2020 Daily Trail Markers: Elizabeth Warren bows out of presidential race
Elizabeth Warren is out of the presidential race, but not endorsing another candidate, at least not yet reports CBS News campaign reporter Zak Hudak.
"Let's take a deep breath and spend a little time on that," Warren said Thursday. "We don't have to decide that this minute." The former law professor who ran on a platform of getting money out of politics spoke far more candidly with reporters outside her home in Cambridge than she typically did on the trail, addressing the difficulties of running as a woman and how she sees her own impact on race.
Warren said she had "no regrets at all" but stated there wasn't enough room for her in the race for the Democratic nomination. "I was told at the beginning of this whole undertaking that there are two lanes, a progressive lane that Bernie Sanders is the incumbent for and a moderate way lane that Joe Biden [is] the incumbent for and there's no room for anyone else in this," Warren said. "I thought that wasn't right, but evidently, I was wrong."
Warren frequently faced "electability" questions as a woman candidate. Asked about the role gender played in the race, Warren said it's, "The trap question for every woman. If you say yeah, there was sexism in this race, everyone says "whiner!" And if you say, no, there was no sexism, about a bazillion women think, what planet do you live on?" She added: "I will have a lot more to say on that subject later on."
Her departure from the race leaves Tulsi Gabbard as the only woman in the running.
Warren had frequently made "pinky promises" with young girls at her events to remember running for president is "what girls do." She said remembering those has been one of the hardest parts of dropping out. "Those little girls who are going to have to wait four more years. That's going to be hard."
Warren plans to continue advocating for her progressive agenda, and said she still believes there is a lot of work to be done. "Those problems don't disappear when I stand here in front of you, those problems go on," she said. "And my job is to keep fighting and to fight this, smartly and effectively as I can."
Both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders reacted to her exit from the raise with words of praise notes, CBS News political associate producer Sarah Ewall-Wice. "Senator @EWarren is the fiercest of fighters for middle class families. Her work in Washington, in Massachusetts, and on the campaign trail has made a real difference in people's lives," Biden tweeted. Sanders tweeted, "@ewarren has taken on the most powerful corporate interests because she cares about those who have been left behind. Without her, the progressive movement would not be nearly as strong as it is today. I know that she'll stay in this fight and we are grateful that she will."
LIFE AFTER 2020
MIKE BLOOMBERG
Done with running for president, Mike Bloomberg isn't backing off his original plan to defeat President Trump. Bloomberg plans to continue spending money to employ staff in six key swing states — Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Arizona — and will continue airing attacks ads against the president.
"The shape of the Mike effort is still emerging," a senior aide tells CBS News Political Correspondent Ed O'Keefe. But American TV viewers and social media users will continue to see advertising paid for by Bloomberg. He had already committed to an aggressive ad campaign in those six swing states that was going to happen regardless. "We have a digital campaign that continues. Anything we're doing now in paid media is anti trump," the aide added. "Exactly the shape of the field apparatus and support for other candidates remains up in the air."
Any specific support for Joe Biden or whoever is the eventual nominee would mean transforming a presidential campaign into an independent expenditure operation. That means a lot of paperwork and sorting out what to do with the thousands of people he now employs. And this aide stressed that as was the case at the end of his mayoralty, finding jobs for people who might need them is a top personal priority for Bloomberg.
The senior New York-based staff is on the payroll through the end of March, several said they've been told. Most of the hundreds of field organizers states nationwide are guaranteed a paycheck through the election.
STATE-BY-STATE
TEXAS
Turnout in Super Tuesday's primary eclipsed past election primary numbers from 2016 and 2018. This was also true in many of the more competitive Congressional districts (i.e. Texas' 22nd and 23rd). More than often, Democrats saw their turnout double their 2016 numbers in these districts. In Texas' 22nd, Democratic numbers jumped from 30,000 in 2016 to a bit over 65,000 this year. In total, more than 4 million voted on Super Tuesday, close to half of the 9 million that voted in the state's 2016 presidential election and a quarter of the 16 million registered in the state to vote says CBS News political unit broadcast associate Aaron Navarro. Almost 80,000 Democrats voted in Texas' 10th District primary, where progressive and 2018 candidate Mike Siegel will face doctor Pritsh Gandhi in a May runoff.
On Tuesday, many polling stations were still wrapping up voting hours after polls technically closed, all due to long lines. The state party, and the Democrat House and Senate campaign arms filed a lawsuit Thursday to prevent the Texas secretary of state from eliminating straight-ticket voting, which Democrats say will only contribute to longer lines and voter suppression. The state legislature eliminated straight ticket voting in 2017, but it was only scheduled to be implemented starting this year. In a statement, Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said the elimination of straight-ticket voting was "another Republican attempt to suppress the vote" and that "in minority-majority districts, lines to vote have already proven to be hours long. Ending straight-ticket voting has only made those lines longer and hurt candidates up and down the ballot."
CONGRESSIONAL COVERAGE
IN THE SENATE
REELECTION BID: Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma announced on Thursday that he will be running for reelection, reports CBS News political associate producer Eleanor Watson. The 85-year-old Inhofe, who has been in the Senate since 1994, announced he would be running for a fifth full term in a video released Thursday morning. In the video, he flies a plane upside down and says that as long as he can fly upside down, he will continue to serve in the United States Senate. He goes on to say that as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he is in a good position to serve Oklahoma which is home to about 35,000 troops. Inhofe's decision has been watched closely following the retirement announcements from Republican senators Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, and Pat Roberts of Kansas.
WAR OF WORDS: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the Senate floor on Thursday to give remarks about comments Schumer made about Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch at a rally in front of the Supreme Court, during arguments on a Louisiana abortion law notes Watson. At the rally on Wednesday, Schumer said, "I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions," Schumer said. "The bottom line is very simple: We will stand with the American people. We will stand with American women. We will tell President Trump and Senate Republicans who have stacked the court with right-wing ideologues that you're going to be gone in November, and you will never be able to do what you're trying to do now ever ever again."
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts denounced Schumer's remarks in a rare public statement on Wednesday, and McConnell took to the floor Thursday morning. "At the very best his comments were astonishing, reckless and completely irresponsible, and clearly as the chief justice stated in a rare and extraordinary rebuke they were 'dangerous,' because no matter the intention, words carrying the apparent threat of violence can have horrific unintended consequences," McConnell said.
Schumer in his remarks afterwards said he didn't intend to threaten the justices. "I'm from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language. I shouldn't have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat," Schumer said, "I never, never would do such a thing. and Leader McConnell knows that."
