While not necessarily facing the dreadful collapse that we’re seeing Joe Biden go through, it’s pretty clear after New Hampshire that Elizabeth Warren’s trail to the White House has been closed off. Biden still has an outside chance of picking up steam as the primaries head South; no such optimism lies in store for Pocahontas. Her only hope was to defeat Bernie Sanders and become the torch-bearer for the left-most wing of the Democratic Party. It’s now obvious, coming off a distant fourth-place finish in New Hampshire, that it’s just not in the cards for Warren.
“We’re staying in this fight for the people who are counting on us,” Warren wrote in one of a slew of tweets insisting that she wasn’t ready to wave the white flag. But the fact is: Once your message goes from “we’re gonna crush this thing” to “hey, we’re staying in,” the smoke signals are already in the air. Anyone who donates to her campaign at this point is just wasting their money.
If Warren couldn’t dominate in Iowa and New Hampshire – two states that are in the neighborhood of her home state of Massachusetts – it’s unclear why anyone would think there’s any juice left in the tank. Her prospects for picking up delegates will only worsen as the primary winds its way into South Carolina and the states of Super Tuesday. There may have been room for her to win Nevada if she’d won the Iowa caucuses, but that was not to be. As much as she might insist she sees a path to the nomination, it just isn’t there.
“Elizabeth Warren, sometimes referred to as Pocahontas, is having a really bad night,” Trump tweeted as the New Hampshire results came in. “I think she is sending signals that she wants out. Calling for unity is her way of getting there, going home, and having a ‘nice cold beer’ with her husband!”
In a 2,000-word memo sent out to Warren’s supporters, her campaign manager sought to map out the strategy going forward.
“Warren has proven the doubters wrong before,” wrote Roger Lau. “The road to the Democratic nomination is not paved with statewide winner-take-all victories. This is a district-by-district contest for pledged delegates awarded proportionally.”
As true as that may be, it’s not clear why anyone would switch back to Warren after her early collapse. Sanders has proven capable of taking control of the radical base, and the so-called “center lane” has turned into a contest between Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. With Michael Bloomberg entering the race on Super Tuesday, it’s appears obvious that there is no more room for Warren.
Back to the reservation —er, Senate – with you, Professor.
