Iowa: The first draft-a-candidate effort in MoveOn.org's 16-year history

[RiverLover]

This is the first draft-a-candidate effort in MoveOn.org's 16-year history. The advocacy group was founded in 1998 to stand up to the GOP attempt to impeach President Bill Clinton and has since delved into anti-war activities and campaigning for various Democrats.

MoveOn polled its 8 million members — including the 55,000 in Iowa — to ask whether they should encourage Warren to run, and on Tuesday, 81 percent said yes.

"They felt like a vigorous contested caucus and primary process was good for all the candidates, good for the party and a way to surface progressive ideas and make sure they got a real airing," Sheyman said.

Organizers created a website, RunWarrenRun.org, and a video introducing her — then came to Iowa. "Iowa is where it all begins and where conventional wisdom can turn on its head overnight and where ordinary activists get a voice and any candidate can get a fair hearing," Sheyman said.

In just six days, MoveOn has found Democrats in 95 of the 99 counties who say they want to volunteer for this draft campaign, he said.

Next up: Hire a state director, field staff and regional field organizers who will build "a volunteer army," Sheyman said. They will open offices in Iowa, and conduct focus groups and polling to test whether Warren's biography, political message and Warren herself as a messenger are appealing. They'll ramp up in New Hampshire as well, he said.

"What's unique about Senator Warren is there's just so much passion and hunger out there that for us the key is to channel that in a way that's visible to her," Sheyman told the Register.

Warren has set the agenda for the Democratic Party over the past two years, Sheyman said. "She was one of the first to talk about student debt," he said. "She's talking about Social Security, she's talking about giveaways to Wall Street. She certainly scrambles the math and gives Democrats a chance to pursue a whole broader coalition of folks who feel like there's somebody fighting for them."

Asked why Clinton can't be that voice for the working poor, Sheyman said people "want someone who's been out there with a track record, fighting on these issues and succeeding and winning....

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2014/12/17/elizabeth-warren-fans-iowa-say-time/20563553/

[sabrina 1]

1. It's a good idea, but would it not be better to run candidates for Congress this way? I think we

can be sure that even if Warren were to run, she isn't going to be allowed to win?

This is what the Green Party does, they expend energy running for the WH rather than running candidates for Congress.

I'm just thinking of how desperately we need to change Congress and spending time and money, AGAIN, on the Billion Dollar WH race just distracts from the Congressional races where the people actually have the power to change things.

I love Elizabeth Warren, just wondering if spending time and money on the WH is going to do much to change anything when clearly the candidates have already been chosen.