Elizabeth Warren, Once a Front-Runner, Will Drop Out of Presidential Race

Four years later, when Ms. Warren did decide to pursue the Democratic nomination, she entered a changed political terrain — a challenging landscape whose obstacles she was never able to overcome. Mr. Sanders’s political stock had soared after he ran against Mrs. Clinton in 2016, giving him an immediate advantage in fund-raising and name recognition that complicated Ms. Warren’s electoral path.

And Donald J. Trump was not just a reality TV star and one of many potential Republican rivals in 2020. He was the president, and his election seemed to shock the Democratic base into an electability-induced stupor. Voters constantly second-guessed their electoral choices as they tried to game out which candidate would be best equipped to beat him.

Mr. Biden, in particular, has capitalized on this anxiety to drive voters to his candidacy.

Ms. Warren’s allies and supporters said the question of electability — who would be the surest bet to defeat the president — disproportionately hurt all the women who ran for president this cycle. Voters, they argue, were swayed by a media narrative that a woman would have a more difficult time defeating Mr. Trump, informed by Mrs. Clinton’s unexpected loss in 2016.

At recent events, Ms. Warren had taken to speaking to voters directly about their electability fears, imploring them to tune out pundits who were writing her off and vote their own conscience.

“Here’s my advice: Cast a vote that will make you proud,” Ms. Warren told voters on Super Tuesday, speaking in Detroit. “Cast a vote from your heart. Vote for the person you think will make the best president of the United States.”

Though her allies stress structural barriers, Ms. Warren’s shortcomings as a candidate had a great deal to do with her operation. At times, Ms. Warren’s campaign did not reflect the urgency of a candidacy trying to make history, not only as the first female president, but also through a program of systemic upheaval that would include government-run health care, free public college, student debt cancellation, breaking up big tech companies, universal child care, and significant tax increases on the wealthiest individuals and corporations.

During debates ahead of the votes in Iowa and New Hampshire, two states where Ms. Warren had invested many of her presidential hopes, she took a back seat to other candidates like Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. Her campaign chose not to invest heavily in television advertising, and was outmatched on the airwaves in early voting states. Its bet on organizing staff failed to change the picture.

Source link