Elizabeth Warren faces a narrower path to the Democratic nomination after a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary that raised questions about a candidate who had been consistently heralded as a front-running force.

Her middling and underwhelming performances in both Iowa and New Hampshire come in stark contrast to where the senator from Massachusetts stood last summer and fall as a dominant candidate. Surging poll numbers and massive crowds at campaign rallies had attracted major coverage and thrust her into the top tier with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Vice President Joe Biden .

But the "I have a plan for that" candidate's third-place finish in Iowa followed a week later by placing in a distant fourth place in a state neighboring the one she represents has stymied momentum. One of her biggest competitors, fellow progressive Sanders, has so far won over more liberal voters as he narrowly secured the top spot in New Hampshire and was close behind former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg in Iowa. And Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who hinged her campaign on Iowa but landed in fifth place, catapulted into third in New Hampshire and became one of the biggest storylines of the night.

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Still, Warren's campaign and allies strongly caution against prejudging a fluid race in which only two states have held contests and 98% of pledged delegates are still up for grabs. She placed higher than Biden, the once-presumptive front-runner, in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Biden has refocused his campaign on South Carolina for a much-needed victory. And with a splintered party of moderates and progressives, Warren is repositioning herself as a consensus candidate who can unify Democrats to defeat President Donald Trump.

"We might be headed for another one of those long primary fights that lasts for months. … We can't afford to fall into factions," Warren told supporters Tuesday night. "Our campaign is best positioned to beat Donald Trump in November because we can unite our party."

There were some indications in the days leading up to New Hampshire that Warren was headed for a disappointing finish. She had been polling in second or third in New Hampshire last month, but in the week prior to Tuesday's primary, Klobuchar surprised the political world by leaping into third place.

Of the 64 delegates awarded so far, Warren comes in third behind Buttigieg and Sanders. But both the Massachusetts senator and Biden walked away from New Hampshire without winning any delegates.

"It's definitely an insult to injury," says Scott Spradling, the former political director for WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire. "I simply don't know how you explain away the neighboring state advantage placing you at a distant fourth. She lost steam and never got it back."

Spradling added that results showed New Hampshire was "not big enough for two high-profile New England progressives" with self-described "very liberal" voters overwhelmingly backing Sanders, according to data from exit polls.

But Spradling also pointed to the late-breaking voters who had largely sided with the top three candidates. Exit polls showed that about half of primary voters came to their decision within the last few days, and Buttigieg and Klobuchar, "who made the best last-impression," benefited from those voters the most.

Preempting the results in New Hampshire, Warren's campaign manager Roger Lau released a memo arguing that the Massachusetts senator is the candidate with the most to gain. And they believe she can have much stronger performances in Super Tuesday contests, during which 14 states will hold primaries and caucuses on March 3 and 34% of pledged delegates will be up for grabs.

"Warren is poised to finish in the top two in over half of Super Tuesday states (eight of 14), in the top three in all of them, and is on pace to pick up at-large statewide delegates in all but one," Lau wrote in the memo.

Lau argued that in a hypothetical three-way race with Sanders and Biden, "Elizabeth Warren is the candidate with the highest potential ceiling of support and the one best positioned to unite the party and lead the Democratic ticket to defeat Donald Trump."

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Some Warren allies also believe she's subject to a different level of scrutiny as a woman compared to her male opponents. Electability – related to both gender and political ideology – have been a pervasive part of the conversation surrounding Warren's candidacy.

And she hinted as much during her speech to supporters in New Hampshire when she gave a heartfelt shoutout to Klobuchar "for showing just how wrong the pundits can be when they count a woman out."

Warren is charting a path forward that goes through the remaining early states as well as Super Tuesday states. It's unclear how she'll do in the next two early races – in Nevada and South Carolina – where larger minority populations reflect the makeup of the Democratic Party more than the first two contests.

Public polling shows her in fourth place in both states, but she appears to be focusing more on the Feb. 22 Nevada caucuses with new advertising as she pulls ads from South Carolina. But allies remain hopeful that she has appeal among a fractured field and has built a durable coalition that'll resonate with the large contingent of Latino voters in Nevada and black voters in South Carolina.

"As other candidates beat each other up and Biden collapses before South Carolina, Warren will be in prime position to pick up support," says Maria Langholz, the press secretary of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has endorsed Warren. "Warren will have an advantage in states like Nevada and South Carolina because she is uniquely excellent at uniting a diverse coalition."

In the immediate aftermath of New Hampshire, Warren is noticeably spending a considerable amount of time and money on the Super Tuesday states. Warren is also shifting advertising to focus on Maine and holding a post-New Hampshire town hall in Virginia – two states that will have contests on March 3.

But perhaps the biggest unknown that could alter Super Tuesday is former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has at times leapfrogged Warren and other top candidates in national polling.