http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/elizabeth-warren-2016-endorsement-217731 Waiting for Warren
Democrats want Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to endorse a presidential candidate soon. But they won't say it publicly.
By Gabriel Debenedetti and Burgess Everett
01/13/16 06:27 PM EST
Updated 01/13/16 10:21 PM EST
Democrats in Washington and New Hampshire — especially the ones supporting Hillary Clinton — want Elizabeth Warren to end the wait and endorse a candidate soon.
But most of them are too nervous to say it publicly for fear of getting on the wrong side of the liberal hero and fundraising juggernaut.
The Massachusetts senator’s political plans have been the subject of discussions behind closed doors among Democratic senators, but her colleagues — almost all of whom are backing the former secretary of state and none of whom are supporting the Vermonter — have almost universally decided to keep concerns about her holdout private. They worry that too much chatter about it will dissuade Warren from making a move, and just as important, no one wants to alienate the figurehead of the party’s energetic progressive wing.
“She’ll have to make her own mind about that,” said New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Clinton supporter. “I haven’t talked to Elizabeth about this.”
So the partywide consensus about the potential power of Warren’s endorsement in her next-door state — other than those of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, it’s viewed as the one remaining endorsement that could swing the neck-and-neck early-state primary — has led supporters of each candidate to tread carefully around efforts to pressure Warren on a decision.
Warren is not alone in staying neutral, but the number of holdouts is dwindling by the day as Senate liberals like Ohio’s Sherrod Brown join centrists like North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp in backing Clinton. Warren — whose office declined to comment for this story — is the only Democratic woman senator who has yet to endorse Clinton; the others have raised money for her and some have campaigned on her behalf in Iowa. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, the other high-profile holdout, has made it clear that he’s unofficially behind Clinton.
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http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/elizabeth-warren-2016-endorsement-217731#ixzz3xERWt6iB
