Just hours before the deadline to qualify for the third Democratic presidential debate to be held in Houston in about two weeks, two-term New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has finally elected to end her presidential campaign.

The announcement surprised few, as Gillibrand had failed to meet both the donor requirement and the polling requirement to qualify. Sooner is better than later, allowing other more promising Democrats to take center stage — not that Gillibrand was hogging the limelight. She never surpassed two percent support in any major polls, and recent polling had her within margin of error of zero percent support.

Her campaign started off soft, likely handicapped by her support for the resignation of Minnesota Senator Al Franken after a sexual harassment scandal. For many, Gillibrand is too similar to the last failed Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton.

Gillibrand floundered on the national stage during the first two televised debates, leaving no lasting impact on potential voters and sinking her chances at a nomination.

In her exit video on Twitter, Gillibrand admitted that “it is important to know when it’s not your time, and to know how you can best serve your community and country.”

She knows there is no chance of her being president, but her renewed push to “unite us to beat Donald Trump in 2020” is the exact attitude every Democratic candidate needs to take, whether in the race or not.

I applaud Gillibrand for admitting defeat when it was apparent, and for being one of the first doomed candidates to drop out of the race.

Without a failing campaign to distract her, Gillibrand can now return to representing the Empire State in Washington.

Nick Robertson is a freshman news and online journalism and policy studies major. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at njrobert@syr.edu. He can be followed on Twitter at @NickRobertsonSU.

Published on August 28, 2019 at 9:53 pm

Contact Nick: nickrobertson@dailyorange.com | @NickRobertsonSU