BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Heading into Super Tuesday, the race for the Democratic 2020 presidential nomination has been upended by the departure of former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who dropped out Sunday night, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who dropped out Monday afternoon.
With the race tightening around former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, what does that mean for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren?
WBZ NewsRadio's Ben Parker spoke to Dr. James D. Boys, a political historian and consultant seen on CNN and BBC News, about the state of the race, as well as Sen. Warren's campaign
"Many people, I think, expected Elizabeth Warren to be doing better at this point," Dr. Boys said. "She clearly isn't. You have to ask a simple question: If you cannot do better than she did in New Hampshire, if you cannot clearly win her home state here in Massachusetts, then where on Earth can she do well?"
Warren had lower-than-hoped-for finishes in the early-state contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. Warren's campaign manager has said the Bay State senator expects to receive delegates from nearly all of the states at play Tuesday, enough that she hopes to "ultimately prevail at the national convention in Milwaukee."
Dr. Boys said Buttigieg and Klobuchar—whose dropping out of the race broke shortly after the interview concluded—faced the same problem: not connecting with voters across the country in a way they had anticipated, "routinely hitting a certain ceiling among the Democratic party."
"The polling coming out of Super Tuesday looks particularly desperate for [Warren], I think, and you've got to ask, is it merely ego that's keeping her in the race at this point?" Dr. Boys said. "At what point do her supporters turn around and say, 'Listen, I'm so sorry, we wanted better, this really isn't going to be your year'?"
After the interview, Boys said on Twitter he was curious who Warren would endorse after she "eventually" leaves the race.
"When #WarrenForPresident eventually drops out in the coming days will she endorse #BernieSanders or #Biden2020 ???" he tweeted.
Boys and Parker also discuss Bernie Sanders' expected post-Super Tuesday lead, what the race looks like without Pete Buttigieg, and whether or not Mike Bloomberg, on the ballot for the first time this primary with the Tuesday states, will make an impact.
Listen to the full interview below.
WBZ NewsRadio's Ben Parker (@radiobenparker) reports
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(Photo: Getty Images)