In an interview published this week by Esquire, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee acknowledges he probably should not have made the “metrics system” a top plank in his quixotic run for president of the United States, the Providence Journal reports.

Said Chafee: “I guess the big mistake — I went back and forth on including the metric system angle. I was just crossing my fingers there would be some intellectual approach to the various proposals I put out in my announcement speech, which kind of covered the gamut, from ending capital punishment, to bringing Edward Snowden home.”

He added: “Unfortunately, my crossed fingers didn’t work, and it just turned into more of a joke about metric, not ‘let’s look at the bigger picture.'”

Lincoln Chafee said he is ending his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Politico: “With that, the Democratic field was whittled down to three — with no one else waiting in the wings: Clinton, the insurgent Bernie Sanders, and distant third Martin O’Malley. The three are set to address Iowa Democrats at the state party’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner on Saturday night.”

“Lincoln Chafee, the struggling Democratic presidential candidate, is planning to make an update about the state of his campaign on Friday morning,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Chafee is a former governor and senator from Rhode Island and his poll numbers have been hovering around zero and he has only raised about $30,000 in his campaign. He did not help his cause at last week’s Democratic presidential debate, when he stumbled on questions about his record or and in trying to make a case for his candidacy.”

New York Times: “His campaign already on life support, a fledgling Democratic debate performance did nothing to bolster his White House hopes. Mr. Chaffee, the former senator and governor of Rhode Island, spoke for just nine minutes, and when he did get to speak, he stumbled.”

“Mr. Chafee says that he wants to carry on, but the numbers are getting increasingly daunting. Polls are showing him getting closer to zero, and he acknowledged that he has raised only about $30,000 from donors.”

Lincoln Chafee (D) raised less than $30,000 in his first quarter as a presidential candidate, Politico reports.

“Most of the Chafee campaign’s cash came from Chafee himself. He loaned $364,000, in addition to what he received from donors, giving his campaign about $329,000 in cash on hand.”

Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has scheduled an afternoon speech at the George Mason University at which a staffer with knowledge of the governor’s plans tells Bloomberg he will announce his White House bid during the event.

Chafee has indicated he will target primary frontrunner Hillary Clinton on her vote to authorize the Iraq War when they both served in the Senate: “I don’t think anybody should be president of the United States that made that mistake.”

Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D) will officially enter the Democratic presidential race on June 3, a source with knowledge of his plans told Politico.

Former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee’s “exploration of a presidential run has been met with a mix of bewilderment and derision in his home state,” the Boston Globe reports.

“The Providence Journal, in a stinging editorial, tore into his single term as governor and declared it ‘preposterous’ that ‘such a dismal record in an executive position would be a recommendation for the presidency (of the United States!).'”

“The national press, for its part, has largely ignored his near-candidacy. The endless dissections of prohibitive favorite Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential bid make at least passing reference to other Democratic hopefuls, such as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley. Chafee, the Republican-turned-independent now seeking the Democratic nomination? Not so much.”

Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D) told CNN that “I’m running” for the Democratic nomination for president.

A spokeswoman later clarified: “We are still in the exploratory committee phase. We will file the proper papers to be an official candidate, but that has not happened yet.”

“I’d say 100 percent that I want to run, but this gives you some flexibility. People can always change their mind. But as I sit here right now, 100 percent, I want to run.”

— Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D), in an interview with the Huffington Post, on his presidential exploratory bid.

Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee is announcing that he is considering a campaign for the 2016 Democratic nomination for president, according to Rhode Island Public Radio.

“The 62-year old former U.S. Senator and governor said in an interview that he wants to give Democratic voters a choice for president… A decision on whether to pursue a campaign, Chafee said, will hinge on the level of support he can generate over the next few weeks and months and on how well a web-based fund-raising effort goes.”