Elizabeth Warren

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren drew a red line on Friday for 2016 presidential candidates, calling for them to commit to end the so-called “revolving door” between Wall Street and the Cabinet. …

“Elizabeth Warren offered a framework for how Democratic presidential candidates can reduce Wall Street influence in key appointments,” said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee after Warren’s speech.

Unhappy with President Obama’s less aggressive approach to Wall Street, the Democratic left has searched for a liberal champion who can address issues like income inequality and campaign finance reforms and found some of its voice in Warren, a former Harvard law professor and consumer protection advocate.

This is the first time Warren has decided to engage in the presidential election, which activists tried for months to get her to enter. Instead of asking candidates to endorse one of her particular policies on bank reform or student loans, Warren is focusing on the personnel who will implement those policies. It’s a notable choice that dovetails with Warren’s interest in ensuring that executive branch appointments will not tip the scales in favor of Wall Street or private industry, seen most directly in the fight to block Antonio Weiss from the No. 3 position in the Treasury Department. …

Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee responded to Warren’s remarks by saying they “offered a framework for how Democratic presidential candidates can promise to reduce Wall Street influence in key appointments.” The PCCC added that they would “ask all Democratic presidential candidates to make specific commitments—and to make down payments on that promise by ensuring progressive economic thinkers are on their campaign policy teams.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has thrust anti-big bank policy into the 2016 presidential Democratic primary, presenting a new political challenge for front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Warren’s re-introduction on Tuesday of Glass-Steagall, which would require big banks to split up commercial and investment banking, is popular among the liberal base. …

Adam Green, co-founder of the liberal Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said that the bill’s re-introduction “is great news and a reminder the Wall Street’s irresponsible actions deprived millions of people of their homes and life savings.”

“Wall Street reform should be among the economic populist issues at the center of the 2016 debate, we hope to see bold proposals from presidential, Senate and House candidates,” said Green, who is pushing for Democratic candidates to adopt a more progressive agenda, similar to Warren’s.

1. Progressive Victories Everywhere:

The PCCC enter the new Congress with more partners than ever. Bold progressives won early primaries against corporate Democrats — electing Senator Brian Schatz in Hawaii, and Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman in New Jersey, Ruben Gallego in Arizona, and Ted Lieu and Mike Honda in California.

These bright-blue districts will be represented by real progressives! And PCCC members helped elect great progressives to the Senate and House in November. (Read the full 2014 Elections Report.)

2. PCCC Members Called Out The Vote:

Thousands of national volunteers signed up to Call Out The Vote (COTV). Together, they made over 4 million phone calls to voters in key races.

The PCCC was the only national call program of this scale that worked directly with campaigns — so they could use the data the PCCC collected, making the work twice as effective.

These calls helped key progressive champions like Al Franken and Jeff Merkley win re-election to the Senate — and helped Rep. Rick Nolan in Minnesota win one of the tightest House elections.

P100 field trainees working on a project.

3. PCCC Infrastructure Worked:

The PCCC has been developing infrastructure to support thousands of progressives up and down the ballot, and it’s beginning to pay off.

This cycle, the PCCC trained over 600 candidates, campaign managers, field directors, finance directors, and communications directors, from Iowa to Florida to New Hampshire.

And the PCCC’s special technology for campaigns helped support over 150 candidates.

Considering a run for office in the next several years? Let the PCCC know here.

Zephyr Teachout speaking at PCCC event supporting Elizabeth Warren’s call to break up Citigroup, Dec 2014.

4. PCCC Loves Zephyr …

Last week, Elizabeth Warren gave what some are calling a historic speech against bank power, telling Citigroup, “[we] should have broken you into pieces.”

Thursday, right on Wall Street, the PCCC is holding a big media event to amplify to the need to break up Citigroup and the other too-big-to-fail banks. Are you in New York City? RSVP here.

Sign our petition calling on Congress to break up the “too big to fail” Wall Street banks.

This petition will be featured at the Wall Street event, and the PCCC will use the growing number of signers to convince other senators to support Warren’s agenda. Your signature will have an immediate impact.

The PCCC will also be working hard — through grassroots phone calls and in-person Capitol Hill meetings — to get more support for Elizabeth Warren’s big ideas on Wall Street reform.

After Senator Elizabeth Warren famously told Citigroup the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill “should have broken you into pieces,” she said this:

A century ago, Teddy Roosevelt was America’s trustbuster. He went after the giant trusts and monopolies in this country, and a lot of people talk about how those trusts deserved to be broken up because they had too much economic power. But Teddy Roosevelt said we should break them up because they had too much political power. Teddy Roosevelt said break them up because all that concentrated power threatened the very foundations of our democratic system.

