Suspending the Run Warren Run campaign--here's what we accomplished

The campaign we built together has been a win, even without getting Sen. Warren into the race.

Dear MoveOn member,

Last December, MoveOn members set out to do two things when we launched our Run Warren Run campaign: illuminate and broaden the path for Senator Elizabeth Warren to run for president in 2016, should she decide to do so; and build a grassroots movement to fight alongside her.

Six months after starting this journey, we've helped demonstrate the tremendous base of grassroots support and energy—not just for Elizabeth Warren, but for her vision of a democracy restored and an economy that works for everyone.

Now, we're shifting our focus to support that vision.

Next week, we'll visit Sen. Warren's office in Washington to deliver our final petition, with all 365,000 voices calling on her to run for president—and then we'll suspend the Run Warren Run campaign.

The National Journal stated that Warren's "power lies in her outsized influence, not just for a freshman senator, but for virtually any elected official in Washington."¹ Together, we've been part of a movement that's helped build that power and propelled Sen. Warren to the forefront of the Democratic Party.

MoveOn members, Run Warren Run supporters, and our partners at Democracy for America and the New York Working Families Party all helped ensure that Warren's name and populist progressive agenda stayed present in media coverage and polling about the presidential race.

Over the last six months, MoveOn and DFA members came together to host hundreds of rallies, house parties, and other events in nearly every state. In Iowa and New Hampshire specifically, our massive field presence prompted an op-ed in The Huffington Post declaring that Run Warren Run had "a better operation on the ground in Iowa than any campaign."² And prominent progressive organizations, leaders, elected officials, celebrities, and other allies joined in.

By generating thousands of news stories elevating Warren's voice, vision, and stature in the Democratic Party, we've helped make it conventional wisdom that the "Warren Wing" of progressive populists is the ascendent wing of the Democratic Party—the one speaking to and for ordinary Americans of all political stripes.

We've put forth our best arguments to convince her, but the decision of whether to run ultimately rests, as it always has, with Sen. Warren. Now, our people-powered force is changing course and making it our top priority to join her in the big fights ahead—like stopping Fast Track authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and fighting the student debt crisis.

This has been one of the most chronicled campaigns MoveOn has run in years. The effort has already changed the presidential race and shaped the policy fights that will impact every American for years to come. And we're going to keep building power from here.

What thoughts do you have about the campaign? And what do you think should be next for the MoveOn community?

Just hit "reply" on this email and let us know what you think. Your ideas will add texture to the lessons learned and successes won in this campaign, and help us plan our next steps.

Thanks for all you've done in recent months to combat special interests in Washington, to build an economy that works for all, and to fight for our collective future. We can be proud of all we've achieved—even as we know there's so much left to do. Let's go.

–Ilya, Mark, Victoria, Manny, and the the rest of the team

P.S. I wrote this op-ed, published today in Politico, with Democracy for America executive director Charles Chamberlain, to lay out more about what I believe we've accomplished together with Run Warren Run. Take a look, and if you like what you read, please share: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=304627&id=118502-10220574-6IRQkYx&t=1

Sources:

1. "Is Elizabeth Warren an Effective Senator?" National Journal, May 26, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=304625&id=118502-10220574-6IRQkYx&t=2

2. "The Sanders Challenge," The Huffington Post, May 1, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=304619&id=118502-10220574-6IRQkYx&t=3

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PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to eddie alfaro on June 2, 2015. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.