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Cheers
for
Elizabeth
Warren
at
conference
offer
peek at
Democrats'
mindset
By
Sheryl
Gay
Stolberg
THE NEW
YORK
TIMES
DETROIT,
MI -
Even
before
Sen.
Elizabeth
Warren,
D-Mass.,
entered
the
grand
ballroom
of the
Cobo
Center
here
Friday
for a
much-anticipated
speech
to
hundreds
of
liberal
activists,
her
admirers
were
handing
out
plastic
boater
hats,
bumper
stickers
and lawn
signs
declaring,
"Elizabeth
Warren
for
President."
Warren
has said
repeatedly
that she
will not
be a
candidate
in 2016.
But her
presence
here at
the
annual
Netroots
Nation
conference
— and
the
absence
of
Hillary
Rodham
Clinton
— offers
a peek
into the
mindset
of the
Democratic
Party's
left
wing.
Progressives
like
Clinton
(and
think
she can
win.)
But they
love
Warren
(even if
they are
not sure
she
can.)
On
Friday,
they let
the love
flow.
"Run,
Liz,
run!"
the
crowd
chanted
as the
senator
took the
stage.
She
tried to
shush
them,
waving
her arms
and
admonishing
them
like the
teacher
she once
was:
"Sit
down,
people.
Come on,
let's
get
started."
Then she
launched
into the
sort of
blistering
populist
assault
on
corporations,
Republicans,
banks,
lobbyists
and
trade
deals
that has
become
her
trademark.
"They
cheated
American
families,
crashed
the
economy,
got
bailed
out, and
now the
biggest
banks
are even
bigger
than
they
were
when
they got
too big
to fail
in
2008!"
Warren
thundered,
in one
of her
many
applause
lines.
"A kid
gets
caught
with a
few
ounces
of pot
and goes
to jail,
but a
big bank
launders
drug
money
and no
one gets
arrested.
The game
is
rigged!"
She went
on:
"Billionaires
pay
taxes at
lower
rates
than
their
secretaries.
How does
this
happen?
It
happens
because
they all
have
lobbyists.
Lobbyist
and
Republican
friends
in
Congress.
Lobbyists
and
Republicans
to
protect
every
loophole
and
every
privilege.
The game
is
rigged,
and it
isn't
right!"
The
Netroots
conference,
the
nation's
largest
gathering
of
liberal
activists
and
organizers,
is a
natural
base for
Warren.
A
nascent
group
calling
itself
Ready
for
Warren —
an
obvious
takeoff
on
"Ready
for
Hillary,"
the
political
action
committee
devoted
to
supporting
a
potential
Clinton
White
House
bid —
was
behind
the hat
and
bumper
sticker
effort.
It is
not yet
an
official
organization.
"We are
just
getting
focused
on
tapping
into the
grass-roots
momentum,"
said
Erica
Sagrans,
its
spokeswoman,
who
worked
for
President
Barack
Obama's
campaign
in 2012.
She said
she and
a
handful
of
like-minded
Warren
admirers
had
founded
the
Ready
for
Warren
group
after
creating
a
Twitter
feed and
a
Facebook
group
that
attracted
a
surprisingly
large
following.
The
group
launched
a
Ready4Warren
website
this
week.
People
here
were all
too
happy to
take the
hats and
the
bumper
stickers.
"Elizabeth
Warren
tells it
like it
is,"
said
Marcia
Riquelme,
co-chairwoman
of the
DeForest
Area
Progressives,
a group
in her
home
state of
Wisconsin,
who
sported
a
"Corporations
Are Not
People"
button
on her
lapel.
As for
Clinton,
she
said: "I
appreciate
Hillary.
But I
know
that
Elizabeth
Warren
has a
perspective
that is
probably
healthier.
She has
good
economic
principles.
She has
a depth
of
experience,
and she
knows
how to
share
her
deepest
heart."
Speaking
before
Warren's
talk,
Alyssa
Aguilera,
27, a
community
organizer
in New
York,
said, "I
think
Hillary
has a
better
chance
of
beating
a
Republican,
but I
think
Elizabeth
Warren
is a
better
progressive."
After
hearing
Warren,
Aguilera
said,
"I'm
ready
for
Warren!"
Clinton
was
invited
but
declined
to
attend,
organizers
said.
Democratic
analysts
said
that was
no
surprise
— for
her to
have
attended
such a
gathering
would
have
been
tantamount
to
announcing
a
presidential
run,
which
she is
not yet
ready to
do.
Warren,
as a
sitting
senator
who is
campaigning
for
fellow
Democrats
this
year,
had more
reason
to be
here.
Vice
President
Joe
Biden
addressed
the
group
Thursday.
But
while
Clinton
was
absent,
Ready
for
Hillary,
the
super
PAC
whose
sole
purpose
is to
encourage
her to
run for
the
White
House in
2016,
was hard
at work
here,
trying
to
expand
its
ever-growing
email
list.
The
group
paid
$10,000
to
co-sponsor
the
conference,
conducted
a panel
discussion,
and
planned
a party
for
attendees.
Its
blue-and-white
star-spangled
bus was
ubiquitous.
"In lieu
of
having a
candidate
— for
now — we
have a
bus,"
said
Tracy
Sefl,
its
spokeswoman.
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