Why Are Progressives Blaming Elizabeth Warren For Bernie’s Super Tuesday Losses?

Progressive Democrats are still reeling from their losses on Super Tuesday after former Vice President Joe Biden had an unexpected near-sweep of the primary races. Perhaps an equally surprising take on the events that played out came from progressive leaders and pundits alike who decidedly pointed blame at one candidate for Tuesday night’s outcome: Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Although the entire progressive party had a poor showing, it seems that staunch supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders in particular wanted to pin those losses on the only woman in the race.

Warren, who has been a leading candidate throughout the race, was called out over the days coming up to Super Tuesday’s primaries. On Monday, New York magazine writer Sarah Jones made the argument that “the most progressive thing Warren can do is leave the race.” This argument was further fueled by Biden’s victory. Biden secured 399 delegates and wins in nine states over Sanders’ 322 delegates in four states (and counting). 

Following the results of Super Tuesday, others stoked criticism that Warren's place in the race was disturbing the overall progressive goal. “Imagine if the progressives consolidated last night like the moderates consolidated, who would have won?” tweeted Rep. Ilhan Omar, who endorsed Sanders. “That’s what we should be analyzing. I feel confident a united progressive movement would have allowed for us to #BuildTogether and win MN and other states we narrowly lost.”

This was a blow to the progressive movement that Sanders said he cultivated for years, eliciting questions around why Biden made such a swift sweep. His success did follow the suspension of campaigns by former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and now former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg who vied for the moderate establishment vote, but that didn’t mean Biden necessarily collected any delegates from them. It also did not technically warrant a progressive argument for Warren to step down, though that seemed to an overwhelming response.

By doing this, the only woman in the race became a target for the entire progressive party’s loss. “Warren is a legitimate and strong candidate, writer Ijeoma Oluo noted on Twitter. “And honestly, asking our final woman candidate to drop out so it will be easier on the dudes is some sexist nonsense.”

Questions about Warren's electability have been a huge issue throughout her campaign, and her gender has been a large factor, like Hillary Clinton’s was in 2016. Warren, like all women candidates, has had to battle sexism throughout her campaign. Still, Warren believes her stake in this race is important and necessary, and won’t be pushed down by progressive pundits. Although she did not win any states, Warren sent an email to supporters pledging to stay in the race another week, citing the six primaries coming up, though her campaign manager sent an email to her staff saying she is "still waiting for more results to come in to get a better sense of the final delegate math” and “talking to the team to assess the path forward."

The overwhelming irony is that Sanders, who lost to Hillary in the 2016 Super Tuesday vote, did not drop out of the race despite his losses when he was asked to. The bigger question is, if Warren isn’t electable, what woman would be?