The rise and fall of Elizabeth Warren
It’s hard to stand out when you’re riding in the middle of the road, Gabriel Quintanilla writes.
The United States senator started her campaign as the most progressive moderate candidate in the 2020 Democratic race. Her platform was based on supporting Medicare for all, raising the minimum wage and cancelling all student debt, single-handedly capitalizing on support from white college graduates and becoming the number-one choice of many Americans with advanced college degrees.
But for Elizabeth Warren, who dropped out of the race on Thursday, it wasn’t enough.
She struggled to get votes from Hispanic and black Americans, especially compared to progressive-revival Senator Bernie Sanders, who scored 28% of black, Hispanic and Asian voters, according to a February poll from Monmouth University, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden, who swept the black vote in South Carolina and Super Tuesday. This led to major problems later on in her intellectual campaign, as shown from her performance in national polls and the first few elections.
But in reality, her demise started from the beginning. Warren struggled to edge her way into the top seat of polls as candidates vyed to become the choice of Democrats to dethrone President Donald Trump. Overtime, she made small gains: 17% in September to 21% in October, only to dip to 12% in February, according to an ABC/Washington Post analysis. And each of these polls represented a consistent trend: Warren was second or third behind other front-runners. Even in her breakout performance during the October debate, she was shadowed by the less-eloquent V.P. — a harbinger foretelling that despite garnering the spotlight, she would not achieve the prime place across the nation.
And at the first election, Warren struggled. The senator only received 18% of votes in Iowa, slipping behind former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sanders. But that was okay because Iowa didn’t represent her voting demographic: Out of 3 million people who call Iowa home, only 60% participated in some education past high school — only 28% acquired a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to a 2017 Gazette report. She wasn’t meant to win there, right? So trek onward to New Hampshire and Nevada, where she also failed to secure a top seat.
But Super Tuesday is make-it-or-break-it time. Several candidates bid adieu before the big night — including Buttigieg, who had secured triple the number of delegates Warren had at that time. Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg bit the dust the day after 14 states and American Samoa started releasing results.
It came time for Warren to re-evaluate her run. With the results showing Biden and Sanders far outpacing her — including in her home state of Massachusetts — her time had come.
Once touted as the potential-first female commander in chief, how did this come to an end? Well, Warren well-wishers need to get out of the weeds and realize that college-educated, white, middle-class Americans aren’t everyone, meaning her base wasn’t as large as university grads and media makers boasted to begin with. She wasn’t “left” enough to scoop Sanders’ supporters and she wasn’t “center” enough to buy out Biden. Deemed more on the Sanders side of things, Warren’s worlds didn’t meet up with the message of taking down the establishment while still being a part of it. This caused her to alienate her own voters and potential ones.
Now, her supporters will have to choose between one of the two men running — or two-delegate Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. 43% of Warren’s supporters are siding with Sanders; 36% will back Biden, according to Morning Consult.
And while Warren supporters voters will continue her legacy, they will decide on something she couldn’t before dropping out: Back a candidate who wants to better the current establishment or revolutionize a new one.
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