Sestak sinks and Bullock bows out as both drop out

I wrote "Now to see if my pick of Julian Castro drops out before or after Steve Bullock and Michael Bennet.  My readers and I should find out shortly after the November 13 deadline for the next debate" just above the jump cut in Bye-bye Beto as O'Rourke drops out.  I repeated my prediction in the comments to Au revoir Tim Ryan as Ohio Representative retires from race.  "As for who's next, I still think it will be one of Bennet, Bullock, or Castro.  At least one of them will drop out after they fail to make the next debate."  I was close but not correct, as Joe Sestak suspended his campaign before any of them.  All was not lost, as Steve Bullock dropped out this morning.  Newsy reported on both candidates leaving the contest in Two Democratic presidential candidates drop out.

Former U.S. representative from Pennsylvania Joe Sestak and Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana have announced they are withdrawing from the race.

WMUR in New Hampshire covered both candidates leaving and looked ahead to the future in More candidates could drop out after departures of Bullock, Sestak.

The field of Democratic candidates seeking the White House has narrowed, with two candidates dropping out of the race.

Neither FiveThirtyEight nor I picked Sestak as one of the first nine to drop out, but they picked Bullock to do so and they keep looking good, as only Michael Bennet, who was the last one picked in FiveThirtyEight's dropout draft, remains.  Eight down, one to go from the dropout draft.

Even so, FiveThirtyEight still lists 16 major Democratic candidates running, the number before Bloomberg and Patrick entered the Democratic nomination contest at the last minute.


As I have with all the rest of the candidates who have fallen in this cycle's version of the Hungry For Power Games, I'm quoting the relevant passage from that article.

nrakich: OK, I’m going to go with the easy pick, then (thanks, Geoffrey!): Montana Gov. Steve Bullock.

sarahf: Ahh!! Stole my pick.

nrakich: Bullock will continue to face a lot of pressure from party elders (and even in his Twitter replies!) to switch to the Senate race.

He’s similar to Hickenlooper in that regard, although frankly I think Democrats’ chances in Colorado’s Senate race don’t change that much if they nominate Hickenlooper vs. someone else. Whereas in Montana, Bullock is legitimately the only candidate who can probably put that Senate seat in play.

Now, like Hickenlooper, Bullock has denied any interest in the Senate.

But maybe, if he doesn’t make the September or October debates, that will change.

He is term-limited as governor, so the alternative is basically to go home and retire.

geoffrey.skelley: But unlike Hickenlooper, Bullock would probably enter a Senate general election in Montana as a clear underdog against Republican Sen. Steve Daines. The state did reelect Democratic Sen. Jon Tester last year, but Tester was an incumbent and it was a favorable environment for a Democrat. And even still, it was close! Bullock probably wouldn’t have as favorable as national environment working in his favor.

Here's hoping Bullock runs for Senate, just like John Hickenlooper.

Follow over the jump for the drink suggestions and memes I'm retiring now that both men have dropped out.

Since Sestak announced his leaving the contest first, I'll retire his images first, beginning with the meme I made for his announcement.


Next, Sestak's drink suggestion from Drinks for the candidates who didn't make the debates.

Sestak is from Pennsylvania, which suggests Yuengling Beer.  Not only is it the first drink I thought of, it's what Spoon University listed as well, even though it's not a cocktail.  Hey, great minds think alike!

Adios, Admiral!

Now for the retired memes about Bullock's positions from On The Issues, beginning with the one from OnTheIssues.org's take on the Democratic presidential candidates from left to center.

Finally, two candidates tie as most conservative economically and next to most conservative socially Steve Bullock and John Hickenlooper, both of whom have economic scores of 40 and social scores of 68.  Hickenlooper made one of the debates, while Bullock missed.  On The Issues considers both to be Moderate Libertarian Liberals, the only ones running for office.

Next, the meme from Senators and Representatives running for the Democratic nomination are drifting to the left as they campaign.

Bullock and Hickenlooper retained their positions as the two most moderate candidates in the contest, but both have seen their scores move to the left, breaking their tie and changing their classification from Moderate Libertarian Liberals to Moderate Liberals in the process.  Bullock shifted farther to the left economically from 40 to 33, tying him with Gabbard on that scale, while his social score remained at 68.  That was enough to move him one place to the left of Hickenlooper while remaining comfortably to the left of Gabbard.

I made the last meme for Democratic candidates continue to drift leftwards according to On The Issues.

On the other hand, Steve Bullock moved to his left on both axes, going from an economic score of 33 to 30 and a social score of 68 to 70.  That, and three candidates to his left dropping out and yet another moving to his right economically raised his rank from twenty-fourth to twentieth.

Bullock certainly kept me busy making memes — one a month all summer!  At least he managed to maintain his scores of 30 and 70 up until the end.

I conclude with my suggestions from Drink to Steve Bullock making the second Democratic debate on National Daiquiri Day 2019.

Since a search for Steve Bullock's favorite drink retrieved no favorite drink and Eater's article on Democratic candidates' favorite comfort foods listed his as a hamburger, neither were helpful.  However, Bullock is the Governor of Montana and it turns out that there is a Montana Cocktail.

2 ounces Cognac
1 ounce Dry Vermouth
1 ounce Port
Knoted lemon rind to garnish

Place the Cognac, Vermouth and Port into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Slowly stir the mixture for about 30 seconds and then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish the drink with the knotted lemon rind and serve immediately.

The other choices are Whiskey Ditch (whiskey with water) and Moscow Mule.  My readers can use those if they wish, but I'd prefer the Moscow Mule be dedicated to the almost certain opponent of the Democratic nominee instead.

Good-bye, Governor!  May you decide to run for Senate!

Stay tuned for a Giving Tuesday entry.