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News Analysis: Warren's exit clears way for Biden-Sanders primary showdown in U.S.
Last Updated: 2020-03-06 12:56 | Xinhua
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Senator Elizabeth Warren of the U.S. state of Massachusetts, previously considered a top-tier Democratic presidential contender, ended her campaign on Thursday.

Her exit from the Democratic primary race of the 2020 presidential election has left former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont as the last two viable candidates seeking to challenge sitting President Donald Trump.

"I am not be running for president in 2020, but I guarantee I will stay in the fight," Warren, who ran progressive grassroots campaign, told reporters outside her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Thursday.

The announcement came two days after Warren, who once surged to the top of polls in late 2019, failed to win a single state. She lost her home state of Massachusetts to Biden in Super Tuesday's Democratic primaries.

A moderate political veteran, Biden won 10 of 14 states voting on Tuesday. Sanders, whose ideological stance aligns more closely with Warren, finished second by wining four other states.

On Thursday, Warren said she would not be making an endorsement right away and she needs "some space around this and want to take a little time to think a little more."

Warren announced a White House bid in early 2019. She had campaigned on progressive proposals like free college, cancellation of student loans, and a Medicare-for-All health care system.

Warren's voice "will be absent on that stage but surely not from the national debate," tweeted David Axelrod, director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics. "And her endorsement will be highly coveted!"

On March 10, Democratic primary voters will cast ballots in six state primaries, but Michigan has the most at stake with 125 delegates up for grabs.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer endorsed Biden for the White House on Thursday, a significant boost for the former vice president ahead of next week's primary in the Wolverine state.

"Michiganders have grit. We're tough. We know what it's like to be overlooked and counted out," Whitmer said in a statement. "Working families in Michigan need a president who will show up and fight for them, and Joe Biden has proven time and again that he has our backs."

Biden struggled through the Democratic primary's early races, but won a commanding victory in South Carolina late last month, where he was powered overwhelmingly by the support of African American voters.

Riding on the momentum, Biden was also boosted by a wave of big-name endorsements shortly before Super Tuesday, including several former Democratic presidential hopefuls in this cycle, paving the way for his strong resurgence.

"Biden performed much stronger than anyone anticipated and won states such as Texas, Minnesota, and Massachusetts that were expected to go to Sanders," Darrell West, director of governance studies at Brookings Institution, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, told Xinhua. "It will take a dramatic turn of events to derail Biden at this point."

Sanders canceled an appearance scheduled for Friday in the southern state of Mississippi. Instead, he will travel to Michigan, where he upset Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Sanders acknowledged that Michigan is "an enormously important state" for his campaign.

Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the center for international and security studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua that he believes Sanders still has chance in the primary.

"When Sanders' full delegate count is in, it will be clear that he is still pretty formidable," Ramsay said.

The Super Tuesday Democratic primaries decided over 1,300 pledged delegates to late July's Democratic National Convention (DNC), or roughly a third of the total.

As the total delegate count is still coming in, Biden and Sanders are locked in a one-on-one battle.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is still in the Democratic primary race but has trailed well behind them.

To win the Democratic presidential nomination, a candidate must receive support from a majority of all the 3,979 pledged delegates on the first ballot of the DNC, which election officials said must be at least 1,991 delegates.

"Bye-bye contested convention," tweeted Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "Odds are very high that, with only two active, major candidates, there will be a nominee well before mid-July."

At a town hall hosted by Fox News in Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Trump weighed in on his potential rivals for president.

The Republican Party is expected to nominate Trump for a second term during August's national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The 2020 U.S. presidential election will take place on Nov. 3.

(Editor:富博)

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News Analysis: Warren's exit clears way for Biden-Sanders primary showdown in U.S.
Source:Xinhua | 2020-03-06 12:56
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