WARREN BOWS OUT
Warren bows out, leaving Bernie and Joe to fight for her support
Her plan didn’t work out.
Elizabeth Warren, whose “I have a plan for that” mantra became a calling card for her supporters, dropped out of the presidential race Thursday, ending a one-time front-running campaign that fizzled once voters finally started casting ballots.
Speaking to reporters outside her Cambridge, Mass., home, Warren expressed dismay that her exit means the battle for the Democratic nomination is now effectively between two older white men, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. She declined to immediately endorse either of them, saying she was going to “take a deep breath and spend a little time on that.”
“One of the hardest parts of this is … all those little girls who are going to have to wait four more years. That is going to be hard,” said Warren, who was flanked by her husband, Bruce Mann, and golden retriever, Bailey.
With Warren out, Biden and Sanders are officially the only candidates left in the race with a viable path to the nomination.
Sanders, a fellow progressive, has dispatched surrogates in recent days in a bid to secure an endorsement from Warren.
But Biden is riding high on his victories in 10 Super Tuesday primaries and may look like a more formidable pick to challenge President Trump in November.
Both Biden and Sanders offered praise for Warren over Twitter after her announcement.
“Without her, the progressive movement would not be nearly as strong as it is today. I know that she’ll stay in this fight and we are grateful that she will,” Sanders tweeted.
Biden chimed in: “We needed her voice in this race, and we need her con
tinued work in the Senate.”
Warren’s pullout came on the heels of her disappointing performance in the Super Tuesday elections.
She didn’t manage to win a single one of Tuesday’s 14 primaries — not even her home state of Massachusetts.
But Warren, who isn’t up for reelection for her Senate seat until 2024, had no hard feelings for her constituents.
“I am deeply grateful to the people of Massachusetts,” she said.
Warren’s troubles didn’t begin Tuesday.
She performed poorly in the Democratic Party’s first four nominating contests as well, including a worsethan-expected fourth place in the New Hampshire primary.
Alongside electoral hiccups, Warren struggled to raise cash and last month considered backtracking on her pledge to not take money from super PACs.
Warren kicked off her campaign in February 2019 with a plea for “structural change” that reverberated with voters across the country.
At one point last year, Warren was neck-and-neck with Biden for the top spot in several national polls and her “I have a plan for that” quip turned into a campaign slogan.
She became known for her striking debate performances.
She saw a momentary surge in support after last month’s debate in Nevada, during which she excoriated Mike Bloomberg over his alleged record of sexist comments and inappropriate behavior around women.
Bloomberg never recovered from Warren’s rhetorical assault and dropped out of the race himself on Wednesday.
But Warren’s support and fund-raising had already dwindled irreparably by then, making her hard-hitting debate performance little more than a brief viral sensation.
Trump, who has mockingly called Warren “Pocahontas” since she claimed Native American ancestry, accused her of hurting Sanders’ chances by not dropping out sooner.
“Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren, who was going nowhere except into Mini Mike’s head, just dropped out of the Democrat Primary…THREE DAYS TOO LATE,” Trump tweeted. “She cost Crazy Bernie, at least, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. Probably cost him the nomination!”
Still, in a farewell call with staff before her Cambridge press conference, Warren listed a string of her campaign’s accomplishments, including her signature 2% wealth tax proposal, which has since been picked up by Sanders, and her support for a single-payer-style health care system.
“I refuse to let disappointment blind me — or you — to what we’ve accomplished,” Warren told her staffers. “We didn’t reach our goal, but what we have done together — what you have done — has made a lasting difference. It’s not the scale of the difference we wanted to make, but it matters.”