And then there were 21. Massachusetts congressman Seth Moulton, who served four tours in Iraq, announced Friday that he is dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary. “I got into this race because I didn’t see a better foil to Trump than a young combat veteran,” the former Marine officer told the Boston Globe, “and I was the only one in the race.”

Moulton, who boasts three degrees from Harvard, might have been a formidable candidate in another era, but his impeccable credentials and focus on foreign policy failed to excite the progressive base. His bid, which began as a long shot, was riddled with strategic missteps, including a misguided attempt to depose House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which cost him political capital in Congress. He got into the race late, waiting until April to announce, and was overshadowed by Joe Biden in the centrist lane and by fellow veteran Pete Buttigieg, who served in Afghanistan. Moulton never rose high enough in the polls or secured enough donations to qualify for the first two Democratic debates, denying him a much-needed national platform. “Candidly, getting in the race late was a mistake,” he told the New York Times. “It was a bigger handicap than I expected.” While he said he wouldn’t complain about the DNC’s debate rules screwing him over, he suggested it was not “a smart system to choose the best nominee to take on Donald Trump.”

Moulton, who follows Washington governor Jay Inslee, former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, and fellow Congressman Eric Swalwell out the door, encouraged more candidates to follow his example. “I think it’s evident that this is now a three-way race between Biden, [Elizabeth] Warren and [Bernie] Sanders, and really it’s a debate about how far left the party should go,” he told the Times.

He did not give his explicit support to Biden, but called him “a mentor and a friend [who would] make a great president,” adding that “Anybody in this race will be better than Donald Trump and I will enthusiastically support whoever the nominee is.” But he also warned that should the party drift further left, it could perhaps lead to Trump winning in 2020. “Trump will be harder to beat than most people think,” he warned.

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