With the Iowa caucuses just days away, Elizabeth Warren is leaning in on the issue that has continued to loom over her presidential candidacy – her so-called “electability”.

The question of gender might have been – in Warren’s words – “hidden”, but it has always been lingering under the surface, from being told to “smile more” to being grilled by voters about whether she can beat president Donald Trump.

“People always ask in different ways,” Warren explains to NBC News. “They ask about it. I’m glad to talk about it right up front.”

And that’s exactly what she did during her closing pitch at a town hall in Davenport, Iowa on Sunday when one woman stood up to voice her concern over whether a more “moderate” candidate would be more “electable” than Warren. In other words, would a man be?

“Women win,” Warren responded. “We all know that women candidates have been outperforming men candidates since Donald Trump was elected in competitive elections.

“We took back the House, we took back statehouses around this country because women ran for office and women showed up to make those elections winnable. So I say all that just to level the playing field a little bit, right?”

The same message is being pushed under a different guise in Warren’s new television ad. The clip, narrated by Roxane Gay and titled Why She Will Beat Him, directly pits Warren against Trump, highlighting the differences between the president and presidential hopeful, from their childhoods right through to now.

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them,” Gay says. “Trump’s life taught him how to get rich on the backs of others. Elizabeth Warren will be a president for you.”

During an interview with PBS NewsHour on Sunday night, Warren doubled-down on why women win elections once again.

“I am in this fight because I believe that I’ve got the best chance to win,” Warren told anchor Judy Woodruff. “You know, a lot of folks have asked that question: ‘Can a woman really win?’ And the world has changed since 2016. Once Donald Trump was inaugurated – you may remember what happened the very next day, biggest protest rally in the history of the world. Women turned out and said, ‘Wow, I’m going to get deeper into politics.’

“So what happened? In 2018, we took back the house. We took back state houses around this country. Why? Because of women candidates and women who got out to support and help make sure that Democrats got elected.”

When Woodruff asked about those voters who still didn’t believe Warren – or any woman – could beat Trump, Warren responded: “Look, there were a lot of people who worried a Catholic couldn’t win back in 1960. A lot of people worried that an African American couldn’t win in 2008. But we are a better party than that. We are a better country than that. The Democrats stepped up and said: ‘We’re going to nominate the person we think would make the best president of the US. That’s exactly what they did and it changed America. This is our chance to change America in 2020.”

Image: Getty