Hillary Rodham Clinton’s tweet on her most important decision ever — running for president of the United States — has underwhelmed many in the progressive movement who still want one of their own, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in the race too.
While they expressed respect for Clinton’s devotion to many of their issues, progressives feel Clinton needs to do more to explain her positions on key issues such as income inequality and believe a primary fight is the best way to do that.
Those behind the draft movement “Run Warren Run” said that Clinton’s tweet about her run won’t stop them from continuing to build support for the Massachusetts senator who has also called on Clinton to be more expressive on her positions.
Clinton’s new picture on her Twitter account.
Her other Twitter smoke signal about her plans? She added “2016 presidential candidate” to her handle. “Wife, mom, grandma, women+kids advocate, FLOTUS, Senator, SecState, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, 2016 presidential candidate. Tweets from Hillary signed –H,” it reads. She also changed her picture from looking at a Blackberry to a blue H with an arrow pointing to the right, presumably signaling forward.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, AP Photo
“A vigorous competition for the best ideas, the best people, and the best campaign practices will leave our party, our eventual nominee, and our country stronger, which is why we continue to urge Senator Elizabeth Warren to enter the 2016 race for president,” said Democracy for America Executive Director Charles Chamberlain, one of the Run Warren Run sponsors.
The group Progressive Change Campaign Committee called on Clinton to push an “Elizabeth Warren-Style Agenda.” It also issued a video challenge to Clinton.
Those calls follow one from the Boston Globe for Warren to run.
Below is Chamberlain’s full statement provided to Secrets as Clinton tweeted her historic announcement:
Statement Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America, on the entry of Hillary Clinton into the 2016 presidential race:
“We’re looking forward to hearing more about Secretary Hillary Clinton’s vision for the future of our country and, in particular, how she plans to address our nation’s income inequality crisis and stand up to the wealthy and powerful interests on Wall Street and elsewhere that dominate our political process.
“Secretary Clinton has earned the respect of Democracy for America members because of her deep commitment to the rights of women and children, two groups impacted immensely by income inequality, the issue that will define the 2016 election.
“We also know that a vigorous competition for the best ideas, the best people, and the best campaign practices will leave our party, our eventual nominee, and our country stronger, which is why we continue to urge Senator Elizabeth Warren to enter the 2016 race for president. As we’ve seen first-hand over the last four months, Democrats want a 2016 nominee who will fearlessly fight to ensure that all working families have a fighting chance in America and the surest way to guarantee that happens would be to have Senator Warren in the race.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
