A new Democracy for America poll shows that progressives favor Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as their choice for the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016.
The 2016 Presidential Pulse Poll conducted by the grassroots organization found 42 percent of respondents preferred Sen. Warren as their nominee, with Clinton actually coming in third behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who received 24 percent of the vote, CNN reported.
Progressives are starting to question Clinton’s corporate ties after over a decade of economic instability. Warren and Sanders’ messages of protecting Main Street over Wall Street appeals to a broader audience every day.
In a statement, Democracy for America Executive Director Charles Chamberlain said:
“Elizabeth Warren won by a large margin because she inspires Democrats by valiantly fighting for populist progressive policies to address income inequality in the face of Wall Street resistance — and because she regularly engages with the grassroots base of her party.”
Despite cries from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party for Warren to run in 2016, she has said time and time again that she is not. Sanders, who isn’t even technically a Democrat, has, however, started expressing more interest in the idea, going so far as to hire a top Dem strategist to his team.
Regardless of what progressives want, Clinton is “far-and-away [the] frontrunner in most other polls of mainstream Democrats and American voters,” and is “widely expected to launch a presidential bid,” said CNN.
But Chamberlain noted, that while the poll did find overwhelming support for Warren, the biggest takeaway from the results is that progressives are at least going to “make sure that the Democratic nomination process is a ‘contest, not a coronation.’”
Hopefully Warren and Sanders take note of the growing support and seriously consider running in 2016. And if they don’t, hopefully whoever the nominee is (even if it isn’t the presumptive Clinton) will take note that the country is tired of ridiculous government ties to Wall Street. Party leadership needs realize that the vast majority of its membership does not want it moving closer and closer towards the right.