butnonedareddosopublicly.“Democratsare
afraidofElizabethWarren,”BarneyFranksaid
in2015.“Shehasanabsolutevetoovercertain
public-policyissues,becauseDemocratsarenot
goingtocrossher....NoDemocratwantsElizabeth
Warrenbeingcriticalofhim.”
Atthesametime,though,Warrentookcare
nottoviolatetheassiduouslyproscribed
rulesoftheSenate.Shewasa goodcol-
league,a willingcampaignerforDemocrats
facingreelection,andcarefulnottopub-
liclycriticizepartyleaders.Thiswonher
influenceinsidethepartyanda position
inleadershiptomatchhergrowingstat-
ureontheoutside.Asthe 2016 presidentialcampaignbegan
takingshape,itwasnosurprisethatprogres-
siveslookedtoWarrenasa potentialchallenger
toClinton,whowasdistrustedbymanyinthe
party.In2014,Warrenfoundherselftheobject
ofa draftcampaignanda “ReadyforWarren”
superPAC.Althoughtheorganizershadnofor-
malaffiliationwithher,shedidlittleatfirstto
tampdowntheeffort,whichfueledspeculation
shemightrun.
Amongthoseanxiousfora decisionwas
theClintoncampaign,whichviewedher
asa formidablefoeandwasrelievedwhen
shepassed.“WewithintheClintonworld
initiallythoughtBerniewasthepoorman’s
Warren,”saysBrianFallon,a seniorcam-
paignofficial.“Butwhenshedidn’trun,he
hadsuchsuccessthathebecamea major
figureinhisownright.”
Warren’sdecisiontositoutprovedfate-
fulfortworeasons:Sanders,a gadflytothispointinhis
career,enteredtheraceandcaughtfire.Thiscreatedpres-
surefromtheleftforWarrentoendorsehim.Morebroadly,
it broughtintotensionherhard-wonstatusasa progressive
heroandhergrowinginfluencewithintheDemocraticestab-
lishment.EndorsingSanders,herideologicalally,would
meansacrificingherabilitytoinfluenceClinton,whowas
widelyexpectedtowin.SoWarrenwithheldherendorse-
mentuntilit wasclearClintonwouldbethenominee. In
essence, Warren bet that she had a better chance of enacting
her liberal agenda by working through Clinton than by bank-
ing on a Sanders revolution. Her decision shocked her hard-
core supporters on the left, many of whom turned against
her when Sanders lost.
“There was an enormous amount of ill will that was the
result of her declining to endorse anyone and deciding not
to take a position until after the convention,” says Charles
Lenchner, a co-founder of Ready for Warren, who later
endorsed Sanders. “Warren had a chance to help Berniewinwhenit wasstillpossible—and she declined
to do so.”
Those close to Warren say the backlash was
palpable and unnerving. Sanders supporters
flooded her Facebook posts with vitriol and
charges that she’d sold out. “The feeling on the
left was that she lacked courage,” says Cenk
Uygur, co-host of The Young Turks, an influ-
ential online progressive news show, “that
Bernie’s loss could be laid at her feet.”
Warren tersely defended her decision.
“I thought it was the right thing to do,” she
told me, without elaborating.
Her inside strategy paid off. Warren
nearly ended up in a position of power
that would have been inconceivable a few
years earlier. When they got together, Clinton
and Warren had a good rapport. And Warren
was a determined campaigner for the nominee.
According to campaign officials, Clinton seri-
ously weighed Warren as her running mate. The
Massachusetts senator underwent a full vetting
and was smuggled into Whitehaven, Clinton’s
Washington home, for an interview. It went well
enough that some Clinton advisers were con-
vinced Warren would be the best pick.
In a memo to Clinton written shortly
after the August meeting and obtained by
Bloomberg Businessweek, Philippe Reines,
a longtime adviser, concluded of Warren:
“If a crystal ball said she wouldn’t antago-
nize you for four years, it’s hard to argue
she isn’t the most helpful for the next four
months to get you elected.”
I asked Warren if she would have
accepted the job if Clinton had offered it.
Sheputdownhermangolemonade.
“ Ye s .”
Ultimately,ofcourse,Clintonchosea safe,ticket-balancing
male running mate. Yet nearly everything about the campaign
and plans for the transition already underway augured well for
Warren and the liberal cause.
And then Clinton lost.Warren doesn’t like to look back, at least not on the record in
the presence of a reporter. But when I asked if her careful calcu-
lations had taught her anything about the limits of pushing an
agenda through someone else, she was blunt. “Yes,” she said.
“It’s never as good as doing it yourself.”
After Trump’s win, Warren took steps to establish herself as
a 2020 candidate. Before Trump, she stuck mainly to matters
of financial regulation. While most senators gallop toward TV
cameras, she husbanded her political capital by declining to
weigh in on most issues, knowing her words would carry more
weight when she did speak. On Capitol Hill, she was notorious40
Bloomberg Businessweek July 29, 2019
Posing for selfies
after the town hall