Elizabeth Warren has said — many times — that she isn’t running for president. But the freshman senator’s biggest supporters don’t buy it, and they are willing to risk hypothermia to prove it.
Amid a mix of suitcases and lost tourists avoiding the bitter Washington, D.C. cold, which was predicted to stay under 20 on Monday, a small group of supporters from the draft campaign Ready for Warren gathered at Union Station for a President’s Day run in honor of the Massachusetts Democrat. The plan was to run a total of two miles, from D.C.’s main train station to the Capitol complex — where Warren has her office — and finally to the White House.
“We are doing what we want her to do: Running to the White House,” said Erica Sagrans, the group’s campaign manger.
The scene was an odd one: As people rushed to catch their trains, the running campaigners were chanting about the senator and stretching in unison to pro-Warren phrases.
What’s more, the Washington area has been brutally cold for days and as the runners set off on Monday, weather reports had the wind chill closer to 6 degrees. Runners bundled in sweaters and head bands that said “Ready for Warren,” and prepared for the worst.
“I may not survive this,” said Charles Lenchner, founder of the group. “I am woefully out of shape.”
Maybe to stave off the running, Lenchner led the group in pre-run stretches.
“We are going to kick the one percent,” he said as he instructed others to do air kicks. “We are will extend ourselves for Elizabeth Warren,” he said as he reached down to touch his toes.
Odd looks from passersbys were not uncommon. “Who is she,” asked one bystander.
“This is us going until we win,” Lenchner continued as the group in place. “We are never going to stop. We are going to win Iowa, New Hampshire… There will be no place safe for the one percent.”
The run was just the latest show dedication in recent day. On the Friday before Valentine’s Day, the group dropped off a dozen roses for the senator, and in the coming days, they plan to bombard her office with postcards urging her to run.
There is nothing to indicate, however, that any of these acts are at all pushing Warren closer to a run. In fact, the senator has repeatedly disavowed the efforts and said — in the present tense — that is she isn’t going to run for president.
“So are you going to run for president?” Warren was asked during an interview with Fortune. “No,” she bluntly said.
That hasn’t deterred the group, though.
After a few short speeches and chants Monday — “When I say Ready for, you say Warren!” — the runners were off, bursting out the front doors of Union Station, past the idling cabs and around the blue-in-the-face tourists.