What Elizabeth Warren says she got ‘wrong’ about the Democratic primary race
"I was told at the beginning of this whole undertaking that there are two lanes."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she was warned about the headwinds her Democratic primary campaign might face.
“I was told at the beginning of this whole undertaking that there are two lanes: a progressive lane that Bernie Sanders is the incumbent for and a moderate lane that Joe Biden is the incumbent for — and there’s no room for anyone else in this,” Warren told reporters Thursday afternoon outside her home in Cambridge.
“I thought that wasn’t right,” she said. “But evidently I was wrong.”
The Massachusetts senator announced Thursday morning that she was suspending her 2020 presidential campaign, on the heels of a dismal Super Tuesday showing in which she fell far behind Biden and Sanders. Through the first 18 state primary contests, Warren had finished no better than third, including in her home state — where Biden surged ahead to beat both her and Sanders after the other more moderate candidates in the race dropped out and threw their support behind the former vice president.
Warren said Thursday that she thought there was “more room to run another kind of campaign,” as opposed to Biden’s promise of restoration or Sanders’s call for political revolution. Early in the campaign, Warren looked like she might eclipse Sanders, mostly aligning herself with the Vermont senator through a stream of ambitious policy proposals that powered a late-summer surge. However, after her progressive ally’s resurgence headed into the early-voting contests, Warren began drawing sharper contrasts with Sanders and pitching herself as a more effective president.
Ultimately — squeezed from both sides, like many fellow former 2020 contenders — Warren wasn’t able to build a base of support to match either Biden or Sanders. While her policy-oriented campaign was highly popular among white, college-educated Democrats, it struggled to make inroads with Black and working-class voters, as The New York Times reported earlier this week.
Warren said Thursday that she wasn’t ready to endorse either of her rivals.
“Not today,” she told reporters. “I need some space around this and want to take some time to think a little more.”
According to The Washington Post, allies of both Sanders and Biden have reached out to Warren’s team to inquire about a potential endorsement. On social media, both of the candidates praised Warren’s campaign and activism.
Senator @EWarren is the fiercest of fighters for middle class families. Her work in Washington, in Massachusetts, and on the campaign trail has made a real difference in people’s lives. We needed her voice in this race, and we need her continued work in the Senate.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 5, 2020
Sen. Warren has run an extraordinary campaign of ideas – demanding that the wealthy pay their fair share, ending corruption in Washington, guaranteeing health care for all, addressing climate change, tackling the student debt crisis and vigorously protecting women’s rights.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 5, 2020
Asked about the fact that the last two major Democratic candidates are white males (Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard remains in the race, but has won only two delegates), Warren said that “one of the hardest parts of this” was thinking about all the pinky promises she made with little girls on the campaign trail, “who are going to have to wait four more years.”
“That’s going to be hard.” she said.
Warren was also asked about the role her gender played in the race. From the beginning, Warren’s supporters and campaign staffers have argued that she was at times held to a double standard, compared to her male opponents. Both Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested this week that sexism hurt her campaign.
“That is the trap question for every woman,” Warren said Thursday. “If you say, ‘Yeah there was sexism in this race,” everyone says, “Whiner!” And if you say. ‘No, there was no sexism,’ about a bazillion women think, ‘What planet do you live on?’ I promise you this: I will have a lot more to say on that subject later on.”
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