Sanders suggests to count with Warren on his ambitions for 2020

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana – Bernie Sanders says he talks with Elizabeth Warren almost every day – but not about 2020.

But with the two progressive giants on a collision course in the presidential primary – and with some alarming progressive militants that they could split the vote, allowing a more moderate Democrat to win the nomination – Sanders suggested Friday that "I'm not going to win." a pre-2020 discussion between similar minded candidates might be forthcoming.

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When asked if he and other progressive candidates should have discussions to get one of them to win, Sanders told POLITICO, "I guess in the weeks and months to come there will be discussions. "

When asked if he had ever spoken to Warren or Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) Of the 2020 campaign, Sanders replied, "No, not really."

An assistant from Warren did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sanders' remarks come as Progressive Democrats begin to grapple with the growing number of potential candidates by 2020. At least three Senators – Sanders (I-Vt.), Warren (D-Mass.) And Merkley – are likely to compete for many of the same supporters of the left that Sanders recruited in 2016.

Sanders began Friday a mid-term election tour in nine US states, while Warren was aggressively preparing for a launch in 2020. Other Democrats, including Sense. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) And Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Have taken steps to advance tax proposals and other policy proposals that are of interest to progressive democrats.

Clashes between progressive candidates have sparked the concern of some extreme leftist activists, who fear dividing the vote in the 2020 primary, giving way to a more moderate Democrat.

"I hope that there will be serious conversations between Sens. Sanders and Warren, and possibly Sen. Merkley," Jeff Cohen, co-founder of the online activist group RootsAction.org. "I think I speak for many progressives who dominate the Democratic party base when I say that we would like to see a real progressive in the race and not two or three split the vote."

It is not known what any pre-election meeting would accomplish. Politicians more generally agree to sit in elections in the lower echelons of government, where immersing themselves in party formation can give rise to support for seeking another position. It is much more rare for a presidential candidate to verify his ambitions.

But a pre-2020 agreement would not necessarily require that a candidate withdraws immediately. Instead, candidates could discuss benchmarks – fundraising, polls or early primary performances – and when progressive candidates would support a progressive colleague in the race.

Larry Cohen, a former Communications Officer of Workers of America, who currently chairs the board of directors of Our Revolution, a political sequel to Sanders' 2016 campaign, said the crowds gathered by Sanders on Friday in the United States. Indiana and Michigan were proof that Sanders' message "continues" to be unique, and resonates with younger voters and their concerns with economic justice. "

"It is important that, if there are other similar candidates in the 2020 presidential nomination campaign, they will support each other at least minimally or that they will support each other as much as possible." so that one of them is the candidate, "said Cohen. added.

Sanders is opposed to a conversation with other progressives before 2020 on potential talks.

"We'll see what happens," said Sanders. "I do not know what will happen, of course I'm talking to Elizabeth [Warren] almost every day … we'll see what happens. "

I think the main problem at the moment is that the progressives expose Trump to the fraud that he represents and establish a program that makes sense for working families. "

In 2016, Merkley was the only Sanders senator to have approved his presidential campaign. But the party has changed sides since the last presidential election, moving closer to Sanders' positions on health care and the affordability of colleges. Earlier this week, Harris proposed a new tax break for average Americans, calling a $ 6,000 tax credit for families earning up to $ 100,000.

Left clamors have encouraged longtime progressives, including Sanders, who said that in his failed run to the post of president in 2016, "I think we opened the door to people's understanding that the people American wants a real change. "

Sanders said, "You see candidates come up with ideas to try to solve these problems."

"In a way, Trump has helped us because he said that deficits mattered little, that it was possible to give $ 1 trillion in tax relief to the first percent," said Mr. Sanders. "And that opens the door, I think, for progressives to start saying that we will use the federal government to protect the interests of working families, not just those at the top."

Any effort by progressive candidates to coordinate before the 2020 campaign could have negative consequences, as many Sanders supporters are still upset by the treatment he has reserved for the establishment democrats in 2016.

In 2020, "It is in the advantage of party progressives not to have the appearance of smoky coins," said Norman Solomon, who coordinated in 2016 the group "Bernie Delegates Network", independent of his campaign.

Chris Reeves, a member of the Democratic National Committee of Kansas, a member of Daily Kos's Democratic National Committee, organizer of the Daily Kos, said the number of progressive candidates in 2020 would likely be drained, anyway, by donors and primary debates. And with Trump in power, he suggested that intra-party political friction on ideology will be less marked in 2020.

"I'll take a ham sandwich over rye over Trump," he said.