Forget the “Native American” stuff—Is Liz Warren a fake presidential candidate?

While the political press covering the 2020 Democratic presidential primary are focused on who’s getting in—“Joe Biden, Will He or Won’t He?”— Elizabeth Warren, the one-time front-runner and progressive rock star, is fading away.

Yes, it’s early. Iowa won’t cast the first ballots for another 330 days or so. And, yes, a once-moribund candidacy can bounce back to life, as both Bill Clinton and John McCain demonstrated on their way to winning their party’s nomination.

But there’s a point where the numbers are so bad and the brand is so broken that there’s no foreseeable way forward. And the Massachusetts senator has reached that point.