(CNN) The Boston Globe published a searing editorial Thursday pouring cold water on the prospects of a presidential run for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2020, a stark contrast to the paper's call for her to seek the White House three years ago.
"While Warren is an effective and impactful senator with an important voice nationally, she has become a divisive figure," the Globe editorial reads. "A unifying voice is what the country needs now after the polarizing politics of Donald Trump."
The Globe, based in the state Warren represents, writes: "Warren missed her moment in 2016, and there's reason to be skeptical of her prospective candidacy in 2020."
Warren, a progressive who is widely expected to launch a presidential bid, faced criticism when she unveiled a video in October aimed at putting to rest questions about whether she has Native American heritage. The attempt to stand up to President Donald Trump's attacks -- he repeatedly calls her "Pocahontas" -- seems to have backfired. The New York Times reported Thursday, "Advisers close to Ms. Warren say she has privately expressed concern that she may have damaged her relationships to Native American groups and her own standing with activists, particularly those who are racial minorities."
In 2015 the Globe ran an editorial urging Warren to run for president in the 2016 election, "in part," it writes, "because of the lack of serious competition against Hillary Clinton." The Globe notes in 2020, lack of competition on the Democratic side "won't be a problem."
The Globe notes Republican Gov. Charlie Baker won more votes than Warren in Massachusetts -- a state, the paper writes, that is "supposed to be a Democratic haven." The editorial also pointed to a September poll that indicated voters in Massachusetts were more enthusiastic about former Gov. Deval Patrick running for president.
"Those are warning signs from the voters who know her best," the Globe writes.
Patrick had the backing of some top aides from President Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns and had built a small but formidable team of advisers in Boston as he planned a 2020 bid. The former governor announced Thursday he will not run for president in 2020, and cited the "cruelty of our elections process" and the effect it would have on those close to him.
Many factors went into Patrick's decision, people close to Patrick tell CNN, but one key reason was that his wife Diane had recently been diagnosed with uterine cancer and had surgery right before Thanksgiving, a source familiar with the governor's thinking said.
The Globe writes, "Deval Patrick knew when to call it quits on a presidential bid. Other politicians take note." The paper added that deciding to not run for president can be "harder" than running for president.
"Politicians who 'explore' or 'consider' presidential campaigns set in motion a machine that can be hard to stop," the editorial writes. "Patrick did, and that's to his credit. There's no shame in testing the waters and deciding to stay on the beach."