LOS ANGELES — Bernie Sanders’ forced absence from the 2020 campaign trail due to a heart attack provides a fresh opening to Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren to capture support on the party’s left flank, though it’s one she’ll have to approach gingerly.
Sanders, 78, suffered a heart attack, his doctors said Friday after the Vermont senator was released from a Las Vegas hospital. On Tuesday, Sanders was immediately taken to surgery to receive two stents following the discovery of a blocked artery.
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Warren, a Massachusetts senator, wished Sanders well — and then continued on with her campaign schedule. The pair have for months sought to emerge as an alternative to former Vice President Joe Biden in the race for the right to challenge President Trump in 2020. Warren’s running as left-wing populist, while Sanders touts the socialist ideas he’s talked up in Congress for nearly 30 years.
Following Warren’s appearance in Las Vegas Wednesday at the Gun Safety Presidential Forum in Las Vegas, the former Harvard Law School professor headed to Los Angeles for a Friday candidate cattle call hosted by the Service Employees International Union. Sanders was unable to attend after suffering the heart attack.
Warren, 70, is already aggressively pitching labor unions and progressive organizations that Sanders largely failed to win over in 2016. Last month, the progressive and labor-friendly Working Families Party opted to back Warren in the Democratic primary.
For months, the Sanders campaign has been debating over how exactly it should deal with Warren’s rise in the polls. An individual close to the Sanders campaign told the Washington Examiner that as of a month ago, there was no coherent strategy.
Sanders said he’ll participate in the Oct. 15 Democratic debate in Ohio, for which 11 primary opponents have qualified. And as Sanders takes a weeklong break from the trail to recover from a clogged heart artery, Warren’s push to consolidate the progressive base of the Democratic Party continues and is intensifying.
Supporters of Sanders from his 2016 primary bid against eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton says his political heyday may be over, a view they held even before his health troubles emerged this week.
“I’m a big Elizabeth Warren fan. I would have been for Warren if she was in the campaign the last time, but she wasn’t ready. The reason I support Warren over Bernie, while I personally agree with everything Bernie says, I don’t think the country can go there yet,” said SEIU member Rebecca Sandoval, 62. “It’s better to be wise. Warren has the progressive bent we need, but she’s willing to bring it more slowly. Not the entire country is vested in that revolution yet. The talking points she has and plans she has will win over more voters. She’s more electable.”
Progressive organizer and co-founder of the 2016 group Labor for Bernie Steve Early told the Washington Examiner that he sees the ground shifting among one of Sanders’ natural bases: organized labor.
Early pointed to the National Union of Healthcare Workers issuing a rare dual endorsement to both Warren and Sanders last month. In 2016, the NUHW was one of the only seven national unions that backed Sanders.
“Warren came in ahead of Bernie in the on-line membership polling,” Early said. “She’s been better about individual courting of union officials.”
The kind of retail politicking “hasn’t been always Bernie’s stronger suit,” Early said. “She’s more attentive to cultivating those personal relationships. I think [Sanders winning] is a longer shot in this race because of the different kind of field than it was four years ago at this stage. It would be hard to repeat that trip and momentum again in these circumstances.
Recent polling suggests Warren’s rise has come at Sanders’ expense. His national polling peaked in March at 27%, four points behind Biden, the former vice president and 36-year Delaware senator. Over the summer, though, Warren skyrocketed in the polls and Sanders’ steadily dropped off. A RealClearPolitics average of polls from Sept. 19 through Oct. 1 has Sanders at 16.8%, with Warren at 24%, less than three points behind Biden and effectively within the overall margin of error.
After Sanders’ hospitalization, some would-be supporters say Warren is a perfectly suitable alternative.
“Warren is more viable. I think because Bernie didn’t get it last time, he might have missed his shot,” said SEIU member Joy Willman. “Just like right now with his health concerns, it’s very concerning. He’s older, he does have health issues. We want someone who will be in office the whole term.”
Even a Sanders supporter like George Allen, who in July was featured in a promotional video for the Vermont senator’s second presidential campaign, said his favorite candidate’s health problems make Warren a more politically attractive choice in the fight to dislodge Trump from the White House.
“I’ve met Warren, I’ve embraced her. If Bernie’s campaign does have its end, I would love to, as one [of] Bernie’s supporters, I would love to endorse Warren,” Allen said. “He’s a scrapper, he’s a fighter, and I think that because of the health issues, it’s going to damage him. Not fairly, but understandably. That’s the way it is.”
