Linc, we hardly knew ye.
Dealing a crippling blow to efforts to get the United States to adopt the metric system, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee announced Friday morning that he would withdraw from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Chafee first hinted at a withdrawal last night, tweeting that he'd discuss his "future in the campaign" at the Democratic National Committee's Women's Forum on Friday:
His campaign confirmed this morning that Chafee is indeed calling it quits.
"As you know I have been campaigning on a platform of prosperity through peace. But after much thought I have decided to end my campaign for president today. I would like to take this opportunity one last time to advocate for a chance be given to peace," Chafee is slated to tell the forum.
Chafee, who averaged precisely 0.0 percent in Real Clear Politics's average of national polls, quits the race following a disastrous performance in last week's Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas, where he struggled to explain his Senate record on issues like banking deregulation and drew derision for his attacks on Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton's integrity.
The scion of a Rhode Island political dynasty, Chafee entered politics as a liberal Republican, going on to represent Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate before being wiped out in the Democratic tide of 2006. He won election to the governorship as an independent in 2010, joining the Democratic Party in 2013. Faced with dismal approval ratings amid a torpid state economy, Chafee opted not to run for re-election in 2014 -- then declared months later that he was seeking a job promotion to the highest office in the land.
Though Chafee hoped to gain traction by touting his vote against the Iraq War, which Clinton initially supported, that wasn't enough for him to go the full 42.195 kilometers in the presidential marathon: Clinton's leading challenger, Bernie Sanders, also voted against the war as a member of the House, and in the wake of Clinton's apology for her 2002 vote, the issue hasn't dogged her the way it did in her ill-fated 2008 campaign.
In the wake of Jim Webb's withdrawal and Joe Biden's decision not to run this week, Chafee's move leaves Clinton, Sanders, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley as the only remaining Democratic candidates.
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