Elizabeth Warren is winning the season. Although the 2020 US presidential candidate has been campaigning relentlessly and making steady gains in the polls over the past few months, her current success may be thanks in part to the troubles of others, not just her tireless efforts to win over American voters.
It’s been a difficult couple of weeks for some of Warren’s fellow 2020 presidential contenders, most notably the current commander in chief, Donald Trump. The president now faces an impeachment inquiry into his Ukraine dealings. He is alleged to have used his public office for personal gain, seeking opposition research on his political rival former vice president and 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden, from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Biden, long considered the Democratic frontrunner, has not been accused of any wrongdoing by anyone other than Trump. The president contends that when Biden was vice president his son, Hunter, used his father’s influence abroad to secure jobs. Although that charge has been debunked, Biden’s campaign is also suffering as a result of the Trump impeachment inquiry. He’s having trouble fundraising even as Trump’s coffers have been bursting with new contributions. And the candidate’s nerves seem to be fraying due to the association between the president’s corruption and claims of the same that Trump’s making about him.
Today, Biden lashed out at a reporter who asked about the Ukraine situation. It was the second day in a row that the candidate betrayed his irritation when questioned about the president’s allegations. And just one of many times Biden insisted that the attention was misdirected, and should be aimed at Trump instead, saying, “You should be asking him the question: why is he on the phone with a foreign leader, trying to intimidate a foreign leader?”
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders, another Democratic front-runner in the 2020 presidential campaign, was hospitalized this week for a mild heart attack, making the 78-year-old vulnerable to claims of physical unfitness for the office of the presidency.
Sanders was well enough on Oct. 4 to tweet confidently at Trump.
Still, while Sanders was convalescing in a Las Vegas hospital, Warren came up with a plan, of course (it’s what she does!). She sent his campaign staff dinner and cookies, for which they thanked her publicly.
Was it a sweet move or a shrewd one, a calculated tactic to call attention to herself as her competitor was (finally) grabbing headlines, or perhaps both? Whatever the reason, her plans do seem to be working.
Warren is on the upswing. She’s getting good press, raising very respectable amounts of money, and wooing voters as troubles take their toll on her competitors. A new poll shows her popularity surging with Californians and taking the lead over Biden and Sanders, who are in second and third place, respectively. If all goes according to her many plans, she’ll soon move into the White House.