Justin Amash suspends his campaign for the Libertarian nomination

Less than three weeks ago, I wrote Justin Amash announces candidacy for Libertarian presidential nomination. I concluded it by noting "I will likely analyze his ideology at both Voteview and On The Issues, as I have for the Democrats, but that will only happen after I report on the latest scores for the Democrats at On The Issues, which have changed just since last month. I'll do it along with making drink suggestions, but only after Amash earns the Libertarian Party nomination, which is scheduled for May, but could be delayed." That won't happen, as Wochit Polics reported Saturday Justin Amash Drops Out Of Run For The White House.

During his short-lived run for the US presidency, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan faced an uphill battle.
According to Business Insider, Amash announced Saturday he will not seek the Libertarian nomination for the White House.
Having abandoned the Republican party last year, Amash has heavily criticized President Donald Trump and has supported his impeachment.
During his campaign, Amash said he wanted to represent the millions of Americans who do not feel well represented by either major party.
In a series of tweets, Amash acknowledged the difficulties of campaigning as a third-party candidate amid the coronavirus pandemic.

My response on Twitter was "Good. While the Libertarians will nominate and run a candidate, America does not need a serious third-party contender to split the anti-Trump vote." I wish him luck defending his U.S. House seat. He'll need it.

As for who will win the Libertarian nomination, I'm rooting for Vermin Supreme, who has won the Libertarian Party primaries in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and California.


Looks like my kind of joke candidate.

Justin Amash announces candidacy for Libertarian presidential nomination

"Note that the ABC 13 clip reports that Amash has not ruled out running for the Presidency as a Libertarian," I observed at the end of Justin Amash declares his political independence on July 4th, leaving the G.O.P.  Nine months later, the other shoe dropped, as WOOD-TV reported Justin Amash announces bid for presidency as Libertarian.

U.S. Rep. Justin Amash is making a run for the White House, hoping to be the nominee for the Libertarian Party.

That's not a bad analysis, as far as it goes, but it doesn't look at the effect on the general election should Amash get the nomination.  Amash himself offered his scenario in ABC 13's Interview: Justin Amash talks about launching a presidential exploratory committee.

After months of speculation, Rep. Justin Amash (I-Grand Rapids) announced Tuesday night that he launched an exploratory committee to seek the Libertarian nomination for president.

The congressman made the announcement on Twitter.

Amash said two weeks ago that he had put his congressional campaign on pause to consider running for president. Since then, the congressman said he took time to talk with family and friends about what a run for the White House could look like.

Amash's nomination is not a foregone conclusion, which is why I'm waiting to follow up on the rest of what I wrote last July.

I will likely analyze his ideology at both Voteview and On The Issues, as I have for the Democrats, but that will only happen after I report on the latest scores for the Democrats at On The Issues, which have changed just since last month.

I'll do it along with making drink suggestions, but only after Amash earns the Libertarian Party nomination, which is scheduled for May, but could be delayed.  In the meantime, stay tuned for the retrospective about this blog on Twitter I promised in Comments from the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News for Flashback Friday for Throwback Thursday.

Justin Amash declares his political independence on July 4th, leaving the G.O.P.

Last month, I reported that Justin Amash quit Freedom Caucus amidst call for impeachment.  Today, he took matters one step further by announcing that he was leaving the Republican Party in an op-ed in the Washington Post.  CBS This Morning broke the news on network television in Only Republican to accuse Trump of impeachable acts is leaving the GOP.

The only Republican in Congress to accuse President Trump of impeachable acts says he's leaving the Republican Party. In a Washington Post op-ed Rep. Justin Amash said he's becoming an independent. He said he’s leaving the GOP because "modern politics is trapped in a partisan death spiral."

WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids included a comment from Amash himself in its report, Rep. Justin Amash quitting Republican Party.

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, the only Republican in Congress to call for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, said Thursday he is leaving the GOP because he has become disenchanted with partisan politics and “frightened by what I see from it.”

ABC 13 in Grand Rapids covered much of the same territory then added reporting on the Republicans competing for the nomination to run against Amash and whoever the Democratic nominee will be in Amash announces departure from the GOP.

The only congressional Republican who publicly argued that President Donald Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct has announced he is quitting the GOP. Rep. Justin Amash made the announcement in an op-ed in the Washington Post Thursday morning.

Amash's Washington Post op-ed is currently the most-read page of the online version of the newspaper's Opinion section, so it's making a splash.  For those of my readers who aren't registered or subscribed to the Washington Post or don't want to use up their free articles, the Detroit Free Press has article that summarizes Amash's piece and quotes extensively from it as well as including reactions.  I recommend reading it, either in place of or in addition to Amash's own article in the Washington Post.

Note that the ABC 13 clip reports that Amash has not ruled out running for the Presidency as a Libertarian.  Because of that, I will likely analyze his ideology at both Voteview and On The Issues, as I have for the Democrats, but that will only happen after I report on the latest scores for the Democrats at On The Issues, which have changed just since last month.  Stay tuned.

Justin Amash quits Freedom Caucus amidst call for impeachment

Much to my surprise, I've never mentioned U.S. Representative Justin Amash on this blog before.  That ends today, as ABC 13 in Grand Rapids reported this morning Amash leaves House Freedom Caucus in wake of impeachment talk.

The decision to step down from the conservative group that he started back in 2015 was because he didn't want to be a "further distraction." Justin Amash is still dealing with the aftereffects of saying Trump committed "impeachable conduct" as laid out in the Mueller report.

Yes, Amash is the first Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives to call for impeachment, which the following video from Bloomberg pointed out three weeks ago.

Representative Justin Amash of Michigan, a libertarian who’s often at odds with most other congressional Republicans, said Donald Trump has engaged in “impeachable conduct,” drawing a rebuke from the president as a “total lightweight.”

Amash said on Twitter Saturday that he’s concluded -- after reading Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted 448-page report -- that Attorney General William Barr “deliberately misrepresented” the findings using “sleight-of-hand qualifications or logical fallacies.”

“Contrary to Barr’s portrayal, Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment,” said Amash, 39, who arrived in Congress as part of the Tea Party wave in 2010.

Amash’s manifesto-like string of more than a dozen tweets stopped short of actually calling for Trump’s impeachment.

The Bloomberg video noted that this isn't the first time Amash has defied Trump, citing two votes he cast against Trump's policies.  In fact, Amash has been the most likely Republican to support impeachment, as CBS News reported two years ago GOP congressman among first to say Trump impeachment possible.

Congressman Justin Amash, R-Michigan, said Wednesday that if true, Trump's allegations regarding former FBI Director James Comey are grounds for impeachment.

That was on May 17, 2017, just about two years to the day before Amash tweeted that Trump had engaged in impeachable conduct.  Anyone who was surprised that Amash would be in favor of impeachment has not been paying attention.

Finally, the man has principles.  I may not agree with them, but I'm glad he has them and sticks to them.