New Hampshire, Liz Warren is coming for you.
The senator from Massachusetts and likely 2020 POTUS candidate has teamed up with the progressive group Swing Left, who tell Boston.com “Warren is working to rally Massachusetts voters to head to those ‘districts where it counts the most’ to persuade others to vote for Democrats.”
“Warren is partnering with the progressive group Swing Left to call on her constituents to volunteer in other states, as Democrats strive to take back majority control in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Boston.com reports.
Swing Left targets include New Hampshire’s two congressional districts, as well as — “if they are up for a drive” — Maine’s 2nd District and New York’s 19 District.
Warren has released a new video on behalf of Swing Left encouraging Democrats to vote and volunteer. And given the proximity of the First In The Nation primary state, it makes sense that New Hampshire would be Ground Zero for her efforts–which already include sending staffers to fill key positions in the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
Republicans say they’re not worried. “It’s no surprise Elizabeth Warren is working overtime to elect Chris Pappas. They both support a complete government takeover of health care and want to increase taxes on middle class families,” National Republican Congressional Committee Spokesman Chris Martin tells NHJournal.
“We don’t rely on out-of-state volunteers,” was the statement from the NH GOP.
Here’s the thing about interviewing Elizabeth Warren: It isn’t so much a conversation as a stump speech to an audience of one. (Two, if you count the spokeswoman who is sitting in on our conversation.) She swats and jabs at the air, talking about “what we fight for every single day” and “what defined America was the idea of opportunity.” I’m reminded of what a friend of hers told me: “The public persona is the private persona. There is no other person.” — Andy Kroll, Boston Magazine, in 2017.
The more important news is that this tends to confirm that Sen. Warren is in the 2020 race for real. Among DC insiders, there’s been an ongoing conversation about whether, when the decisive moment comes, Sen. Warren will ultimately enter the race. One factor is polling showing Democrats “want a fresh face.” Another is the question of whether the 69-year-old college professor’s heart is really in it.
In April, Newsweek ran the headline: “Elizabeth Warren Won’t Run For President Against Trump, Says She’ll Serve Full Senate Term if Re-Elected.” But that story probably says more about why Newsweek was sold for $1 in 2010 rather than any actual journalism. Yes, Warren has said repeatedly “I’m running for the United States Senate in 2018. I am not running for president of the United States. That’s my plan.”
But “that’s my plan” is a rhetorical hole big enough to run a tanker truck through. And between sending a wave of Democrats to New Hampshire for the midterms and her aggressive push to re-brand herself on the “Pocahontas” issue, Warren is making the moves one would expect from a future POTUS contender.
