The chances of Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren running for president – already a long shot – appeared to all but disappear when the group promoting her candidacy decided to suspend operations on June 8.

Washington Times:

Two liberal activist groups trying to draft Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts into the 2016 presidential race are officially suspending the effort next week.

The groups Democracy for America and MoveOn.org had launched the campaign in December 2014. They said Tuesday that on June 8, supporters will deliver to Ms. Warren a petition with more than 365,000 signatures asking her to enter the presidential race and then “rest their case and suspend their draft effort,” turning their focus to fighting alongside Ms. Warren on issues like a trade deal with Pacific Rim nations that has pitted President Obama against liberals in his own party.

The campaign touted opening field offices in Iowa and New Hampshire and building a network of grassroots leaders in those early states, as well as holding more than 400 events since the launch.

“Even without her in the race, Elizabeth Warren and the Run Warren Run campaign she inspired have already transformed the 2016 presidential election by focusing every single Democratic candidate on combatting our country’s income inequality crisis,” said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America.

“We still think there’s plenty of time for Sen. Warren to change her mind, but now that we’ve shown that she has the support she would need to mount a winning a campaign, we’re excited to take the grassroots juggernaut we’ve built with our members and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Warren in the battles ahead,” she said.

The entry of Vermont socialist Senator Bernie Sanders into the race for the Democratic nomination all but guaranteed that Warren would sit 2016 out.  The far-left liberal activists who support Warren are just as happy siding with Sanders.

But Warren poses a bigger threat to Hillary Clinton because of her sex and because she has adopted the issue of income inequality and made it her own.  Her anti-Wall Street, anti-rich rants have resonated powerfully with the Democratic Party left, and while they will support Sanders, their hearts still belong with Warren.

Hillary Clinton would have had a formidable challenge from Warren.  She has better name recognition than Martin O'Malley and could have raised far more money than Sanders.  No doubt, Mrs. Clinton is breathing a sigh of relief at the news that it's all but certain Warren will not be on the ballot.