Lincoln Chafee drops out of presidential race

Democratic presidential hopeful Lincoln Chafee, 62, announced today that he is dropping out of the race. “After much thought I have decided to end my campaign for president today,” the former Rhode Island governor said during the Democratic National Committee’s Forum on Women’s Leadership in Washington, D.C.

The former governor of Rhode Island has been struggling to raise money and make an impression with voters (ABC News reports that according to their last joint poll with The Washington Post, Chafee was polling at less than .5%). Though he was running as a Democrat, Chafee begin his stint in politics as a Republican, and later became an Independent. He will be remembered in part for making the case to bring the metric system to the U.S. when he announced his campaign.

It seems the parting remarks did not go altogether smoothly:

Though DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz did call him a “class act.”

Chafee said during his speech that “I would like to take this opportunity one last time to advocate for a chance be given to peace.” He added:

The United States of America is so strong militarily, economically and culturally that we can take chances for peace. In fact, as a strong mature world leader, we must take chances for peace. If we have courage, if we take risks, we can have Prosperity through Peace, not just in the United States, but all over the world.

Chafee also called for more leadership roles for women, saying “studies show that women tend to lead differently than men, in that women are more likely to be collaborative and team oriented. It is undeniable the benefits women provide to the pursuit of peace.”

And he took a moment to recall his favorite ancient Greek play, Lysistrata, about “a group of women [who,] fed up with the war mongering of their husbands, agree to withhold their favors until peace returns.”

Jim Webb also dropped out this week, leaving just Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley and, we guess, Larry Lessig to fight it out for the Democratic nomination.

Danielle Wiener-Bronner is a news reporter.