Tim Donner Withdraws from U.S. Senate Race

Tim Donner in Richmond

Norman Leahy had the story first at Bearing Drift: 

U.S. Senate candidate Tim Donner has ended his quest for the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Senator Jim Webb.

That leaves four candidates in the Republican field:  former Governor George Allen, Bishop E.W. Jackson, political activist Jamie Radtke, and lawyer David McCormick.  Although Tim Kaine is the likely Democratic nominee, he also faces at least one opponent.

Donner's announcement came at 4:00 p.m, but 45 minutes earlier he telephoned me to give him a personal heads-up.  I took the opportunity to interview him about his decision and about his plans for the future -- including whether he might consider a third-party bid for the U.S. Senate or any other elective office.

The interview has been published in two parts on Examiner.com:

Exit interview, Part I: Senate candidate Tim Donner withdraws from race

and

Exit interview, Part II: U.S. Senate candidate Tim Donner ends campaign

In a part of the interview that was not published, Donner said to me:

Thank you, Rick, and I just want to say I’ve always respected your reporting. You have been more pro-active than almost any of the other journalists that I’ve come to know in the course of this campaign.

One of the things that struck me the most about the media, and I always knew there was a left-wing media bias, that was nothing new to me, but what I didn’t realize was just how lazy so much of the media has been in their unwillingness to do anything more than repeat press releases and poll results and fundraising efforts and FEC reports.

You’ve been out there on the scene, watching people speak, watching them interact, interviewing them in person, and so I have a great deal of respect for the work that you’ve done.

I wasn't seeking praise, but I certainly appreciate it.

I hope the other candidates I have interviewed -- including Allen, Kaine, McCormick, and Radtke -- feel the same way. I do all I can to be fair, even to interview subjects with whom I disagree profoundly (examples include Tim Kaine and Tom Perriello).

By coincidence, Donner's announcement came on the same day that former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson ended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and announced he will instead seek the Libertarian Party's nod.

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