 [Washington Examiner] HOUSTON ‐ Elizabeth Warren was bracing for a South Carolina beating.
Like many of her rivals for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination not named Joe Biden, the Massachusetts senator, 70, juggled campaign stops in the first-in-the-South state with events in Super Tuesday states ahead of next week, including Texas, where she held an election night town hall.
"I’ll be the first to say that the first four contests haven’t gone exactly as I’d hoped," Warren said in Houston Saturday night. "Super Tuesday is three days away, and we’re looking forward to gaining as many delegates to the convention as we can ‐ from California to right here in Texas."
Echoing a campaign memo circulated before New Hampshire that predicted she was "poised to finish in the top two in over half of Super Tuesday states," she added, "Our campaign is built for the long haul ‐ and we’re looking forward to these big contests."
Even the star power of John Legend couldn’t lift Warren in South Carolina on Saturday, a result foreshadowed by a yearlong struggle to gain traction with minority Democrats and a polling average of 6% heading into the last of the first four early-voting contests, according to RealClearPolitics averages.
But as she eyes Super Tuesday, her pitch that she’s the "woman who’s going to beat Donald Trump" will be tested again after finishing third in Iowa, as well as fourth in New Hampshire and Nevada, a mix of both mostly white and diverse states.
She’s polling well in California, with an average of 17% support, following only Bernie Sanders in the state that provides candidates with the opportunity to pick up some of its 416 pledged delegates. Despite investing in Texas, boosted by San Antonio native Julian Castro, she’s further behind in fourth place with 13%, falling short of the 15% threshold generally required to scoop up some of the state’s 228 available delegates. She faces a similar challenge in North Carolina and Virginia, with 11% in each of the general election battlegrounds. 
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