It’s easy to say you won’t take money from certain people when you expect to win, but now that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is struggling in the 2020 Democratic primary, she’s rethinking whose money she will accept for her campaign.
Warren had initially rejected super PAC support as part of a campaign bemoaning big-dollar donors. She has now reversed her position, claiming she’s doing so because only she and fellow female primary candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) are without super PACs, CNBC reported.
“So, here’s where I stand. If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in. I’ll lead the charge,” Warren said. “But that’s how it has to be. It can’t be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only one or two don’t.”
But that’s exactly what a leader should do. Warren is essentially conceding that she has failed to lead and gain followers for her allegedly principled stand.
On Thursday, Warren said it was “just not right” that the only “two women” still running for the Democratic nomination weren’t getting support from super PACs.
“So, look, the first day I got in this race over a year ago, I said I hope every presidential candidate who comes in will agree – no super PACs for any of us. I renewed that call dozens of times,” Warren said. “And I couldn’t get a single Democrat to go along with it.”
If that’s not a metaphor for her entire campaign, I don’t know what is.
“Finally, we reached the point a few weeks ago where all of the men who were still in this race and on the debate stage all had either super PACs or they were multibillionaires and could just rummage around their sock drawers and find enough money to be able to fund a campaign,” Warren added.
A dedicated super PAC for Klobuchar, Kitchen Table Conversations, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Friday, while a super PAC for Warren, Persist PAC, filed paperwork on Tuesday.
Opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) does not have a dedicated super PAC, but then again, he actually has grassroots support. There is a super PAC connected to the National Nurses United, a union, which is supporting Sanders, and he also has the nonprofit political organization Our Revolution behind him, which doesn’t have to disclose its donors.
Warren is currently in third place in the Democratic primary ahead of the Nevada caucus on Saturday. She received eight delegates in the Iowa caucus. South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg stands at the lead with 22 delegates, while Sanders is close behind with 21. Polling-wise, Warren is in fourth place thanks to Michael Bloomberg’s nearly $500 million attempt to buy his way into the election.
Warren is still trying to pretend she’s principled, releasing a statement Wednesday claiming she thinks Democrats shouldn’t accept help from super PACs even as she is now accepting help from super PACs. Her website also still claims she “would disavow any super PAC formed to support her in the Democratic primary.”
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