Thursday morning, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard announced that she was ending her long-shot presidential bid. While the Hawaii Democrat’s move to end her campaign is well-warranted given her polling and the fact that she has only managed to win delegates from the territory of American Samoa, it’s worth remembering the valuable anti-interventionist and anti-establishment voice she brought to the Democratic primary.
Conservatives and libertarians may not agree with Gabbard on much economic policy, but we can appreciate the way she took Democratic establishment darlings such as Sen. Kamala Harris to task.
The congresswoman will long be remembered for the way she single-handedly damaged Harris’s presidential campaign in an epic slam at one of the early Democratic presidential debates. Harris seemed like a potential front-runner to that point, receiving glowing media coverage. But Gabbard annihilated Harris’s draconian record as California attorney general. It was a stain that stuck with Harris’s campaign until she dropped out in early December.
Forever a legend for this. https://t.co/zBGgb7TT2t
— Brad Polumbo (@brad_polumbo) March 19, 2020
Additionally, Gabbard called out the corrupt Democratic National Committee and its sketchy and arbitrary debate qualification standards that disadvantaged anti-establishment candidates. She also put Hillary Clinton on blast, decrying the failed, corrupt politician as the “personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long.”
Gabbard’s willingness to criticize the shortcomings of her own side was refreshing in a time when most elected officials are too consumed with tribalism to risk dissenting from Team Red or Team Blue.
Don’t forget the essential anti-interventionist foreign policy message Gabbard brought to the campaign cycle. Foreign policy was largely overlooked and neglected by both the Democratic candidates and the media, but Gabbard took every opportunity she could to rail against endless war and advocate against the reckless foreign policy that continues to put our soldiers’ lives at risk in failed nation-building efforts such as the 19-year war in Afghanistan. She did this all from the perspective of a decorated combat veteran, bringing a unique perspective that was lacking among the rest of the Democratic field.
Gabbard ran a unifying campaign, reaching across the aisle to Republicans, libertarians, and independents, as well as Democrats and leftists. The congresswoman rejected identity politics at every turn and stressed a message of national unity.
Oh, and Gabbard did it all while looking drop-dead gorgeous. She rocked a white pantsuit, much to the chagrin of the liberal media. If there was ever one example that sums up Gabbard’s place in our politics, it’s that a New York Times fashion writer called her “cultish” for wearing a white pantsuit, when that same writer writing for the same publication had glowingly praised the same exact outfit when Clinton wore it in 2016.
The funniest part of Gabbard ending her campaign and endorsing Joe Biden over Bernie Sanders is that it makes fools of her establishment critics. From Clinton to Neera Tanden, they all insisted she was a “Russian asset” who wanted to sow discord and might run a third-party presidential campaign, hurting Democrats.
In reality, Gabbard is backing her party’s presumptive nominee, Biden, and not running a third-party campaign.
Don’t expect this reality check to change much. After establishing herself as a national figure and thought leader this election cycle, Gabbard has a bright future. She’s leaving Congress at the end of the year, but hopefully, she finds another way to stay in politics and use her influence for good.
