No White House Bid for Wellstone in 2000

Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) announced he will not run for president in 2000, removing a liberal threat to Vice President Al Gore. “I’ve always said: ‘Look, if I can do this presidential race and I can also do a good job for the people of Minnesota, I’m going to do both,’ ” he said at a news conference at the state Capitol in St. Paul. “I will admit to you, I don’t think I can.” Wellstone said he decided in the last couple of weeks that he couldn’t take the rigors of a presidential campaign, because of chronic back pain from a ruptured disk. Only a month ago, Wellstone hinted strongly that, after more than a year of positioning himself for a White House bid, he was ready to run. Wellstone also said he would not back off an early pledge not to run for a third Senate term.