I'm sad to see Elizabeth Warren drop out. Now she has a choice to make
After several disappointing results following Super Tuesday, Senator Elizabeth Warren suspended her campaign on Thursday. Two summers ago, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s chief of staff invited me to their office to discuss criminal justice reform. I was ecstatic. I lived in her district while I was a law student and really wanted her to run against Hilary Clinton. She did not then, but I assumed from the invitation that she was considering a presidential run and how to move on the upcoming vote on the First Step Act.
As I entered her office, almost every person I encountered was black or a person of color, including the person who invited me. I was shocked by the diversity, but it reflected some of what I knew about her views on racial justice. I left the meeting excited and curious about what would come next.
Then it happened. She entered the race. I watched many friends and activists eager to support her. She is charismatic, brilliant, and shared many of their politics. Warren says two words, almost musically: “black women.” We were in her thoughts, her prayers, and most importantly, her plans. During debates, she often initiated conversations on black infant and maternal mortality, and was the only candidate to discuss the plight of black transwomen. She received early endorsements from the Working Families Party and Black Womxn for Warren.
Senator Warren’s stances and campaign were strong, but faced significant challenges. During the November 2019 debate, a moderator asked whether taxes would increase to cover Medicare for All. Senator Bernie Sanders, who famously “wrote the damn bill,” said yes. After being prompted several times, Senator Warren refused to answer whether taxes would increase, answering only that costs would not. Following the debate, she announced a multi-year phase medical coverage plan that did not increase taxes, but by then, she was under severe scrutiny for not being seemingly straightforward about her ideas.
The next month, CNN broke a story accusing Senator Sanders of telling
Senator Warren that a woman could not beat Donald Trump. Senator Sanders denied it, explaining that he encouraged her to run against Hilary Clinton in 2016, but acknowledged that Trump would use misogynistic tactics to undermine a woman candidate. His campaign released a decades old video of him telling a young girl that she could be president.
The progressive camps of both candidates were already fragile by the time that spat broke. Additional fights that followed on and offline about the pair have devastated relationships, perhaps irreparably, even as the two candidates will likely remain friends following the election. Many of the attacks on Warren were sexist, and representative of general attacks that she faced throughout the race.
While sexism is a legitimate explanation for Warren’s inability to obtain traction, it was not the sole, or even predominate reason. She received additional backlash from anti-capitalist progressive voters for calling herself a “capitalist to the bones.” She professed that the United States “needs ICE” after so many activists called for its abolishment. And despite having the best articulable messaging around race, and endorsements from several high-profile black activists, she never polled above 6% with black people. Overall, she never placed higher than third in any caucus or primary, including her own state of Massachusetts. She did not deserve to poll as low as she did, especially given the other candidates lackluster campaigns, inadequate policy explanations and debate performances.
Senator Warren was my second choice candidate. Not because she was a woman and I am concerned about electability. Not because I am waiting for the perfect woman to run, or that
the budding octogenarian that I support is a savior. But because I truly believe that social movements and political revolution transform people, communities, and the planet - not just one built around a singular candidate. I did not want Warren to leave the race before anyone else. Naively, perhaps, I assumed that the United States had shifted significantly towards an exciting future, and the candidates would wither down to Bernie or Elizabeth. I was wrong. After Super Tuesday, I realized that many voters desperately want this country to return to normal, even though “normal” is oppressive for so many of us. The biggest threat to Warren and Sanders supporters was never each other.
With this in mind, Senator Warren has a choice to make. She was one of the most innovative Democratic candidates for president in this current race, and possibly in American history. Her plans for universal childcare, significant Social Security expansion, and building a green economy would have certainly improved the lives of millions of peoples across the country. Does she believe in her vision enough to support and rally her base around Senator Sanders - the only candidate whose policies dream big about what we must make possible in this country? She absolutely must. Her, and our collective future, requires it.
Derecka Purnell is a Guardian US columnist