If one were to judge by the reaction of the media to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren's decision to withdraw for the 2020 Democratic primary, you could be forgiven for assuming she was actually popular. MSNBC campaign reporter Ali Vitali joined Friday's Andrea Mitchell Reports to continue the media mourning session where she lamented the downfall of the last serious female Democratic candidate and her plans.
Mitchell began by unintentionally pointing out that the media lives in a bubble by telling Vitali, "[Y]ou obviously were around Elizabeth Warren yesterday, it was emotional, it was gripping, there was this real sense from your opening question that gender is a big part of this, as far as she's concerned and as far as a lot of women I have talked to are concerned."
It's hard to say that "a lot of women ... are concerned" when the women of Warren's own party overwhelmingly rejected her. As Steve Kornacki noted on Thursday night, Warren couldn’t expand her base of support beyond white voters, pulling in only seven percent of Latinos in Nevada, six percent in California, and then only five percent of the African-American vote in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. In other words, the facts don't lie.
Back on Friday afternoon, Vitali responded to Mitchell's sadness by declaring that, without any evidence, "gender has loomed over this race so large." She elaborated:
I even think about Elizabeth Warren yesterday when she was talking to us outside her house, she said thank you to the people who changed what they thought a president could look like, because Elizabeth Warren wasn’t the only one to do this. This is something that Kamala Harris did, this is something Amy Klobuchar did, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Hillary Clinton the election cycle before them and even Shirley Chisholm when she ran for president. All of these women have challenged what America thinks a president looks like
Once again, an Andrea Mitchell Reports segment that touched the history of female presidential candidates left out Republican women.
Vitali then undermined the entire premise that gender had something to do with Warren's demise. And she did so by citing voters having other, more immediate concerns, "But I think in addition to the gender conversation is this parallel conversation that I've been thinking about, which is the politics of this moment. The only consistent thing this election has been that voters tell me and tell all of our reporters out here that they just someone who can beat President Donald Trump."
She concluded by insinuating that most voters don't actually care about policies, "Warren has centered her campaign around policies and plans. There is a reality in which yes, gender impacted this race so much, but there's also a reality that maybe her pitch just wasn't the pitch that the electorate wanted right now."
Here is the relevant transcript:
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports
March 6, 2020
12:29 p.m. EasternANDREA MITCHELL: Ali, first to you, you obviously were around Elizabeth Warren yesterday, it was emotional, it was gripping, there was this real sense from your opening question that gender is a big part of this, as far as she's concerned and as far as a lot of women I have talked to are concerned.
ALI VITALI: You're probably having a lot of the same conversations that I've been having —
MITCHELL: Absolutely.
VITALI: — in the 24 hours since Elizabeth Warren left the race, Andrea, because Elizabeth Warren was the last chance for women this cycle to see a woman potentially get to the White House and gender has loomed over this race so large. I even think about Elizabeth Warren yesterday when she was talking to us outside her house, she said thank you to the people who changed what they thought a president could look like, because Elizabeth Warren wasn’t the only one to do this. This is something that Kamala Harris did, this is something Amy Klobuchar did, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Hillary Clinton the election cycle before them and even Shirley Chisholm back when she ran for president. All of these women have challenged what America thinks a president looks like and the const — and the thing that Elizabeth Warren used to say on the campaign trail is “women win, the thing is Americans have to elect them in order for them to seem like a president.” That's something that she was even saying last night to Rachel Maddow, so that's really striking. But I think in addition to the gender conversation is this parallel conversation that I've been thinking about, which is the politics of this moment. The only consistent thing this election has been that voters tell me and tell all of our reporters out here that they just someone who can beat President Donald Trump. That's the focal point of Joe Biden's campaign. To a certainly extent, Bernie Sanders has also focused a lot of his attention on being the person could can beat President Donald Trump, but Elizabeth Warren has centered her campaign around policies and plans. There is a reality in which yes, gender impacted this race so much, but there is also a reality that maybe her pitch just wasn't the pitch that the electorate wanted right now.
