Aggressive Effort Underway by Democratic Leaders to Recruit Elizabeth Warren

[n2doc]

The Observer has obtained private email correspondence among a small group of Democratic insiders that reveals a plan to recruit Sen. Elizabeth Warren to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president.

The email, sent by Niko Elmaleh to a group that includes Andy Tobias, who has been the treasurer of the Democratic National Committee since Bill Clinton was president, and Jim Dean, the chairman of the nation’s largest political action committee, Burlington, Vt.-based Democracy for America. It was sent to Mr. Tobias’ personal email account and Mr. Dean’s DFA account.

Mr. Elmaleh, a reliable Democratic donor ($25,250 in 2012; $26,150 in 2008; and $31,000 in 2006) is the executive vice president of World Wide Holdings Corp, a New York City developer of luxury residential high-rise buildings that was founded by his father, Victor Elmaleh. Niko Elmaleh’s bio calls him an “environmentalist and patron of the arts” who supports charitable organizations including the Clinton Global Initiative, the League of Conservation of Voters, and Media Matters, the left-leaning media watchdog organization.

In his April 3, 2015, email to the small group, Mr. Elmaleh refers to his concern that a lack of a meaningful primary opponent will result in a stale and complacent candidate. He writes, “I think we should seriously consider as an excellent way to keep Hilary fresh in the public eye; Elizabeth Warren should run against her.”



Read more at http://observer.com/2015/04/aggressive-effort-underway-by-democratic-leaders-to-recruit-elizabeth-warren/

[Demeter]

1. I'd like to think it would make a difference

But Elizabeth needs a million well-heeled and connected friends....a small group won't do it, unless that small group are all billionaires with money to burn.

[Jim Lane]

2. I would love to see Warren in the White House, but I think it's time to look elsewhere.

These people should be considering whether their goals would be met by supporting someone who's more likely to run. The obvious possibilities would be Chafee, O'Malley, Sanders, and Webb.

If for some reason they don't like any of them, then they should at least be thinking of candidates who haven't already been urged to run, for months, with no visible effect. Maybe Sherrod Brown has said he isn't running but he hasn't said it nearly as often as Warren has.

[RiverLover]

5. I'd love for Sherrod to run. Gravelly voice & all.

couple of articles re:

Sherrod Brown: Why aren’t progressives begging him to run for president?(Jan 2015)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/sherrod-brown-why-arent-progressives-begging-him-to-run-for-president/2015/01/28/f8378d9c-a63c-11e4-a7c2-03d37af98440_story.html

If money counts in politics -- and of course it does -- Sherrod Brown could be a presidential contender(April 2015)
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150401/BLOGS03/150409984/if-money-counts-in-politics-and-of-course-it-does-sherrod-brown

[PADemD]

3. His reasoning?

Does he only want Elizabeth Warren to run in order to help Hillary or does he prefer Elizabeth over Hillary?

[hedda_foil]

4. It's in the article. He wants her as a stalking horse only.

His idea is to get her to challenge in the primaries but to drop out gracefully
He sounds like a.left leaning rich jerk.

[AtomicKitten]

10. That's exactly what they want from Elizabeth Warren.

An illusion of a primary with Elizabeth as a stalking horse. I find this effort to jam Hillary's ass into the White House by any means necessary pretty demented, really. Elizabeth has the winning message that she can deliver credibly.

[RiverLover]

6. If that is the only reason, to be used to TRY to make Hill a better candidate, then

I don't blame Liz for saying No one thousand times.

I want her to run because I think she could win. I firmly believe that.

And our country would benefit greatly!!

Still hoping, against all odds...

[pscot]

9. He's looking for a sparring partner

for the Great Neoliberal Hope.

[Autumn]

7. "to keep Hilary fresh in the public eye; Elizabeth Warren should run against her.” fuck that

and him too. If Elizabeth were to run it would be to win.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

8. As I & others here predicted, Elizabeth WILL run & on her own terms. It's a smart strategy too-wait & watch Hillary, a notoriously bad campaigner, self-destruct.

[cascadiance]

11. Interesting timing. Are they hoping to split the vote between Bernie and Warren?...

... to help assure Hillary wins the nomination?

I'm hoping that if Liz gets in the race, we can get a gentleperson's agreement between Liz and Bernie that one of them pulls out before the first primary based on who seems to be doing better in the polls, etc. so that they don't split the vote between them.

Having a choice early on where hopefully both will be heard and echo many of their concerns that they share, we can amplify the messages of those concerns to be discussed in the primary later, even if only one is running then.

[merrily]

12. Urging Elizabeth to run for the purpose of making Hillary look better sucks, IMO.

I'd love for Warren to run and so would many others. But asking her to jump into the race to make it seem as though there's a real Democratic primary, then lose to Hillary sucks, IMO. So does seeking to split Warren/Sanders votes for the benefit of Hillary. And that's what establishment Democrats have been doing. Not so long ago, they were asking Warren to sigh a letter of support for Hillary. The establishment of both parties is all about Hillary in the Democratic primary, not Sanders, not Warren, not us.

BEWARE.