Elizabeth Warren after dropping out. NPR/AP.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has dropped out of the 2020 Presidential race after failing to win a single state on Super Tuesday. NPR. Warren refused to endorse anyone as she left the race. Warren ran on a progressive platform and split the vote with Senator Bernie Sanders. Warren, who made her gender a major part of her pitch, said that sexism was a reason why she did not win. Though Warren had some big moments during the debates, especially when she effectively took down New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, she never got much in the way of support and had no luck once the elections started. With Warren out of the race only Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard remain in the race.
My Comment:
The NPR article was a fluff piece but there hasn't really been any hard hitting journalism about Warren outside of conservative media since she decided to run. Warren has always been a media darling so it's not surprising that most of the media about her dropping out is positive.
Of course the real world is different. Warren lost because she had some major downsides that people didn't forget about. The scandal where she lied about her heritage to get into Harvard was a huge deal, especially after she released a DNA test to back her claims despite showing next to no Native American DNA.
Indeed, the truth seemed like a four letter word for Warren even by the admittedly low standard of modern day politicians. Warren seemed to have a lie for every occasion and said untrue things that were easily fact checks. The American Indian heritage thing was the biggest but far from the only example of her fabricating the truth.
Warren also had a major likability issue. She comes from the "a strong woman is a hostile woman" camp and she just seemed incredibly arrogant and entitled. I always got the impression that she was the kind of person that would look down on me just because I'm from the Midwest and went to a state college, and she did nothing to dissuade that view during her campaign. I think it's really saying something when I can say with a straight face that Warren was even less likable than Hillary Clinton herself, who was often described as robotic and arrogant.
Warren was also massively hurt by the presence of Bernie Sanders in the race. He and Warren shared the same platform but Sanders is still in the race. Part of that is the fact that Sanders had a lot of his 2016 machine still running but that wasn't the only factor. For all his faults Sanders comes off as more charismatic, authentic and likable that Warren could ever hope to be. Though I am no fan of Sanders I think I would enjoy having a beer with him a lot more than I ever would with Warren and I think that was the general feeling for most voters on that side of the political spectrum. For progressive voters, they had little reason to choose Warren over Sanders.
I also think that Warren pretty much burned her bridges with the progressive left when she accused Bernie Sanders of saying a woman couldn't win in 2020. Sanders always denied this and it really looked like Warren was lying about the whole thing to make Sanders look sexist. I'm no fan of Sanders but I really can't picture him saying it and it looked to everyone like a very obvious dirty political trick on her part.
I don't think sexism played a role in people disliking Warren and I think false claims of sexism is actually a reason why people hated her. Warren is an unpleasant person and if she had been a man who acted the same way she did, arrogant, shrill and snooty, I think she would have failed regardless. There are some people who won't vote for a woman regardless but those people are rare and most people just disliked Warren for her behavior or her platform, not because of her gender.
I also want to say that anyone who blames their gender for their failings usually doesn't have a leg to stand on, no matter what gender they are. It's a sure sign of someone who is blaming others for their own failures. I know sexism exists against both genders but it's not so severe that any honest person can blame ALL of their problems on it, like Warren appears to be doing here.
Warren did have some good moments as well, with the absolute beatdown she put on Michael Bloomberg in his first debate being the best of them all. I think Warren deserves a little credit for saving us all from a potential Bloomberg presidency. That was a very good thing that Warren did and though I obviously don't like the woman I do think she should get credit for it.
The big question now is who she is going to endorse. Warren has the exact same platform as Bernie Sanders and they used to be friends and progressive allies but there is bad blood between them now. And Joe Biden will probably offer her a lot more than Sanders ever could, perhaps even a VP slot. She's obviously not going to go with Tulsi Gabbard but it sounds like she is trying to court both camps.
I think that President Trump does have a very good point. He has been tweeting that Warren probably cost Bernie Sanders more than a few states on Super Tuesday. Had the progressive wing of the party done what the establishment did and drop all the candidates out before Super Tuesday and unite around one person, I think Sanders probably could have picked up two or three more states, giving him the lead and a much cleaner path to the nomination. As it is now, Warren may have slowed Sanders momentum enough that Biden's likely to win, if not in the first round for sure in the 2nd round of voting at the convention.
As for Warren's future political career, I could see her running again in 2024, in the safe assumption that a Democrat doesn't win in 2020. But I think her time is done. She burned too many bridges with the progressive left for attacking Sanders and screwing up his Super Tuesday vote for her to have many fans left. Sure there will always be those that will vote for her because she is a woman but that won't be enough to secure her the nomination. I think her career as a viable presidential candidate is done.
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