And now we’re watching as Congress passes yet another provision that was written by lobbyists for the biggest recipient of bailout money in the history of the country. And it’s attached to a bill that needs to pass or else the entire federal government will grind to a halt.

Think about this kind of power. A financial institution has become …

The op-ed below appeared in The Nation on Nov. 19.

From the rubble of the 2014 election, a conversation has started about the future of the Democratic Party. Senator Elizabeth Warren is central to that conversation.

This week, we learned that Warren will be joining the Senate Democratic leadership as strategic policy adviser to the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. In this role ai??i?? created specifically for her ai??i?? she will help craft the partyai??i??s policies and priorities as well as serve as a liaison to progressive groups.

While there is some skepticism about the idea of a “liaison” to base Democratic voters, there is largely agreement that it is a good thing for the Democratic Party to follow her political footsteps. After all, she’s adored by big swaths of the Democratic electorate and the public at large. On the campaign trail this fall, she was welcomed with open arms in Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan, and other reddish-purple states, drawing overflow crowds cheering on her message of tougher Wall Street regulation and kinder policies for working people.

But what is it that works about her? What is her special sauce? Other Democratic and progressive candidates ask me all the time how they can capture the intangible “it,” that Warren magic. Below, I’ve dissected her tactics and her policies, which are one and the same, to help candidates better understand how to tread her path.

Take, for example, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB); the idea that students should be able to borrow money for school at the same interest rate as banks can borrow money from the federal government; and the idea of adding basic banking ai??i?? check-cashing, bill-paying, and small loans ai??i?? to post office locations.

These proposals have a number of things in common. Whatai??i??s Warrenai??i??s …

TheAi??Huffington Post reports:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) gained a leadership position in the Senate Democratic caucusAi??Thursday […] Warren’s role, which is a new position created specifically for her, will be in crafting the party’s messaging and policy.

This is a good reminder that when PCCC members invest early in progressive leaders, it’s not just about winning elections in the short term — it’s about building power over time.

As Elizabeth Warren advocates for big ideas like reforming Wall Street, making college affordable, and expanding Social Security benefits, her voice will now be even louder — because she’ll be at the Democratic leadership table.

Click here to sign a congratulations card to Elizabeth Warren (and add a personal note), which the PCCC will deliver to her.

The PCCCAi??ran the “Draft Elizabeth Warren for Senate” campaign and was herAi??#1 grassroots supporter in 2012Ai??raisingAi??over $1.17 million through over 70,000 small-dollar donations for her campaign. The PCCC partnered with Warren on big legislative pushes in 2013 and 2014.

With this news, that partnership grows stronger — and all of Elizabeth Warren’s and the PCCC’s work together has more impact.

Few progressives look forward to the prospect of a smaller Democratic caucus, especially one that loses the majority. But if there is a silver lining for activists, it will be that the candidates likely to win this November are those who have adopted a muscular, Elizabeth Warren-inspired approach; those who clung to muddled centrism will likely have lost.

“This year could show the Democratic Party that progressive populism is where the country is right now,” said T.J. Helmstetter, a spokesman for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has worked to fortify the campaigns of those lawmakers who represent what it calls “the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party.”

“That is going to be the lesson coming out of these elections: that this message doesn’t just work for America, it works for the Democratic Party,” Helmstetter said.

While it’s not yet clear if the progressive wing of the party will rally around one left-wing figure who could serve as the anti-Hillary candidate, liberal leaders believe a successful Democratic candidate must embrace Ms. Warren’s message.

“An economic populist tide is sweeping the country, and by 2016 every presidential candidate will need to say whether they agree with Warren on key issues like taking on Wall Street, expanding Social Security benefits, and reducing student loan debt,” said Laura Friedenbach, spokesperson for the increasingly powerful Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

With just under a month to go beforeAi??November 4, let’s talk about the centerpiece of our plan to win major progressive victories and keep a Democratic Senate.

It’s the PCCC’s cutting-edge Call Out The Vote program (COTV).

It has three parts:

Calls from the PCCC’s Election Headquarters
National volunteers, calling from home (and house parties)
Local volunteers, calling from target districts

In 2010, we made 1 million calls. In 2012, we made 2 million.

In 2014, COTV has made over 1 million calls already, and we’re going big with the goal of achieving 4 million calls for top progressive candidates by Election Day.

