Oh, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?

Today, I am ending my campaign for president.

I am so proud of this team and all we've accomplished. But I think it’s important to know how you can best serve.

To our supporters: Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Now, let's go beat Donald Trump and win back the Senate. pic.twitter.com/xM5NGfgFGT

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) August 28, 2019

Why Gillibrand crashed and burned

Here, I'll save you the trouble:  outside of New York state (and probably D.C.), nobody had heard of her until she chased Al Franken out of the Senate.  Did she do that because of righteous wrath, or because she wanted to make national headlines and it was peak "#MeToo" so she was guaranteed those?  Both and a little bit of neither?  Probably.  either way, she wasn't because "the Franken ordeal had a 'huge, outsized impact on her.' ”  It's because it was her impact.

She was known for one thing:  the Senator who forced Al Franken out of the Senate.  Yes, Franken was responsible for buckling and leaving as quickly as he did.  Yes, other Senators pressured him to leave.  Yes, it was a complicated issue and, yes, I still think Jane Mayer got it more right than wrong.

And yes, everyone in the crowded field "had a moment," and nobody ever broke the "top five," even Buttigieg, who did get some attention for awhile, but is really on life support at this point.  And yes, the "top five" were all known quantities before they entered the race (farewell, Julian Castro; being HUD Secretary is not a stepping stone to the Oval Office; farewell, Beto O'Rourke, almost beating Ted Cruz is not a stepping stone to higher office; farewell Corey Booker, being a popular black man from New Jersey only made you the next Chris Christie); but that was Gillibrand's problem.  What was she known for?

Al Franken being forced to resign.

Lots of thumb sucking on the internet now about how this shows how hard it is for a woman to run, but nobody mentions that Tulsi Gabbard hasn't given up yet, nor Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren is still (at last report) a woman, and Hillary won 2 million votes (or more) than Trump (but ran a poor national campaign anyway).  So it isn't that extra "X" chromosome that doomed the senator from New York.

It was the only thing she was famous for.  Turned out nobody thought much of her, and knew even less; but what they knew, didn't inspire them to support her.

Maybe they would have voted for her; but now we'll never know.  Hell, we don't know who will vote for anybody at this point.  Joe Biden?  Yeah, I'm still waiting for people to stop reading the internet and realize they have to caucus or cast a ballot:

NEW: As he campaigns for president, Joe Biden tells a harrowing story of military sacrifice, punctuating it with “This is the God’s truth.” The only problem? Every detail in the story appears to be incorrect. Via @mviser and @gregjaffe https://t.co/XS2r0qM1xz

— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) August 29, 2019

 

That's only gonna get worse.  Two old men running for the hardest job in the country, muttering stories about things they didn't do, is not a recipe for "electability."  Sooner or later that's going to become clear.

In the meantime, what is clear is that, if you get on the national stage as the person who put a well-aimed boot up a popular politician's career backside, don't expect to be showered with gratitude for it.