I'll still be voting for her come November.
"Primary rival may distract Elizabeth Warren" by Frank Phillips |
Globe Staff
May 27, 2012
Massachusetts Democrats will head to a state convention next weekend
amid increasing fears among party leaders that Elizabeth Warren will be
bogged down in a primary fight that will block her from fully engaging
US Senator Scott Brown.
Warren, whose campaign has ignited unprecedented enthusiasm in her
party in
Massachusetts and has drawn strong support from national Democrats, is
expected to easily win endorsement from the more than 3,000 delegates
who will gather June 2 in Springfield.
But Warren’s advisers and some seasoned political hands say she will
have a difficult time blocking Marisa DeFranco, a North Shore
immigration lawyer, from getting the 15 percent of delegate votes she
needs to qualify for the primary ballot. Since the 15-percent
requirement was put in place in 1982, no leading Democratic candidate
has eliminated an opponent by getting more than 85 percent of the
delegate vote at a convention.
Oh, so there REALLY IS NOTHING NEW HERE!
That
has some state Democrats alarmed that Warren will be forced to divert
her resources until after the Sept. 6 primary, instead of concentrating
on Brown. Likewise, party leaders say the Democrats will no longer be able to use the convention to spotlight Warren’s candidacy.
The risk to the national party is extremely high, they say, given
that the outcome of this race could help determine control of the
Senate.
“It’s a suicidal exercise,’’ said former state party chairman Philip
W. Johnston,
a decades-long veteran of statewide races, who now raises funds for
Warren. “We need to be focused on one person, Scott Brown. It’s
ridiculous to force [Warren] to spend a couple of months being
distracted, particularly when the control of the Senate could turn on
this campaign.’’
Why did visions of Ralph Nader just pop into my head?
But he and others say they also feel that any effort to strong-arm
delegates could result in a backlash, particularly from the left wing
of the party, which often bristles at heavy-handed direction from party
leadership.
As has been said so often WHERE ELSE THEY GONNA GO?
DeFranco, whose feisty style and left-leaning positions have appealed
to some of the party’s factions, has already beaten expectations by
gathering well more than the 10,000 certified voter signatures required
to participate.
Her challenge, while limited in financial resources and visibility,
has put the party in a difficult position.
Why would that be, Globe?
If DeFranco wins a spot on
the ballot, her primary challenge has the potential to slow the
unprecedented momentum Warren has built up since she entered the race
last September.
But party leaders and the Warren campaign are aware that any
perception that they are trying to crush DeFranco’s candidacy would
alienate a small but significant faction within the party ranks....
With less than a week until the convention, DeFranco remains
defiant....
--more--"
Related: Filings add to questions on Warren’s ethnic claims
Also see: Warren's Whoppers
Update: Poll: Brown and Warren Tie Up Race in Massachusetts
