Elizabeth Warren 2020 makes sense on paper. The Massachusetts senator is obviously a very smart person who thinks seriously about policy. She has credibility with left-y activists, and she can blend some of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) strengths (a power-to-the-people attitude and progressive platform) with some of Hillary Clinton’s advantages (experience, being a woman in a majority-female party). And she’s running in a party that wants to nominate women — just look at the 2016 Democratic presidential primary and the 2018 House primaries.
But Warren 2020 hasn’t polled well in practice. On Monday, Emerson released a poll that showed her in third place behind Sanders and former vice president Joe Biden in her home state of Massachusetts. She has less than 6 percent support in national primary polls and is stuck in the single digits in both Iowa and New Hampshire. These numbers can change, but they’re not a great start.
These numbers might seem weird to Warren supporters. 2020 seems like it should be her moment, but she hasn’t taken off. This shouldn’t be too surprising. She’s in a rough position — running in a crowded part of the field in a media environment that’s especially tough for her.
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