Warren team turns grim after Super Tuesday wipeout
Elizabeth Warren had a plan for winning. It didn't work: In 18 nomination contests, she hasn't finished above third place — including in her home state.
Now, she's facing political and financial pressures to get out.
Warren's campaign declined to comment on her next steps after her dismal Super Tuesday performance. But allies who speak regularly with the campaign say the mood was bleak. A small wave of last-minute endorsements from groups like EMILY’s List, along with late financial help from a super PAC, did not significantly move the needle.
That's left the Warren campaign to wonder whether a path forward exists. While the campaign had insisted it still saw an opening by going to the convention — she will likely collect at least several dozen delegates Tuesday — the results were far below their own publicly-released projections.
The campaign also has financial constraints that come with a unionized staff of over 1,000 people — the largest field operation in the race besides Mike Bloomberg's — even after raising $29 million in February. With a payroll at over $6 million per month, the campaign likely needs to keep at least several million dollars on hand to cover paychecks, benefits, and other assorted shutdown costs to avoid going into debt. Warren was able to raise a significant amount of that money with her strong debate performances, but there is not another debate until March 15.
The super PAC that provided over $12 million in air cover to Warren ahead of Super Tuesday also has said it is not placing ad buys for March 10. Warren herself has no public events planned until Friday. Perhaps anticipating that the night would go poorly, she did not give a traditional election night speech but rather held a regular town hall in Detroit, which votes next week, just as results began to roll in. She hardly mentioned the elections happening Tuesday.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/04/elizabeth-warren-super-tuesday-wipeout-120705