Waiting for Warren endorsement, Democrats are getting antsy
With Bernie Sanders surging in the polls and the Democratic primary race heating up, Hillary Clinton’s backers are getting restless.
That Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren still hasn’t endorsed a candidate isn’t helping matters.
Two separate articles this week cite Clinton supporters, many of them Senate members, who urgently, but quietly, hope Warren will endorse soon.
“I think it would be important,’’ Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat and vocal Clinton supporter, told CNN of Warren’s support. “I think it would be helpful.’’
In an article Wednesday, Politco reported that “people close to Warren’s political advisers in Boston say a Clinton endorsement is far more likely than a Sanders nod at this point,’’ which would be fortuitous timing given the Vermont senator’s startling ascent since the start of 2016.
Asked if he thought Warren would endorse Clinton, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, himself a Clinton supporter, told Politico, “Oh, yeah.’’
CNN reported that Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow has even straight-up asked Warren to endorse the former secretary of state.
Meanwhile, the Sanders campaign, per both articles, has implied no secret conversations or effort to push Warren toward Burlington rather than Brooklyn.
“There’s no secret Elizabeth Warren plan,’’ Sanders’ chief strategist, Tad Devine, told CNN. “She’s going to do what she wants to do when she wants to do it. That’s the way it goes.’’
For now, Warren has opted to watch the race from above, occasionally praising Clinton and Sanders on social media for their plans on her favorite subject: Wall Street.
Warren’s office declined to comment on both the CNN and Politico articles — both of which note how the Massachusetts Democrat signed a 2013 letter with her female Senate colleagues urging Clinton to run.
However, Warren was the only Democratic female senator to not attend a November fundraiser supporting Clinton.
“Maybe she has a cold,’’ Maryland Sen. Barbara Milkulski jokingly told reporters at the event.
But perhaps Warren has actually waited too long?
“I had a bumper sticker on my car urging Liz Warren to run before Bernie got in,’’ New Hampshire radio host Burt Cohen told Politico. “The people that care about Liz Warren are all on board with Bernie, and there’s no talk about her whatsoever.’’
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