2 December 2019 — 0808 mst

Dems reject governors, embrace mayors

Bullock folds tent, leaves Presidential Trail

Two-term Montana Governor Steve Bullock today announced he’s suspending his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, reiterating that although he’s returning to Montana, he’s not running for the U.S. Senate seat now occupied by Republican Steve Daines.

Starting late, Bullock never got any real traction despite his solid record of winning two gubernatorial and one attorney general elections in a state carried by the last three Republican candidates for president. A tall, handsome, centrist in his early fifties, the classic model of a serious presidential candidate, he was rejected, or ignored, by Democratic primary voters who are seeking to vindicate identity politics by nominating the candidate least like Trump.

Meanwhile, South Bend, IN, mayor Pete Buttigeig, an under 40 featherweight policy shapeshifter, a Wall Street darling who lacks significant minority support, a self-appointed party peacemaker whose pious pose oozes unearned moral superiority, has an even chance of winning the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, before crashing and burning in South Carolina.

Even worse, standing with Buttigeig on the debate stage are two billionaires, Andrew Yang and Tom “Mr. Term Limits” Steyer, who never have held elective or appointive public office, and Tulsi Gabbard, a featherweight member of the U.S. House who’s no more qualified to be president than Mayor Pete.

Because Bullock has not embarrassed himself in his campaign, he remains a viable choice for vice president, and for a position in the cabinet of a Democratic administration. If he decides to stay in Montana, he may decide to run for chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court when Mike McGrath retires.

Will Bullock change his mind and run for the U.S. Senate? That’s possible, but I think not likely. Bullock lacks a legislator’s temperament. He wouldn’t be happy in the U.S. Senate, and he knows it. He wouldn’t be happy campaigning for the U.S. Senate, and therefore would not be an effective campaigner. Finally, there is the hard truth that Daines, who has amassed millions of dollars in his campaign warchest, is likely to ride to victory on the coattails of Donald Trump, who will carry Montana.

But Bullock’s work in Montana remains unfinshed. In addition to discharging his duties as governor, he has a moral obligation to his party to hit the campaign trail in Montana on behalf of Democrats across the state. He should hit that trail tomorrow.