The Draft Campaign Elizabeth Warren Didn’t Ask For But Hasn’t Killed [View all]
The Draft Campaign Elizabeth Warren Didnt Ask For But Hasnt Killed
12/22/14
Elizabeth Warren isnt running for president. But the senators electromagnetic pull has produced a sprawling, complicated draft effort that could define the progressive movement and prove rewarding or risky for Warren.
...No, no, no, no, no.
But three weeks ago, when organizers from MoveOn.org, the largest progressive group in the country, contacted Warrens office to let her staff know about their plan, the reply they received was neutral and dispassionate, taking some activists by surprise.
When we gave them a heads up, they said thanks and weve appreciated the work weve done together in the Senate, said Ben Wikler, MoveOns Washington director.
The organization was about to launch a campaign to convince Warren to run for president. MoveOn officials expected support from the majority of their members there are 8 million spread across every state, county, and zip code. And they intended to spend at least $1 million on the effort, opening offices and hiring staff in New Hampshire and Iowa, the states that begin the presidential nominating process every four years.
After MoveOn announced the project, Warren reverted to her go-to line. A spokesperson reiterated Warrens pledge to serve a full Senate term. And her staff circulated audio from an event in Boston, where Warren told reporters again that, no, she isnt running.
Still, organizers working on the campaign to draft Warren who has become an avatar of the partys progressive flank found it significant that she didnt go further.
The response was just OK, not a statement up or down, said one progressive operative involved in the campaign. If Warren or her team had been dead set against a draft from a big movement player like MoveOn, there was an easy way to make that clear.
It would have stopped it dead, this person said. MoveOn would not have done it.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/the-draft-campaign-warren-didnt-ask-for-but-hasnt-killed#.guEZL0gM8