Washington Free Beacon editor-in-chief Matthew Continetti warned about potential troubles for United States Senator and 2020 presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) on NBC's Sunday show "Meet the Press."
Continetti explained during a segment that Warren will need to wrest voters from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).
"Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will will likely be competing over that same set of voters on the progressive side of the democratic party," he said. Warren is likely to run into issues in the caucuses, because "she does have this burden of having high name ID and low personal favorability," Continetti added.
A December 2018 poll of 455 likely Iowan caucus-goers conducted by the Des Moines Register and CNN supports Continetti's claim. Eighty-four percent of those polled recognized Warren's name, but many of those had already sided against her. Of 21 potential Democratic candidates, only Sanders, billionaire Michael Bloomberg (D., N.Y.) and 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton were viewed less favorably. Warren is the first or second choice of 18 percent of voters, but 17 percent would "never support the person for president."
Warren ran into trouble before the campaign even began when she took a DNA test that found her to be less than 1 percent ethnically Native American. Warren had previously claimed Native identity.
During a campaign stop in Iowa over the weekend, Warren addressed the issue, saying she was "glad" to be asked "that question." She agreed she was "not a person of color" or "a citizen of a tribe."
Warren, who announced her bid shortly before New Year's, is taking measures to shore up her position in Iowa. "She's attracting high level campaign talent," Continetti said, and has offered the "most defined message of the candidates we’re looking at right now on the left side, progressive left side."
Her presidential exploratory committee already includes experienced campaign hands from various campaigns that enjoyed success in Iowa.
Warren hired Kane Miller, who led Rep. Abby Finkenauer's (D., Iowa) successful reelection campaign and Emily Parcell, who led President Barack Obama's political strategy during the 2008 caucuses. She's secured Janice Rottenberg, whom the Associated Press credited with the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2018 gains in the state legislature and Congress, and Brendan Summers, Sanders' 2016 Iowa caucus director. Last week, Joe Rospars, President Barack Obama's two-time digital strategist, joined Warren's exploratory committee "in a senior capacity." Richard McDaniel, former political director for Sen. Doug Jones (D., Ala.) and the primary states regional director for Hillary Clinton, is assisting the Warren campaign as well, according to her committee.
Warren's powerhouse team faces a primary situation unlike any in recent memory. Recent Washington Free Beacon coverage of Warren's trip to Iowa explained:
She's fighting to gain attention and support in what could be the most crowded Democratic presidential field ever; fighting the negative perceptions of her peculiar DNA test rollout showing a distant Native American ancestor; fighting an economic system she insists is rigged, on the heels of a hugely positive jobs report.
Though polling suggests a majority of likely Democratic voters prefer the nominee to have serious prior experience, Continetti noted voters remain dissatisfied with the expected candidates. He said that "out of 12 options in a recent poll," voters most strongly supported "someone new ... despite all these choices they have." Who that candidate will be, Continetti concluded, "we have yet to see."