PCCC members have helped 5 Elizabeth Warren wing candidates defeat more conservative opponents in tough primary battles this cycle: Ruben Gallego (AZ-7), Brian Schatz (HI-Sen), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Mike Honda (CA-17), and Pat Murphy (IA-1).

Other incumbents and candidates PCCC members are helping across the finish line include Al Franken (MN-Sen), Jeff Merkley (OR-Sen), Rick Weiland (SD-Sen), Bruce Braley (IA-Sen), Shenna Bellows (ME-Sen), Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1), Rick Nolan (MN-8), Alan Grayson (FL-8), Keith Ellison (MN-5), Michael Eggman (CA-10), and Kelly Westlund (WI-7).

PCCC volunteers made over 574,000 calls for Elizabeth Warren in 2012. Our COTV program is the single-most effective tool we have in an election year.

It’s how we make people power match and surpass corporate power in elections. The Super PACs and the Koch brothers can’t do this — only we can.

The reason it’s so effective is that with our new dialing technology, we can contact a ton of voters in a very short amount of time. We’ve nearly doubled the amount of contacts we can make compared with past elections.

It really is that much of a game changer. But don’t take our word for it. Here’s what big primary winners and bold progressives elected to Congress …

A progressive group aligned with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has outlined a plan to build a “firewall” around Warren’s staunchest allies running for Senate in 2014. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has raised more than $163,000 to support Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.), and Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), lawmakers the group contends are critical to preserving Warrens’ populist vision. PCCC will officially endorse Merkley today, and it’s already raised nearly $70,000 for him.

“Jeff Merkley is one of the boldest leaders in the Senate because he isn’t afraid to take on the big fights like breaking up the big banks, expanding Social Security benefits, defending our privacy, and fighting to ensure Senate rules represent the will of the people,” said the group’s cofounder, Stephanie Taylor, in a statement.

This developing movement, now often referred to as “the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party” (a variation on the late Senator Paul Wellstone’s declaration, “I’m from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party”), is focused on many of the issues that Warren raised in her electrifying July speech at Netroots Nation, where she vowed to fight for wage hikes, fair trade, pay equity, affordable education, and ironclad protections for Social Security and Medicare. “This is a fight over economics, a fight over privilege, a fight over power,” the Massachusetts senator said. “But deep down, it is a fight over values. These…are progressive values. These are America’s values. And these are the values we are willing to fight for.

Many of these candidates identify as “bold progressives,” borrowing a phrase from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Along with groups like Democracy for America and Progressive Democrats of America, which have formed over the past decade to push the party to the left, the PCCC argues that Democrats can’t win by proposing to be kinder, gentler Republicans. While there’s a general acceptance that support for reproductive rights and marriage equality benefits Democratic candidates in much of the country, the PCCC argues that this appeal can be strengthened and expanded with economic-populist stances. The PCCC doesn’t just defend Social Security; it backs candidates like Coleman who propose to expand it. And when “Third Way” centrists grumble that Warren and her allies are engaging in a risky politics, the PCCC counters with polling numbers that show compromising on economic issues is the real risk, since it blurs the distinctions between the two parties.

At a high-profile gathering of progressives this week, Hillary Clinton was tolerated, Barack Obama was pitied, and Elizabeth Warren was treated like a hero.

The annual liberal confab known as Netroots Nation brought together around 3,000 activists converged for several days of campaign training, a protest or two, and speeches from Warren, Vice President Joe Biden and other Democrats.

Elizabeth Warren stole the show this week with her tough messages to Wall Street and Republicans. The Massachusetts senator insists she’s not running in 2016, but the conference made clear that progressives will hold midterm and presidential candidates to the populist standard she has set.

A case in point: the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, an activist group that touts itself as being from the “Warren wing of the Democratic Party,” is seeking to organize in New Hampshire and Iowa,”to make sure every presidential candidate is asked whether they agree with Warren on key economic populist issues like expanding Social Security benefits, taking on Wall Street, and eliminating student loan debt,” spokeswoman Laura Friedenbach said.

At Netroots Nation, the country’s largest gathering of liberal activists, people like to say they belong to the “Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party.”

The Massachusetts senator received a rock-star reception here Friday, a sign of her power to rally the party’s left flank at a time when Democrats are starting to look toward the post- Obama era.

While Ms. Warren says she isn’t running for president, many who are energized by her populist message on financial regulation, entitlement programs and other issues believe she can help push whomever is the party’s nominee—presumed right now to be Hillary Clinton —to the left.

Many at Netroots Nation criticize Mrs. Clinton, the former secretary of state, for being too close to Wall Street and too distant from the Democrats’ liberal base. Adam Green, the founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has raised $1 million for liberal candidates in 2014, said his group will be pressuring Democrats running for president to adopt Ms. Warren’s agenda.

