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I’ll Miss Jay Inslee.
Why I wish America would have paid more attention, and given his message a chance.
Out of all the lower tier candidates participating in the democratic primary race, the only one I wished would stay in the fight, even for the sole purpose of just participating in the debates, was Jay Inslee.
As a politician who made combatting climate change the center of his campaign, it cannot be understated just how valuable and important the Washington Governor’s voice was in the national discourse. I was genuinely disappointed to hear he made the decision to end his campaign, especially so soon after he had succeeded in hitting the number of donors needed to participate in the next upcoming debate.
To be clear, based on polling I was never under the impression he would be president, and at a certain point of course it would come to an end. But as insufferable and smug as some lower tier candidates with absolutely no chance like John Delaney or Michael Bennett can be, I don’t think anyone saw that at all from Mr. Inslee. Regardless of whether he had a shot at the nomination or not, I never really got the impression that he was doing any of it for his own political ambitions, and I can’t help appreciating that kind of sacrifice and selflessness.