Post by nighttimer on Dec 10, 2018 10:59:54 GMT -5
Will she or won't she? A lot of signs seems to be pointing towards "yes":
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has the core of her 2020 team in place if she runs for president. She has the seed money — there’s $12.5 million ready to go, left over from her recent Senate run — and a massive email list she’s amassed over years, boosted by a $3.3 million investment in digital infrastructure and advertising in the last election alone. Her aides have been quietly shopping for presidential campaign headquarters space in the Boston area in recent weeks, according to a source with knowledge of the move.
You're going to have a much better case for the awfulness of Warren's advisers than the DNA test. From what the Politico article reveals, Team Warren seems both seasoned and knowledgeable.
She began interviewing national operatives for senior positions in a possible presidential campaign since before the midterms. Currently there are discussions with veteran early-state political operatives, including in Iowa, about the possibility of signing on, though no contracts have been yet signed. And if Warren moves forward with a presidential bid, she will do so with the nucleus of a team she’s trusted for years and build from there, sources with knowledge of the operation tell POLITICO.
One major player already is Dan Geldon, a longtime Warren staffer and onetime Harvard Law School student under Warren who also served as her Senate chief of staff for three years. Sources with knowledge of the campaign say the senator is eyeing Geldon to take on the role of campaign manager. Other core staffers likely to be part of a Warren presidential team are finance director Michael Pratt; former Harry Reid aide Kristen Orthman, who handles communications; Gabrielle Farrell, who most recently headed communications for the New Hampshire Democratic Party; and Roger Lau, the campaign manager for Warren’s Senate reelection who also has New Hampshire experience.
The campaign-in-waiting is working with the mail firm Deliver Strategies, and the digital firms Bully Pulpit and Blue State.
Just below the top ranks, the Massachusetts senator has a nearly full-blown enterprise prepped for deployment: more than 50 people were reported on Warren’s latest campaign payroll, which counts field workers. In addition to that, several dozen more staffers who assisted Warren in her Senate campaign and were part of the Massachusetts Democratic Party payroll could be tapped to move into a presidential campaign.
“It looks like she has her national apparatus in place and all she has to do is pull the trigger,” said Jim Demers, a New Hampshire-based consultant who served as state campaign co-chair for Barack Obama and for Hillary Clinton in 2016. “I think a big part of it is, there’s a lot of candidates who are going to do some hard thinking over the holiday weeks to say it’s a go or not a go.”
The senator herself has been busy personally calling scores of Democrats in the four early presidential states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, reaching out to former and recently elected officials, those who ran for office unsuccessfully, labor leaders and grassroots activists.
One major player already is Dan Geldon, a longtime Warren staffer and onetime Harvard Law School student under Warren who also served as her Senate chief of staff for three years. Sources with knowledge of the campaign say the senator is eyeing Geldon to take on the role of campaign manager. Other core staffers likely to be part of a Warren presidential team are finance director Michael Pratt; former Harry Reid aide Kristen Orthman, who handles communications; Gabrielle Farrell, who most recently headed communications for the New Hampshire Democratic Party; and Roger Lau, the campaign manager for Warren’s Senate reelection who also has New Hampshire experience.
The campaign-in-waiting is working with the mail firm Deliver Strategies, and the digital firms Bully Pulpit and Blue State.
Just below the top ranks, the Massachusetts senator has a nearly full-blown enterprise prepped for deployment: more than 50 people were reported on Warren’s latest campaign payroll, which counts field workers. In addition to that, several dozen more staffers who assisted Warren in her Senate campaign and were part of the Massachusetts Democratic Party payroll could be tapped to move into a presidential campaign.
“It looks like she has her national apparatus in place and all she has to do is pull the trigger,” said Jim Demers, a New Hampshire-based consultant who served as state campaign co-chair for Barack Obama and for Hillary Clinton in 2016. “I think a big part of it is, there’s a lot of candidates who are going to do some hard thinking over the holiday weeks to say it’s a go or not a go.”
The senator herself has been busy personally calling scores of Democrats in the four early presidential states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, reaching out to former and recently elected officials, those who ran for office unsuccessfully, labor leaders and grassroots activists.
Warren is making the smart play here.