Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., doesn’t want the Democratic president primary to end anytime soon, saying she’s “still cheering” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for stoking a debate about progressive issues.
“He has put the right issues on the table both for the Democratic Party and for the country, generally, so I’m still cheering Bernie on,” Warren replied, after saying that she’s not ready to endorse in the primary, when asked if Sanders should drop out. She was speaking to local reporters in Massachusetts on Friday.
Warren’s official neutrality might help preserve her base of support among liberal activists in case she ever runs for president herself, but her praise for Sanders comes as other Senate Democrats want him to “wind down” his campaign against Hillary Clinton. But Sanders’ team is pursuing a campaign strategy that could set up a fight for the nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
“I haven’t endorsed a candidate because I think it is right what is happening in the Democratic primary,” Warren said.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., allowed that the debate might be beneficial for the party, but she wants Sanders to play the part of the loyal opposition in the run-up to the general election. “It’s good [for Sanders] to continue to raise the concerns that people have, but I think it ought to be in the context of, ‘This is the difference between the Democrats and Republicans in this race,’ ” she said.
Sanders’ team maintains that it can still win a majority of the delegates allocated in the primaries and caucuses in order to convince the super-delegates to switch their allegiance from Clinton.
“We’re trying to win more pledged delegates by the end,” Sanders senior strategist Tad Devine told MSNBC Friday. “If we can demonstrate that he is the strongest candidate by defeating her in these states, a lot of superdelegates are going to take a step back and say, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’ And that’s when we will try to persuade them.”
