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GOP Wouldn't Mind Seeing a Warren-Clinton Brawl in 2016
Wednesday, January 28, 2015 03:42 PM
By: Jennifer G. Hickey
If the enemy of your enemy is your friend, it should come as no surprise that some Republicans are secretly hoping that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren decides to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2016.
"She's a hero of the left and a rock star really," said Rich Lowry of the conservative National Review during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."
And last November, potential GOP presidential candidate and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee publicly urged Warren to get into the race.
"Please give us Elizabeth Warren. Please, God, let us have Elizabeth Warren," exclaimed Huckabee on Fox News' "Outnumbered" last December, according to The Daily Caller.
"Look, I think she's a very passionate person and I respect her because I think she has the courage to speak her convictions. I just think her convictions don't sync with most of America. But I do respect that fact that she comes out and says something, and she's not so handled and scripted. That's refreshing," he went on to clarify.
Some conservative strategists see an advantage in having a progressive like Warren keeping the pressure on Clinton and, more importantly, delaying the inevitable move to the political center.
"You could just see it gets in Secretary Clinton's head when she has to compare herself vis-à-vis Senator Warren. From that perspective, a food fight could be good," said Tim Miller, executive director of the conservative PAC America Rising, according to The New York Times.
Huckabee's and Republicans' motives in pushing for Elizabeth Warren to enter the empty Democrat field may have more to do with distraction.
"The tactic says much about the 2016 landscape for Republicans. A crowded field of people who say they are considering running for president — including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts — has emerged. That means the party is expecting a bruising ideological battle for the nomination," reports The New York Times.
Warren has repeatedly denied she is contemplating a run for president and recently backed out of an appearance at next month's Congressional Progressive Caucus retreat citing a scheduling conflict, a caucus spokesperson told Politico.
While there are upsides to a Warren-Clinton primary fight, there also are positives to a Democrat primary in which the former secretary of state faces no real viable challenge.
"You are not as sharp if you are not being challenged on a daily basis," says Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia.
Other Democrats believe that a primary debate is needed for the party to engage in a discussion of its own values and visions.
"It's not good for a party because the Democratic Party needs a real debate about what it's for, who it's for, what it's about and where we'll take the country," says Dennis Kucinich, a former Democrat congressman, presidential candidate and a Fox News contributor.
