Elizabeth Warren has so much campaign money to spend. Is it all for 2018?
The Massachusetts senator’s actions suggest differently than her words.
Elizabeth Warren has a serious amount of money stashed for her 2018 re-election.
Perhaps too much.
According to the Cook Political Report’s 2018 Senate race ratings, Warren’s seat is “not considered competitive” and is “not likely to become closely contested.”
And yet, the Massachusetts Democrat has more than $12.8 million on hand, according to her most recent campaign filing. That’s over three times the amount of money her potential Republican challengers have to spend — combined. And according to Politico, its more cash than “nearly any other incumbent senator ever has at this point in an election cycle.”
Warren’s fundraising success, coupled with a number of other “below-the-radar moves,” has the 2020 presidential speculation machine revving up again, even if it’s not even two full days into 2018.
The Bay State senator, who is considered by some to be a top Democratic candidate, has emphatically dismissed such considerations as premature.
But as Politico outlined Tuesday in a piece titled “Warren positions herself for potential 2020 run,” the senator’s actions may suggest 2020 is more of a possibility that she is letting on. Those additional moves include bolstering her foreign policy credentials with her appointment to Senate Armed Services Committee and trips overseas to the Middle East and Europe. They also include private meetings with figures with whom she once clashed, such as JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and, more prominently, former President Barack Obama.
Republicans appear to have already noticed, with GOP-aligned groups already launching preemptive, 2020-focused attacks.
Whether or not Warren herself is privately looking ahead to 2020, she has publicly maintained that she is completely focused on 2018 — as she should be, according to another former Massachusetts elected official-turned-presidential candidate.
“She won the first time with a formidable grass-roots organization, and she should be doing the same thing again,” former Gov. Michael Dukakis told Politico. “There will be plenty of time after that to think about the national scene.”