Warren has revived her 2020 campaign and could be the nominee who unites the Democrats – USA TODAY

Robert Alexander and Lauren Copeland, Opinion contributors Published 3:15 a.m. ET Feb. 27, 2020 | Updated 9:15 a.m. ET Feb. 27, 2020

A previous version of this video displayed an incorrect date in a graphic. It was 1988 when 14 Southern and border states held their primaries.\ USA TODAY

Warren makes a strong case that Bloomberg and Sanders can't 'get it done' but she can. The double-barreled attack may help resurrect her candidacy.

In early February, we opined that Mike Bloomberg could be the Democrat with the best chance to take on Donald Trump this November. We based this on results from a poll of registered voters in the important battleground states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvaniaand Wisconsin. Bloomberg'sconstant media presence, moderate policy positionsand enormous wealth seemed to be having an effect on voters in these key states.

We suggested that it was possible he would make the debate stage in mid-February, just in time for him to make a strong Super Tuesday pitch to voters. Unfortunately for the former New York mayor, he made the stage in Nevada and delivered one of the poorest debate performances in history. From the outset, Bloomberg was the target of nearly every Democrat on the stage.But it was Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts who landed some of the most stinging blows and breathed new life into her campaign.Warren came out swinging not just in that debate but also in the one this week in Charleston, South Carolina.

Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist polls like redlining and stop and frisk, she said in Las Vegas. In Charleston, she added financial support for Republican Senate candidates to that list. Bloombergcant earn the trust of the core of the Democratic Party, she said, and money or not, that means he is the riskiest candidate standing on this stage.

Warrens takedowns of the New York billionaire gave America a preview of how she might perform on a debate stage against another New York billionaire, President Trump.

The rise of Sen. Bernie Sanders as the front-runner has changed the dynamics of the Democrats race in considerable ways. Beating Trump has consistently emerged as the most important feature Democrats are looking for in their nominee, and questions persist as to whether Sanders is the best nominee to do so.

Beyond that, Sanders electability remains a key concern among Democrats. For instance, a new NBC News-Wall Street Journalpoll of registered voters finds 67%have reservations about a socialist, and that includes 42% of Democrats. This is an alarming number thatcould drive some Democratic voters to stay home and increase turnout for Trump. Thesame poll shows very little uneaseabout a woman (14% of voters and only 4% of Democrats).

Mike Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders at the Democratic presidential debate in Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 25, 2020.(Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Sanders front-runner status made him the main target in the South Carolina debate. Warren said shed be a better president than him because she digs into the details and makes things happen. She criticized Sanders for not providing enough detail about how he plans to pay for his health care proposals while she dug in, did the work and was then trashed for it by the Sanders campaign. She concluded her salvo by saying: Progressives have got one shot, and we need to spend it with a leader who will get something done.

Conservative punditAnn Coulter might have made thebest case for Warren after hearing that. Sen. Warren has convinced me that Bernie isn't that worrisome. He'll never get anything done," Coulter tweeted a half hour into the Charleston debate. "SHE'S the freak who will show up with 17 idiotic plans every day and keep everyone up until it gets done.

Democratic debate: It's late. Can Biden make a comeback?

Coulters tweet was reminiscent of Majority Leader Mitch McConnells proclamation about Warren on the Senate floor in 2017: She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted. The phrasequickly went viral.

Warren's poll numbers had been in declinesince she briefly led all Democrats last fall. However, her kerfuffle with Bloomberg couldbe paying dividends.In a national poll after the Las Vegas debate, she emerged in second place ahead of Bloomberg and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Additional pollingsuggests Warren could be a consensus choice among the crowded field of Democrats.She trails Sanders and Bidenbut has created some distance from Bloomberg, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigiegand Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

Perhaps more important, she fares well among Democrats who say they are still considering voting for her and they would be least disappointed if Warren were to win the nomination.This suggests both an audience for Warren and the potential to attract voters looking for an alternative to Sanders or Biden.

After the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, Warren argued that shecould unite the Democratic Party, but her case was largely ignored. After her debate performances, theres reason to pay attention.With her support for "Medicare For All," college student loan forgiveness, free college tuitionand universal pre-K, Warren has the progressive bona fides to satisfy Sanders voters.

Warren could also resonate with moderates, particularly women.She does not identify as a socialist looking to tear down the capitalist system. Instead, Warren focuseson fighting corruption and makingthe system work for those beyond the top 1%.Women could also be drawn to her compassionate message surrounding kitchen-table issues like health care, gun control and education.

Keep him center stage:In four top 2020 battlegrounds, its not the economy, stupid. It's Donald Trump.

Just2.5% of pledged delegates have been awarded. Although Sanders has done surprisingly well, the crowded field and the Democrats use of proportional representation rules to award delegates meanit will be much more difficult for him to win a majority of delegates before the Democratic National Convention.

This fact is not lost upon closer observers of American politics, or the candidates themselves.Only Sanders saysthe candidate holding a plurality of delegates should be awarded the nomination.All the other Democrats suggested that they would follow party rules requiring a majority rules that were changed largely in response to critiques Sanders leveled after the 2016 election.

Warrens attacks on Bloomberg providea final opportunity to resurrect her campaign. And it only took standing next to a New York billionaire to do it. Surely shed like to recreate that scene this fall.

Robert Alexander,director of the Institute for Civics and Public Policy at Ohio Northern University, isauthor of "Representation and the Electoral College."Lauren Copeland is an assistant professor and associate director of the Community Research Institute at Baldwin Wallace University. Follow themon Twitter:@onuprofand@laurencopeland0

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Warren has revived her 2020 campaign and could be the nominee who unites the Democrats - USA TODAY