Elizabeth Warren, nominee in waiting

Elizabeth Warren, nominee in waiting

She said she’s not running.

Ready for Warren and MoveOn.org have gone to spend the Weekend at Bernie Sanders, the stand-in for who progressives really want, Elizabeth Warren.

Bernie!? Really? Is an open Socialist really going to stand a chance in a general election?

And weakness in the Hillary campaign may be just what is needed for the Democratic Party to grovel for a Warren entry, writes Doug Shoen, The potentially mortal threat to Hillary’s candidacy:

Pundits have focused recently on Hillary Clinton’s narrowing lead in polls among a group of less well known Republicans, along with voters’ growing skepticism about her integrity. But a much more immediate threat to her electability is beginning to appear: in the last few weeks, Clinton has lost significant ground in both New Hampshire and Iowa to socialist Bernie Sanders….

But Sanders isn’t a viable national candidate, so who will Democrats turn to if Hillary continues to falter? Schoen sees the need for a new Bobby Kennedy.

Who’s the Bobby Kennedy in this race? Elizabeth Warren, say Schoen.

If Sanders can manage to raise $15 million online in small grassroots donations in just two months, as he has, imagine what Warren—whose stature is far higher—would be able to generate, merely by declaring an interest. So far, Warren has demurred. But in the same way that Obama said he wouldn’t run and Kennedy said he wouldn’t, circumstances and changing poll numbers affect political decisions, and could yet bring the Massachusetts senator into the race.

My polling firm has collected data showing that Warren is competitive in both Iowa, where Hillary sits at close to 50%, and in New Hampshire, where she’s clinging now to a single-digit lead. Don’t be surprised if, in both states, 2016 looks a lot like the late 1960s.

In short: Hillary Clinton’s candidacy faces a far greater threat—from within her own party—than the media and pundits have been yet willing to recognize.

https://youtu.be/uUiehszTswU?t=6m32s

Anna Marie Cox in The Daily Beast also has doubts about Bernie, writing Bernie is the Left’s Trump:

Bernie Sanders is the Left’s Donald Trump.

Bear with me here. There is a lot they don’t have in common, including where they stand in their respective party’s polls—though Sanders’ slow creep into a distant second is likely to be more sustainable. Still, they have both managed to disrupt their respective nomination races, and they’ve done that because they both have a similar appeal: They’ve tapped into anti-establishment passions with rhetoric that is a kind of wish-fulfillment fantasy for some voters. “He has the guts to say what others won’t” could be the slogan for either of them.

So Bernie can do damage to Hillary, but he can’t win a general election. Progressives and other Democrats know it.

Stuart Stevens, who headed up Romney’s campaign, sees an opportunity for Warren in such a scenario, This Is How Hillary Loses the Primary:

Here’s what we know has happened so far in the Democratic primary for president. Since Hillary Clinton started spending money, hiring staff and campaigning, she has lost votes. In Iowa and New Hampshire, she was doing better in the polls in January than she is today. Heck, she had more votes last month than she has today.

Politics is about trends and the one thing we know is that trends escalate in speed as elections near. Even starting out with the huge lead that she did, Clinton can’t allow Sanders to keep gaining votes while she loses votes in the hope that the bleeding won’t be fatal in the long run.

Again, there is only one person who can save the Democratic Party in such a scenario.

Hillary Clinton’s greatest strength—more than being a woman, more than being a Clinton—is the fact that polls show her consistently beating Republicans. Democrats see her as someone who can hold the White House. If she loses to Bernie in Iowa or New Hampshire, most likely the subsequent polls will show her losing to a handful of top Republicans.

And then what happens? Will the Democratic Party rally around her?

Perhaps. But more likely party voices, with great and solemn regret (masking their deep panic), will begin to say that Hillary had her chance, she fought a good fight, but we can’t lose the White House.

Who would get in? I still think Elizabeth Warren could be drawn in under this scenario.

I’ve been saying similar things to all of the above pundits for a year.

Liz Warren is ready for Liz Warren, she just needs to find the right opportunity and timing. Liz has impeccable timing, and she will not slug it out with the Billary machine until others have tenderized the opponent.

In the Massachusetts Senate run, Warren had to be cajoled and begged to get into the race. That is the scenario that causes her to get in this time — the people must demand it, and she must be the reluctant entrant.

And once Liz gets in, all bets are off for Hillary. All the people Hillary stepped on to get to the top will be meeting her on the way down, and helping her fail.

Hillary will sink faster than (please help me complete this sentence)…

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