Today, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s new book goes on sale.

She tells behind-the-scenes stories of her interactions with President Obama, top White House advisers, members of Congress, and Wall Street bankers.

In her book, Warren highlights the PCCC’s “Draft Warren for Senate” campaign. She also says this about our successful push to get her appointed to set up the consumer protection agency:

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), under the leadership of Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor, organized a petition with the headline ai???Let Elizabeth Warren Police Wall Streetai??? in 2010. At least thirteen senators signed on to the petition, and as of August 6, 2010, the petition had collected more than two hundred thousand signatures.

We’re launching a national progressive book club, starting with Elizabeth Warren’s A Fighting Chance. The senator will join us for a national conversation after we’ve read her book!

In 2012, PCCC members rallied around Elizabeth Warren’s economic populist message and we were her #1 grassroots supporter.

In 2014, we’ll help her rise to #1 on the best seller list. This will help Warren continue to change the national conversation and signal to all Democratic candidates in 2014 that adopting Warren’s economic populist message is the way to excite the public and win.

MORE EXCERPTS

Obama and Wall Street bailouts:

“The president chose his team, and when there was only so much time and so much money to go around, the president’s team chose Wall Street…The lost opportunity still makes me want to scream with frustration…Small business owners, homeowners, men and women whose jobs had disappeared: these weren’t numbers on the page, these were millions of people who lost everything.”

PCCC’s “Draft Warren for Senate” campaign:

“The Progressive Change Campaign Committee signed on early with the petition encouraging me to run, and they stayed with me every …

In November, congressional leaders went on offense. Senators Tom Harking and Sherrod Brown introduced a bill to [expand] Social Security [benefits]. Elizabeth Warren took to the floor to declare that the tide had changed. Unions rallied their members to flood Congress with calls, and Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Move On and others gathered millions of signatures for petitions (while at 360,000, Fix the Debt fell far short of its 10 million goal.)

What happens when you mix FDR-style populism with a Paul Krugman-esqe love of wonky policy? You get the so-called “Warren wing” Democratic candidates…

The Progressive Campaign Change Committee, which has a long history of supporting Democrats left of center, has partnered with more than a dozen of these candidates, calling them part of the Warren wing.

[Warren] is the model on which progressive Democrats see a path to victory. And it suggests that traditional progressive policy can transcend partisan boxes (appealing to libertarian and even some Republicans) if they’re presented in a different package — a less politically seasoned, more populist and more defiant package.

“That’s why you see the PCCC supporting candidates who are not involved in politics, who are younger, who are idealistic,” [Lee] Rogers said. “This is the bold part of the Elizabeth Warren wing.”

“We’re going to stand up and say no. We’re not going to take it,” Rogers said.

Check out the Top Ten Highlights of 2013 from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee!

It’s been a great year. Thanks to all of our bold progressive members for being part of it!

1. “Expand Social Security”

In July, we announced a big strategic shift: Instead of playing defense, we would rally around bills to EXPAND Social Security benefits.

Along with our allies, PCCC members deliveredAi??petitionsAi??to congressional offices around the nation. We releasedAi??pollsAi??showing this idea was popular by 2 to 1 in Kentucky and 3 to 1 in Texas!

After the Washington Post op-ed pageAi??attackedAi??”bold progressives” for leading the way on this issue, Elizabeth Warren made national news that day by endorsing Social Security expansion on the Senate floor (and in an email to PCCC members).

Nobel economist Paul Krugman writes, “a funny thing has happened in the past year or so. Suddenly, weai??i??re hearing open discussion of the idea that Social Security should be expanded, not cut.ai???

2. PCCC membersAi??Ai??Elizabeth Warren

When Elizabeth Warren called for students to get the same low interest rates as big banks, over 1000 professors (who are also PCCC members) endorsed the idea.

When Elizabeth Warren demanded bank regulators crack down on Wall Street crimes, PCCC members pressured the SEC to listen!

When Elizabeth Warren was attacked, PCCC members attacked back!

Warren’s hometown Boston GlobeAi??profiledAi??us recently. They wrote, “A group called Progressive Change Campaign Committee is waging the most visible of these pro-Warren crusades.”

The NationAi??writes, “Warrenai??i??s voice is amplified by groups like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which have identified her as their ‘north star’ in the fight to renew the Democratic Party. That scares corporate interests.”

