Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren share the progressive lane … strategists say that can’t last

One’s a septuagenarian senator from New England pushing to cancel student loan debt, make college tuition free, tax the wealthy and pass “Medicare for All.”

The other is … a septuagenarian senator from New England pushing to cancel student loan debt, make college tuition free, tax the wealthy and pass “Medicare for All.”

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts may seem like two peas in a policy pod. But only one can emerge as the progressive standard-bearer in a crowded race for the Democratic presidential nomination that lacks a clear front-runner with little more than two months until the Iowa caucuses and the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary.

So when do the proverbial gloves come off?

“He is the democratic socialist. She is the capitalist with the heart. But it’s got to go beyond that,” said veteran pollster John Zogby. “Push does come to shove and we’re getting late in the game. We have the holidays now, too. So this is the sort of thing that really can’t wait for the last week of January.”

The longtime friends and Senate colleagues have been able to skirt the issue thus far — tag-teaming to defend their progressive policies against debate-stage attacks from their more moderate competitors instead of going after each other.

But as they play it safe, neither has managed to eat into the other’s portion of the liberal base from which they primarily draw.

Sanders tends to poll well among younger voters and the less affluent — reflecting his campaign’s focus on building a coalition of youth and the working class. Warren’s support tends to come from a more affluent, college-educated crowd. Sanders enjoys the most enthusiastic support in the field, recent polls show. But Warren is often the top second-choice candidate in surveys — even among those currently backing Sanders.

Striking the difference between two senators might ultimately come down to their campaign staffers and surrogates, said Todd Belt, director of George Washington University’s political management program.

Sanders’ campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, recently told the Herald in New Hampshire, “You do not have to disparage and attack someone who has been, quite frankly, a longtime ally” of his boss.

But there’s contrast in their messaging. Shakir said Sanders has a “lifetime of consistency” fighting for liberal causes and against special interests. That could strike some eyeing Warren’s Republican past.

Medicare for All also presents an opening. Warren’s plan would expand the Affordable Care Act during her first 100 days in office but would not fully push for passage of Medicare for All until the third year of her presidency. Sanders has said he would introduce a bill for the government-run health care system during his first week in office. Warren promised her plan would not raise taxes on the middle class, while Sanders has conceded that his will — though costs will go down overall.

Sanders “has not backtracked from the bill that he wrote,” Shakir said. “Others have kind of gravitated to different modes and different explanations and here he is standing on the island still with his flag in the sand.”

Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee that supports Warren, gave Sanders “credit for popularizing Medicare for All,” but said, “Elizabeth has the most fully baked plan to actually get it passed.”

Warren’s numerous and quite detailed policy proposals have helped her win over New Hampshire voters who backed Sanders in 2016.

But University of New Hampshire political science professor Dante Scala said the results of the Iowa caucuses — a week before the Granite State primary — might be the deciding factor.

“If Sanders surprises in Iowa and Warren disappoints, I can imagine a scenario in which he gains the upper hand here and wins some of those progressive voters back from Warren,” and vice versa, Scala said. “Electability for the nomination will matter.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/34ACgIK