Republicans Are Pushing The Idea Of A Warren Candidacy

 (The caricature of Senator Elizabeth Warren above is by DonkeyHotey.)

“Elizabeth Warren says, ‘I’m not running; I don’t want to be president. Translation: ‘I can’t wait and I am running. But I’m just not going to admit it right now.’ ”

Those are the words of right-wing blowhard Rush Limbaugh. He knows the Republicans have little hope of beating Hillary Clinton, and he's dreaming of a scenario in which another Democrat runs against Clinton, and does the dirty work of the GOP by damaging Clinton in the primaries. And he's not the only Republican with that dream.

Several of them have been heard proclaiming what a great candidate Senator Warren would be. They don't really mean it. They hate everything Senator Warren believes in and stands for. They know she couldn't win the Democratic nomination. They are just hoping she'll go to war with Clinton in a vicious and prolonged campaign -- splitting the Democratic Party and weakening Clinton as she enters the general election. They know that is the only hope their own candidate would have against Clinton. Here is how the New York Times puts it:

They have called Senator Elizabeth Warren “an extremely attractive candidate” in the 2016 presidential campaign. They have said that she is the “hottest commodity” in the Democratic Party and that she has demonstrated the “passion and intensity” that Hillary Rodham Clinton lacks.

Those glowing compliments are not from the liberal activists who are trying to persuade Ms. Warren to challenge Mrs. Clinton, who is expected to be the party’s leading contender in 2016. They come from conservatives who are eager to drum up a contentious Democratic primary and who see Ms. Warren, a first-term senator from Massachusetts, as best positioned to weaken, and potentially defeat, Mrs. Clinton.

On cable television and in private strategy sessions, conservatives are steadily stoking the flames of a movement to recruit Ms. Warren, who has said she will not run but whose anti-Wall Street economic message resonates with the liberal base of the Democratic Party.

“Please give us Elizabeth Warren. Please, God, let us have Elizabeth Warren,” said Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, who is considering a presidential bid.

“I respect her because she has the courage to speak her convictions,” Mr. Huckabee said on Fox News.

Former Representative Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party Republican from Minnesota, told CNN that Ms. Warren would be “an extremely attractive candidate.” Mrs. Bachmann also said that if she were Mrs. Clinton, she would be “extremely concerned.”

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 the 2012 presidential nominee, Mitt Romney — has emerged. That means the party is expecting a bruising ideological battle for the nomination.

Mrs. Clinton, a former secretary of state and 2008 presidential candidate, could emerge from the primary season relatively unscathed. Other Democrats — including Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Senator Bernard Sanders, independent of Vermont — may also run, but at this early stage, none are expected to have the funding or political apparatus to pose a serious threat to Mrs. Clinton.

An easy path to the nomination could allow Mrs. Clinton to enter a general election with more funding than the Republican nominee, who would have had to spend heavily to beat a wide field of competitors. Ms. Warren represents Republicans’ best hope for an expensive, prolonged battle for the Democratic nomination, weakening Mrs. Clinton along the way, political operatives on both sides say.

But Senator Elizabeth Warren is no fool. She knows what they are trying to do, and she has no intention of doing their dirty work for them. She has repeatedly and emphatically stated that she has no intention of running for president in 2016 -- and in fact, supports the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

A small cadre of progressives in the Democratic Party are still urging Senator Warren to change her mind and run (and the Republicans are fervently hoping they will succeed). But Warren has dashed those hopes at every opportunity.

And last Thursday, she took one more action to make it clear she has no intention of running for president in 2016. Acting on her instructions, Warren's attorney wrote a letter to the FEC making it clear that she has no connection with the PAC called "Ready for Warren", which has been trying to raise money for her to run. That letter is shown below.

It is time for progressives to stop playing into Republicans hopes and dreams. They need to accept Warren's decision, and support Hillary Clinton for the 2016 nomination. It is the best way of insuring an extremist Republican doesn't win the White House in 2016 (which would be disastrous for this country).