Proud to Be A Democrat

Elizabeth Warren on The View expertly pitches her wealth tax and explains how she'll pay for universal childcare, $800B into public education, etc. without increasing middle-class taxes. The cherry on top is Liz not even acknowledging Meghan McCain's rude interruption attempts. pic.twitter.com/HKs0HXY7qL

— Adam Best (@adamcbest) January 7, 2020

NEW: Warren & her allies—long resistant to discussing process, polls, etc.—are making a surprising closing pitch abt electability: that she’s the best candidate to unite the warring Bernie/Biden factions, making explicit what’s long been the quiet strategyhttps://t.co/KAzlzOBcRQ

— Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) January 10, 2020

… It’s the first time Warren’s orbit has made the electability pitch so overtly. But the campaign has been quietly implementing that strategy since 2018, when Warren raised or donated $11 million to Democratic candidates and began drawing subtle distinctions with Sanders (She described herself as a “capitalist to my bones,” in contrast to Sanders preference for democratic socialism). Warren has also mostly abstained from attacking other Democrats in an attempt not to alienate supporters of other candidates. Her campaign staff reflects the approach, with a mix of officials from Sanders, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s past campaigns.

“She has gone above and beyond to convince establishment types that she is a team player and a Democrat,” said Ian Sams, former national press secretary for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. “I don’t think they see her as a left-wing extremist, and they respect her seriousness and policy chops.”…

Julián Castro sounded like a pundit on Tuesday night when he took the stage in Brooklyn to formally endorse Warren at their first rally together.

“The polling says, well, perhaps that a lot of older voters, go one way, right? And younger voters go another way,” Castro said in implicit references to Biden and Sanders. “You have a preponderance of younger voters that support Elizabeth and older voters that also support Elizabeth. … Elizabeth Warren is the candidate who can unite the entire Democratic Party.” Highlighting that message, the Warren campaign posted that section of Castro’s remarks on social media.

“She’s winning the policy primary, but now she needs to transfer that energy to try to win the electability primary,” said Jared Leopold, a Democratic consultant who worked on Gov. Jay Inslee’s presidential campaign. “Cable news has warped voters’ brains and turned everyone into mini-pundits. That means candidates need to win not just on policy but on process.”…

… [A] poll from The Economist and YouGov this month still showed the potential of Warren’s strategy. Asked whether there are any candidates they would be disappointed to see as the nominee, only 11 percent of voters said they’d be disappointed by Warren, the lowest of any candidate. By contrast, 21 percent said they’d be disappointed by Biden and 16 percent by Sanders. Other polls in recent months have reflected a similar sentiment about Warren.

“When we get into the phase here where it will be about closing the deal with voters and caucusgoers, starting from the largest set of consideration is a good place to be,” said Warren’s chief strategist Joe Rospars in a podcast interview last fall with Democratic strategist David Plouffe. Rospars was referring to the notion of being a candidate whom Democrats were open to voting for, even if they were seriously considering supporting another candidate.

“Elizabeth Warren is at the top of people’s consideration set,” Rospars said, “and the person that the fewest number of people would be disappointed if she’s the nominee.”

This. It's incredible to watch sexist tropes flow around whatever obstacles they encounter and re-form. Warren is so likeable, over 100K people have waited hours in line to take a selfie with her. So now that has to be reshaped into some other bad thing. Undaunted, she persists. https://t.co/DzBZI3up4r

— Adam Jentleson ?????? (@AJentleson) January 9, 2020

“Wall Street can't stand Elizabeth Warren but most of America can't stand Wall Street. So … maybe she's right.” 🎯🎯🎯 ⁦@morningmoneyben⁩ pic.twitter.com/awELuNm5D0

— Murshed Zaheed 🐢 (@murshedz) January 10, 2020

.@AJentleson, close w/ Warren’s team, articulated the unity pitch.
“Biden won’t be able to get Bernie voters given his position on M4A and coziness with banks/credit cards. Bernie will have a hard time getting Biden voters because he’s made 0 effort to repair the rifts of 2016”

— Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) January 10, 2020

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Nevertheless, She PersistedPost + Comments (263)