Democratic presidential hopeful Lincoln Chafee announced on Friday that he is withdrawing from the race.
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The former governor and US senator from Rhode Island made the announcement that he would suspend his campaign during an appearance in Washington at a Democratic National Committee forum on women’s leadership.
After his debate performance, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer delivered a pretty harsh interview with Chafee, even going so far as to asking him when he would consider dropping out.
Chafee’s departure comes days after Vice President Joe Biden declined to join the field and former Virginia Sen. He had chose to run as a Democrat for President.
Chafee was polling at less than 1 percent in recent national polls and averaging less than 1 percent in recent polls from Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two nominating states, according to Real Clear Politics. Chafee additionally had not been successful in raising campaign monies, with only $15,000 raised during the third quarter against $60,000 in expenses.
“Obviously it’s a good week for Secretary Clinton”, he said. “It’s time to move on and support the party any way I can”. He will use his platform as a presidential candidate to make one last speech about the necessity of level-headedness in USA foreign policy.
He was elected governor in 2010 as an independent.
This is the second democratic candidate to drop out of the race in a week, as Jim Webb officially announced the end to his run last week, citing that the Democratic Party he once found himself a part of has changed.
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“Let’s remember that that was a big deal”, Wasserman Schultz told the audience. He lost his seat in 2006 and left the Republican Party in 2007.
