In the bio of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in Time Magazine’s 2015 100 Most Influential People, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote that the senator is “a special kind of leader” who holds powerful people accountable.
Warren is the favorite of the liberal wing of the Democratic party. Supporters have strongly urged her to run for president as a force to move Clinton further to the left, who polls far ahead of other possible 2016 Democratic presidential candidates.
“It was always going to take a special kind of leader to pick up Ted Kennedy’s mantle as senior Senator from Massachusetts—champion of working families and scourge of special interests,” Clinton wrote in the piece. “Elizabeth Warren never lets us forget that the work of taming Wall Street’s irresponsible risk taking and reforming our financial system is far from finished. And she never hesitates to hold powerful people’s feet to the fire: bankers, lobbyists, senior government officials and, yes, even presidential aspirants.”
Liberal outside groups like MoveOn.org and Democracy for America have poured money into a Draft Warren movement to get her to take on Clinton in the primary.
“Elizabeth Warren’s journey from janitor’s daughter to Harvard professor to public watchdog to U.S. Senator has been driven by an unflagging determination to level the playing field for hardworking American families like the one she grew up with in Oklahoma,” Clinton continued. “She fights so hard for others to share in the American Dream because she lived it herself.”
Warren has repeatedly said she’s not running for president. Still, supporters view Warren as the best possible alternative to Clinton.
“Americans across the country — including Oscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo — have taken to their smartphones and webcams to explain to Elizabeth Warren why we need her to get in the race,” Harry Waisbren, a member of the Ready for Warren team wrote in an email to supporters on Thursday.
A+ on that one, Hillary!
Hillary was very smart to hail Elizabeth Warren as a champion in the same mold as Ted Kennedy.
Hillary Clinton’s record on voting on budget and economy was very liberal when she was in congress.
•Voted to limit credit card interest to 30%. (Jan 2008)
•Consistently against making bankruptcy stricter. (Jan 2008)
•2005 bankruptcy bill was by big credit cards & lenders. (Jan 2008)
•Voted YES on $60B stimulus package for jobs, infrastructure, & energy. (Sep 2008)
•Voted NO on paying down federal debt by rating programs’ effectiveness. (Mar 2007)
•Voted NO on $40B in reduced federal overall spending. (Dec 2005)
•Require full disclosure about subprime mortgages. (Dec 2007)
•Reform mortgage rules to prevent foreclosure & bankruptcy. (Feb 2008)
As much as I admire Senator Warren, I wish these draft Warren for president types would give it up already.
She doesn’t want to run, and her decision should be respected. And FWIW, I don’t think she could win, anyway - unfortunately this country isn’t ready for someone like her (or Senator Sanders) as president yet.
This being the case, shouldn’t liberals’ efforts be directed at taking back Congress and numerous state and local offices?
Hillary knows how the game is played.
Which is reassuring, considering that she’s up against the GOP Hate Borg and its Liberal Media™ promoters…
Yeah, they’re just blowing their own credibility capital (and money) and making themselves look ridiculous. We need them to save these campaigns for where they can actually make a difference on policy – and we need Warren in the Senate as long as she can stand it.
@rssrai : I’ve noted before around here that Clinton’s political DNA is far more progressive than most people seem to realize, from her work for the Children’s Defense Fund to her heartfelt push for health-care reform. Bill’s folks were always complaining about her efforts to pull him to the left. And much of what she’s saying now she’s said for years ( she didn’t just crib the idea to close the carried-interest loophole from Warren, eg).
Is she a pragmatic politician who’ll do what she thinks she has to do to get the public support she needs? Yes, so which way the political winds are blowing matters. They’re blowing left now, without a challenger in the race. She’s smart enough to see that, and I’m pretty confident she knows that the ideas the Village calls “left” are actually things most Americans support. So I fully expect to hear more about how she wants to wrap everyone up in a comforting purple penumbra; but I’m cautiously optimistic about what “purple” means to her.