Bullock Drops Out of Presidential Race
Last week Governor Steve Bullock was mocked as the "out of towner" governor. This week, he's calling it quits. Bullock is officially ending his presidential race. And he's not running for the US Senate either. (According to a spokesperson at least)
From the AP:
Bullock’s spokeswoman Galia Slayen reiterated that Monday. “While he plans to work hard to elect Democrats in the state and across the country in 2020, it will be in his capacity as a governor and a senior voice in the Democratic Party — not as a candidate for U.S. Senate,” Slayen said in a statement.
Via CNN:
Bullock had previously pledged to make it to the Iowa caucuses in February before dropping out, believing that Iowa could provide his campaign an upset moment and a way to go around the debate stage.
But that has proven not to be true, as candidates who have missed the debate stage have struggled to both gain attention and fundraise after missing a debate.
I remember this tweet from early October by Matt Volz with the Associated Press. He was pointing out, at the time, that Governor Steve Bullock (D-MT) had been outside the state of Montana for "68 of the last 130 days." It was all due to Bullock's presidential pipe dream, of course. Now, the Senate Leadership Fund is up with a new ad basically calling Bullock the out-of-state governor..."out of towner" to be exact. The Great Falls Tribune's Phil Drake has this description of the ad:
The one-minute ad by the Senate Leadership Fund, the Political Action Committee tied to Senate Republican leadership, plays “Hail to the Chief” as it shows Bullock speaking out against guns, coal, President Donald Trump, impeachment and the president’s efforts to curb illegal immigration.
There is no narration in the ad. It is snippets of news interviews and other appearances. It ends with the words "Out of Towner Steve Bullock" and "Out of Touch with Montana" plastered on the screen.
Here's the video of the ad: https://youtu.be/QB_xF58rsyU The Washington Times also notes how the Senate Leadership Fund is attacking Bullock in advance of what many anticipate is a future pivot to the US Senate race in Montana:
“The only thing Steve Bullock accomplished during his presidential campaign is lurching to the left on virtually every major issue,” said a Republican strategist familiar with the Montana Senate race. “Should he decide to run for Montana Senate, his radical liberal agenda will be tattooed across his forehead.”
Here's the tweet I referenced above: