The day after the grassroots group he founded announced it would help draft Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for a 2016 presidential run, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean endorsed Hillary Clinton if she chooses to seek the White House.
“Hillary Clinton is by far the most qualified person in the United States to serve as President. If she runs, I will support her,” Dean wrote in an op-ed for Politico magazine titled “I’m Ready for Hillary.”
Dean’s Clinton endorsement arrived almost simultaneously with Democracy for America’s announcement that it would support efforts to convince Warren to run, pending its members’ approval. Dean remains an active strategic adviser for the group, which he founded in 2004 ahead of his own presidential campaign.
Dean and DFA knew what the other planned to do before either went public, according to a DFA spokesperson, and the group said there are no concerns about sending conflicting messages. A recent internal DFA poll found that its members favored Warren over Clinton by nearly 20 points.
“Gov. Dean founded DFA in the hopes that it would be the strong, people-powered force in the progressive movement it is today,” DFA communications director Neil Sroka told TPM in an email on Wednesday.
“When we both saw the results of our 2016 Presidential Pulse Poll, we both knew that might lead us to where we are today,” he continued. “So, sure, some beltway folks might be confused, but we’re confident our members won’t be and, honestly, that’s all that really matters.”
Meanwhile, Correct The Record, the American Bridge-affiliated group that is supporting a Hillary 2016 candidacy, blasted out the Dean endorsement in an email to reporters.
