In the face of a remarkable wave of pro-Warren sentiment on the ground, all of the other major candidates running for the Democratic nomination have now dropped out:
Massachusetts state Rep. Thomas Conroy (D) dropped his bid for the Senate today, leaving presumptive nominee Elizabeth Warren an almost perfectly clear path to the Democratic nod to take on Sen.Scott Brown (R) in 2012. [...]
The Boston Globe reported that Conroy endorsed Warren in a news conference.
Warren quickly wrapped up the Democratic nomination not by going after her primary opponents, but instead because rank and file Democratic activists just absolutely love her. She is generating a huge amount of viral content online, the crowds at her campaign events are approaching presidential levels, and the number of her small donors is unprecedented for this stage of a U.S. Senate campaign. A couple days ago on The Rachel Maddow Show, Frank Phillips of the Boston Globe summed it up thusly:
"I've been doing this [covering Massachusetts politics] for almost 40 years. I have never seen a candidate come on so strong, and excite the political base of a party so quickly. And raise so much money. People are very excited about her candidacy in the Democratic Party."
While this race may determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate after 2012, both Warren's supporters and opponents know this is bigger than even that. As a Wall Street lobbyist who is fundraising against Warren put it:
On Nov. 30, veteran financial services lobbyist Dan Crowley, a partner at K & L Gates, hosted a breakfast fundraiser for the senator [Scott Brown] that drew about a dozen other lobbyists. “There is no Senate race that more clearly reflects the choice for the future direction of the country,” Crowley said, pitting the role of government versus the role of the private sector.
Please, contribute $6 to Elizabeth Warren on Orange to Blue.