John,



Our campaign has been about seeing clearly, speaking honestly and acting
decisively in the best interests of America.

Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign
does not have the means to move forward successfully. My service to the
country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee. Acknowledging this
now is in the best interests of those in the campaign; it is in the best
interests of this party as we seek to unify around a nominee; and it is in
the best interests of the country. 

I decided to run for President because I believed that I could help bring
a divided country together in common cause to confront the greatest set of
challenges we’ve ever faced. I also knew that the most fundamental of them
is fear — the fear that Donald Trump wants us to feel about one another;
the very real fear that too many in this country live under; and the fear
we sometimes feel when it comes to doing the right thing, especially when
it runs counter to what is politically convenient or popular.

I knew, and I still know, that we can reject and overcome these fears and
choose to instead be defined by our ambitions and our ability to achieve
them. 

I knew that we would have to be unafraid in how we ran the campaign. We’d
have to run with nothing to lose. And I knew that our success would depend
not on PACs or corporations but upon the grassroots volunteers and
supporters from everywhere, especially from those places that had been
overlooked or taken for granted.

We should be proud of what we fought for and what we were able to achieve.

Together we were able to help change what is possible when it comes to the
policies that we care about and the country we want to serve. We released
the first comprehensive plan to confront climate change of any of the
presidential candidates; we took the boldest approach to gun safety in
American history; we confronted institutional, systemic racism and called
out Donald Trump for his white supremacy and the violence that he’s
encouraged against communities that don’t look like, pray like or love
like the majority in this country; and we were one of the first to reject
all PAC money, corporate contributions, special interest donations and
lobbyist help. 

We proposed an economic program that focused on both equality and equity
and would give every American the certainty that one job would be enough;
and a healthcare plan that would guarantee that every one of us is well
enough to live to our full potential.

We knew the only way our country would live up to its promise is if
everyone could stand up to be counted. We released the most ambitious
voter registration and voting rights plan, one that would bring 55 million
new voters into our democracy, and remove barriers for those who’ve been
silenced because of their race, ethnicity or the fact that they live with
a disability.

We spoke with pride about El Paso and communities of immigrants. We
elevated the plight and the promise of refugees and asylum seekers. And we
proposed nothing short of rewriting this country’s immigration laws in our
own image, to forever free from fear more than 11 million of our fellow
Americans who should be able to contribute even more to our shared
success.

And at this moment of truth for our country, we laid bare the cost and
consequence of Donald Trump: the rise in hate crimes, the terror attack in
El Paso, the perversion of the Constitution, the diminished standing of
the United States around the world. But we also made clear the common
responsibility to confront him, to hold him accountable and ensure that he
does not serve another term in office. Committing ourselves to this task
not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans first before we are
anything else. 

I am grateful to each one of you, and to all the people who made up the
heart and soul of this campaign. You were among the hundreds of thousands
of our fellow Americans who made a donation, signed up to volunteer or
spread the word about this campaign and our opportunity to help decide the
election of our lifetime.

You have been with me from the beginning, through it all. I know that you
did it not for me personally, not for the Democratic Party, but for our
country at this defining moment. Though today we are suspending this
campaign, let us each continue our commitment to the country in whatever
capacity we can. 

Let us continue to fearlessly champion the issues and causes that brought
us together. Whether it is ending the epidemic of gun violence or
dismantling structural racism or successfully confronting climate change
before it is too late, we will continue to organize and mobilize and act
in the best interests of America.

We will work to ensure that the Democratic nominee is successful in
defeating Donald Trump in 2020. I can tell you firsthand from having the
chance to know the candidates, we will be well served by any one of them,
and I’m going to be proud to support whoever that nominee is. 

And proud to call them President in January 2021, because they will win.

We must support them in the race against Donald Trump and support them in
their administration afterwards, do all that we can to help them heal a
wounded country and bring us together in meeting the greatest set of
challenges we have ever known.

I’m confident I will see you down the road, and I look forward to that
day. 

Thank you for making this campaign possible, and for continuing to believe
that we can turn this moment of great peril into a moment of great promise
for America and the world. 

With you always, and forever grateful.

Beto



 


Contribute to Beto's campaign: [link removed]

This email was sent to [email protected]. Email is the most important way for us to reach you about opportunities to act. If you need to remove yourself from our email list, click here to unsubscribe: [link removed]

PAID FOR BY BETO FOR AMERICA
P.O. Box 3628 El Paso, TX 79923