Sen. Elizabeth Warren to be keynote speaker for AFL-CIO

[RiverLover]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren to be keynote speaker for AFL-CIO
12/4/2014

...Warren has repeatedly said she isn’t running for president. But her strong support among progressives has made her a wished-for Democratic 2016 candidate, and she has made clear she plans to continue to shape the debate about the party’s economic priorities.

Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO president who told the New York Times after the Democrats’ disastrous midterms that he hopes to see Hillary Clinton run on a platform focused on raising wages and that she won’t “cater to Wall Street,” praised Warren in a statement.

“Elizabeth Warren is a true champion of working people with the right vision and leadership to keynote this critical summit,” he said. “Senator Warren knows how to protect Main Street from Wall Street, fight for jobs and rebuild the American Dream. She has a defined set of values and unlike many politicians, she actually sticks by those and fights to implement them. That’s exactly what this summit is all about.”

Democratic strategists say the party needs a focused, clear message to appeal to the middle class and that the midterm election results show how far the party has strayed from speaking to those voters. The issue of stalled middle-class wages is expected to dominate the economic discussion during the 2016 campaign.

The purpose of the summit is to focus on wage-elevating strategies.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/elizabeth-warren-afl-cio-113317.html

[TheNutcracker]

2. Elizabeth speaking for the party at group org events will not make me vote for Hillary

Hillary has been talking another game for a long time. It's not the same game as Liz. The party cannot use Liz as a spokesperson for our ideals, and think it's stick to Hillary. It won't.

Hillary is not Liz. So I hope Liz really runs, and does not just give the dem speeches.

[Autumn]

4. The party will try to use Liz to get us to vote for whom they want, but it will not work.

Not any more, another 4 or 8 years with a soft slide down and we will never recover. I want her to run so badly but Bernie has said he will and there's still hope.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. Awesome

I expect the unions will work hard for her in 2016.

[RiverLover]

5. LOL I agree Manny

I think this is HUGE. A real sign of things to come.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

6. I agree. After all the missteps Hillary has committed each time she takes a lukewarm "Third Way" position on an issue, I don't see how Elizabeth is not forced to run out of sheer necessity.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

7. Yup, it is huge. Pretty soon, people are going to start asking why bother going for an "Elizabeth-lite" candidate like Hillary, when we can have the real thing.