In the South Carolina primary on Saturday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign died. It wasn’t from smallpox-tainted blankets, but from lack of votes. Her lackluster campaign flamed out in the Palmetto State like a wet matchstick.

Did she ever have a chance? No. Warren was always the other Bernie Sanders without the appeal or popularity. Ultimately, the problem is that nobody likes her.

For the intelligentsia like those at the esteemed New York Times, she was the perfect candidate, an antidote to Donald Trump’s toxic masculinity. But on Saturday night, the clock ran out. She came in fifth place behind a victorious Joe Biden, a satisfied Bernie Sanders, a lackluster Tom Steyer, and the gay former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

Was there a case for Warren? Some thought so, and she did, but there never truly was. The case for Warren had too much to do with her being a woman — the woman. This was Hillary Clinton redux, but nobody really liked Hillary Clinton. I’m a competent woman is not a cake that rises to the level of being elected president.

Who is Warren, exactly? A woke scold? A mid-level manager who does trust exercises? Nobody wants that. Presidential candidates need to inspire. Warren couldn’t inspire a cup of coffee to get cold. That was always the problem: for all the noise about the importance of her candidacy, she wasn’t a good candidate. And that is why she lost.

Now Warren will stay in the Senate. That’s where she belongs. It’s a place where nothing happens, and she is the picture postcard of nothing happening. There’s going to be some trouble about this. There will be indictments. We will be told that Warren’s loss is the inevitable result of a society that undervalues women. But that’s not true. She’s just not a good candidate.

Who is the beneficiary of Warren’s magnificent collapse? Bernie Sanders. The far-left lane, in which all cars are probably electric cars, belongs to the angry Jew from Brooklyn now. Maybe we just prefer wagging fingers to come from angry old men instead of angry old women. Who knows?

In any event, Warren is over. There is little reason to believe her campaign can sustain this loss. Super Tuesday portends greater cratering of her support. At some point, when you’re at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, you have to realize it.

The only question left for the Democrats, if there even is a question, is who will eventually wind up one-on-one with Sanders. Biden? Mike Bloomberg? It’s not going to be Warren. South Carolina played out exactly as Biden needed it to. But does it matter? That will be decided on Tuesday.

For Warren at this point, staying in the race is a fool’s errand. It’s not happening. It’s not going to be a thing, even if the editors at The New York Times think it should. The great thing about America is that Americans often tell The New York Times exactly where they can stick it. Elizabeth Warren just learned that lesson.