J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) may have officially ruled out a bid for the White House, but she might as well be a shadow candidate. That’s according to a report by Ryan Lizza in the New Yorker today, which describes the Massachusetts senator and her advisers working in the background to ensure Warren’s populist agenda is embedded into Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Judging by Clinton’s recent embrace of a number of key Warren issues, the strategy seems to be working pretty well—and Warren’s team appears to know it. In the New Yorker today:
One of Warren’s advisers believes that if she entered the race against Clinton she would be shredded by the Clinton political machine. Instead, the best way to pursue her agenda is to use the next year to pressure Clinton.
“I think she’s in a beautiful position right now,” the Warren adviser said, “because she can get Hillary to do whatever the hell she wants. Now the question is, will Hillary stick to it if she gets in? But at the moment Elizabeth can get her on record and hold her feet to the fire.”
Even as recently as last week, members of Warren’s team reportedly passed around a photo of the two sitting next to each other with a thought quote hovering over Clinton that read, “What she said.” Additionally from Lizza:
When I asked Warren last week if she believed that Clinton was co-opting her message, she hesitated and replied, “Eh.”
Burn. Of course, team Clinton is quick squash any notion she’s hijacking Warren’s signature policies to score some liberal points. We’ll see where she officially stands on the issues soon.
