Are Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders headed for a collision? [View all]

[TexasTowelie]

by Dan Balz, The Washington Post


MANCHESTER, N.H. - Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., got a rousing reception from a ballroom filled with Democratic activists here Friday night, with multiple standing ovations and a lengthy photo line afterward. In a week when Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., joined the presidential race with a bang, it was the kind of reaction that pointed to the competition to come, here and elsewhere.

With the Democratic field already large and growing, handicapping the contest for the party's 2020 nomination remains a fool's errand. Most activists are eager to look but not yet ready to buy. But even at this early stage, it seems inevitable that Warren and Sanders will find themselves in direct competition as the campaign unfolds.

The two senators are fierce critics of what they call a rigged system, which they argue has hurt working and middle-class Americans. Both are scourges of big banks, big corporations and the billionaire class of political donors and influencers. As a result, they are seen - accurately or not - as having overlapping populist messages and therefore potentially overlapping constituencies.

They share something else in common likely to bring them into conflict. As next-door neighbors to the state with the nation's first presidential primary, they enjoy what historically has been a built-in advantage in New Hampshire. That means heightened expectations and the pressure to perform well here. Asked by reporters if she would win the primary here next year, Warren replied, "I'm sure going to try." She hasn't much choice.

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