RENO, Nev. — A nasty month for Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts retains getting worse. She completed in a decent third place within the Io
RENO, Nev. — A nasty month for Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts retains getting worse. She completed in a decent third place within the Iowa caucuses, however a results-tallying meltdown muddled what might have been a great night. New Hampshire was higher at logistics however worse for her candidacy, contemplating she ended up nearer to candidates who dropped out after the first than those that completed on high.
On Sunday, Ms. Warren had a chilly so extreme it threatened to sideline one of many nation’s most well-known persisters.
“Individuals advised me, ‘You need to cancel your day in Reno,’” Ms. Warren stated, hoarse and barely audible. “I stated, ‘Reno has been omitted of method too many conversations.’”
Ms. Warren and her group really feel the identical. She is just not cratering or surging, neither the more than likely to win nor vulnerable to instantly dropping out, a 40-degree day surrounded by candidates who’re cold and hot. Her employees members and loads of allies argue that because of this, she is being ignored by the information media and a few voters throughout a pivotal second within the major, and she or he is vulnerable to changing into much less related within the nominating course of — one thing her marketing campaign is now attempting to reverse.
When her caucus-night speech in Iowa was minimize off, her marketing campaign aides complained privately to cable networks. When her speech after the New Hampshire major was not carried dwell in any respect, they took their criticism public.
“Elizabeth hasn’t been getting the identical type of media protection as candidates she outperformed,” learn a current fund-raising electronic mail to supporters. “We will’t depend on the media to cowl our marketing campaign pretty, so we’re taking our case on to voters.”
If the marketing campaign is attempting to rally supporters at a time when Ms. Warren’s candidacy hangs within the steadiness, additionally it is attempting to maneuver on from some current political occasions: Her much-touted marketing campaign group didn’t present a dramatic payoff within the first two contests, and polling in Nevada, South Carolina and Tremendous Tuesday states has proven little enchancment among the many black and Latino Democrats she as soon as thought might spring her to the nomination.
Straining themselves to keep away from criticizing the candidate or marketing campaign, Ms. Warren’s most loyal admirers try to reframe the New Hampshire end result in essentially the most flattering gentle attainable: Greater than two dozen of them, in interviews at occasions all through Nevada, argued her fourth-place end was an aberration, not a blow to the campaign’s core message that ought to drive reflection or correction.
Few admitted disappointment within the end result of the primary two contests and a rising sense of pessimism about Ms. Warren’s electoral prospects. However a lot of her die-hard backers, the true believers, have gone on the offensive, arguing that the one hassle she faces is that political observers are prematurely writing off the marketing campaign.
At occasions in Nevada, backers rattled off speaking factors, highlighting polling that confirmed her with extra assist amongst nonwhite voters than Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. They famous her giant employees on the bottom in states that vote on Tremendous Tuesday. They criticized the “company media” in ways in which echoed supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
“She’s a feminine candidate, and the media hasn’t taken her severely,” stated Matt Newton, 46. “They provide a lot consideration to the male candidates.”
Pat Campbell-Cozzi, 76, stated flatly: “New Hampshire does not matter. I do know the place she’ll be after the ultimate vote.”
Heather McGhee, the previous president of the progressive assume tank Demos, stated it was as much as these grass-roots supporters to reverse the path of Ms. Warren’s candidacy.
“Her supporters have been those to have her again and make that rallying cry,” stated Ms. McGhee, who’s near Ms. Warren’s group.
“Even in New Hampshire, these voters are very fluid,” she stated. “Forty eight p.c determined within the final two days, and that simply means the race may be very a lot up for grabs.”
In some methods, this dynamic brings Ms. Warren’s marketing campaign again to the place it began. When she introduced her presidential run, she was thought of a political determine within the shadow of Mr. Sanders on the left and more energizing faces towards the middle, equivalent to former Consultant Beto O’Rourke of Texas and Senator Kamala Harris of California.
Supporters would complain about her being ignored, as male candidates equivalent to Mr. O’Rourke commanded main early consideration. Questions loomed about whether or not Ms. Warren might elevate sufficient cash to maintain her giant organizing employees afloat.
All through the summer time, she used coverage to assist set the tone of the race, shaping the early debates and main different candidates to face questions on her proposals. However as voting has moved from a hypothetical to a actuality, and the first has stopped being a contest of concepts, Ms. Warren has struggled to regulate.
Fund-raising considerations have returned, and the marketing campaign has set a aim…