Eric the Small-Faced

Eric Swalwell is out of the Democratic presidential nomination contest.

There were still several candidates I hadn't fully assessed in this space - including Joe Biden, whom I was saving for last - and I dreaded going through them because it's been so exhausting.  Eric Swalwell was one of them.  I'd like to thank him for lightening my load.

Except that Tom Steyer, the pro-impeachment Democratic donor, has decided that, yes, he will run for President after all, canceling out the net loss of lower-tier candidates that Tom Perez at the DNC was hoping for.

As for Swalwell, he never had a chance.  His centerpiece issue was gun control, an issue Democratic primary and caucus participants aren't known for voting on, though it polls higher than Swalwell ever did as a presidential candidate.  Besides, he had three strikes against him - he's white, he's male, and he's a white male from rambunctiously diverse California.

Tom Steyer has the same three drawbacks.

As for Martin O'Malley - whose only supporter in 2016 from Congress was Swalwell - well, if Steyer can change his mind about running . . .