I’m Withdrawing from the Race for U.S. President

It’s essential we all cast a vote for decency and integrity, vote Kamala Harris

I announced at our recent virtual town hall, Make EARTH Great Again, on October 5, that I am withdrawing my candidacy and terminating the campaign for president.

For more details about this, plus a discussion of where we go from here, please view this edited version of the town hall:

Or listen to it on the Dave the Planet podcast here, or wherever you listen:

“It’s not a happy time when Dave Gardner has to cancel his campaign, the last hope for a living planet.” – Chris Bystroff, campaign team volunteer

I promised all along that I would do whatever became necessary to avoid being a spoiler that could allow Donald Trump to be elected. In early September I announced I would be voting for Kamala Harris, and recommended my supporters do the same. But we had also just welcomed my running mate to the campaign. So I didn’t terminate the campaign at that time. I wanted Stefanie Hawks-Johnson to be a V.P. candidate for a month or two, and I knew the main mission of the campaign – to alert and educate the public about our ecological overshoot emergency – remained.

I must tell you that the facts haven’t changed. I’m the only candidate we know of who’s election to office gives your kids any chance of a bright future. Unfortunately, our campaign failed to attract the attention and support needed to get on any state ballots. So, clearly I am not headed to the White House.

Please don’t write me in on your ballot. Many states require I register as a write-in candidate before they will even count your vote, and I’ve not done that. And any vote that isn’t cast for Kamala Harris is a vote that could give the election to Trump. We can’t take that chance. If I had gotten more attention and support, and if the GOP candidate wasn’t so unfit for the office, then votes for me might have had some symbolic value. We’re just not there this time.

The campaign team and I remain committed to this mission, but it is now time to officially end the campaign and close the books on the Dave Gardner for President Election Committee. Learn more about what we’ll do next in episode 21 of my podcast. And watch for news here, for the time being.

Thank you for following this project. More to come!

More about episode 21 of the podcast:

See/hear comedian and HBO host Bill Maher implore his audience to “Make Earth great again,” and see/hear musician Bruce Springsteen endorse Kamala Harris.

Campaign team members who appear in this episode:

• Ally Richardson

• Chris Bystroff

• Jan Mulder

Thanks also to these team members for their support over the past year and a half:

• Florence Blondel

• Robert Fireovid

• Mike Hanauer

• Mike Skylark

• Joshua Spodek

• Isaac Tate

Here are links to items mentioned in this episode:

Weekly CO2 – CO2.Earth

New Rule: Make Earth Great Again | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

Bruce Springsteen Endorses Kamala Harris For President

The Bright Future Project

GrowthBusters podcast

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