowden 08/21/19 09:23 PM Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) dropped out of the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday. Inslee told MSNBCs Rachel Maddow during an interview that he would withdraw from the race because it had become clear to him that he had no path to the nomination. Its become clear that Im not going to be carrying the ball Inslee said Wednesday. Im not going to be the president so Im withdrawing tonight from the race. He told Maddow he was optimistic about his partys future and the U.S. addressing the effects of climate change in time. Ive been fighting climate change for 25 years and Ive never been so confident of the ability of America now to reach critical mass to move the ball he said. Inslee had previously urged the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to focus an entire debate on the issue of climate change which he has called the most pressing issue facing the U.S. though the party declined. Hours before his announcement Wednesday night the governors campaign produced a plan for battling climate change in rural communities that would reward farmers for embracing eco-friendly technology. Inslee was not expected to qualify for the next round of debates in September. His campaign announced last week it had reached the donor threshold but with only a week left to qualify Inslee had not achieved the required 2 percent in any qualifying poll. Despite his campaigns central focus on the issue of climate change Inslee had also failed to qualify for an upcoming CNN town hall on the issue. In a press release Inslees campaign expanded on his decision to exit the race saying that it had become clear that reaching the polling threshold before the next round of debates would not be possible.