On Monday, the Boston Globe’s front page featured a wide ranging profile of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and all of the amazing work PCCC members have done to push the Democratic Party to embrace Elizabeth Warren’s agenda and fight for progressive change.

Can you help us continue to fight for Elizabeth Warren’s agenda in 2014? Click here.

The Boston Globe: Progressive wing waves Elizabeth Warren banner

Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor are cofounders of Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The group has been promoting the political profile of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in presidential primary states.

WASHINGTON ai??i?? Elizabeth Warren has pledged she will not seek the White House in 2016, but that has not stopped diehard Warren boosters from promoting her political profile in presidential primary states, saying she is best positioned to push the Democratic Party to the left.

A group called Progressive Change Campaign Committee is waging the most visible of these pro-Warren crusades, training volunteers, meeting with labor leaders in New Hampshire, and handing out stickers with Warrenai??i??s name.

But there are costs to party unity, as the Massachusetts senator becomes a central figure in an intensifying battle for the Democratic Partyai??i??s soul.

The movement behind Warren is not as intense as the conservative Tea Party version for Republican candidates, but pushing against the partyai??i??s center is the goal for both.

ai???Weai??i??re going to make sure that every Democrat who runs for president is forced to say whether they agree with Elizabeth Warren on key issues, like expanding Social Security benefits and more Wall Street reform,ai??? said Adam Green, the 37-year-old cofounder of the group.

Warrenai??i??s impassioned stance on expanding Social Security is in defiance of President Obamaai??i??s proposal to trim the growth of benefit payments in future years. On …

Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor are cofounders of Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The group has been promoting the political profile of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in presidential primary states.

Elizabeth Warren has pledged she will not seek the White House in 2016, but that has not stopped diehard Warren boosters from promoting her political profile in presidential primary states, saying she is best positioned to push the Democratic Party to the left.

A group called Progressive Change Campaign Committee is waging the most visible of these pro-Warren crusades, training volunteers, meeting with labor leaders in New Hampshire, and handing out stickers with Warrenai??i??s name.

Ever since it caused an outpouring of indignation on the left by attacking Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the Wall Street Journal, Third Way, the neoliberal think tank, has been ducking questions about where, exactly, its funding comes from.

But at a demonstration on Wednesday outside its Washington, D.C., office, senior vice president Matt Bennett admitted that, contrary to the impression Third Way initially gave of the finance sector providing a minuscule amount of its funding, Third Wayai??i??s money comes overwhelmingly from its board of trustees ai??i?? which, as Daily Kos and others have shown, is itself overwhelmingly composed of people who make their living in finance.

Asked by Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green to name a percentage of Third Wayai??i??s funding that comes from peopleAi??in the finance sector ai??i?? rather than institutions ai??i?? Bennett concededAi??that ai???the majority of our financial support [comes] from trustees.ai???Ai??When Green pressed Bennett for a ai???ball parkai??? or a ai???percentageai??? guess, Bennett demurred. ai???Iai??i??m not going to get into that,ai??? he said.

On a brisk, sunny Wednesday afternoon a handful of protesters stood outside of 1025 Connecticut Ave NW in Washington, while a boisterous woman led the groupai??i??s chants.Ai??ai???What is America going to be?ai??? they asked. ai???Corporate Greed or Democracy?ai???

People from all across the country, including retirees and caregivers from Illinois, Montana, and North Carolina, had been brought together by leftist organizations Social Security Works and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) to denounce Third Way, a centrist democratic think tank, and their stance on social security.

ai???Up with America,ai??? they jeered at the faAi??ade of the building housing the groupai??i??s headquarters, holding signs that read ai???We are from the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party,ai??? a signal of support for the freshman senator who supports expanding Social Security.Ai?? ai???Down with Third Way.ai???

Progressives, led by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee,Ai??pushed back hard onAi??Third Way’s attack on Elizabeth WarrenAi??and their claim that economic populism was “disastrous” for Democrats. As a growing team of progressive groups joined the fray, Third Way’s Democratic co-chairs started distancing themselves from the attack.Ai??The New York TimesAi??called the campaign’s successAi??”the latest indication that the liberal wing of theAi??Democratic PartyAi??is ascendant.”

Last week, corporate-funded think tank Third Way attacked Elizabeth Warren in Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal — saying her bold economic populism is “dangerous for Democratic Party.” Wrong!

Polls show Warren’s ideas are popular in red, purple, and blue states. That’s why Wall Street fears her.

The PCCC is leading the fight against Third Way’s corporatist strategy and calling them out for refusing to make their Wall Street ties public.

Over 100,000 people have joined our petition calling on Third Way to disclose their Wall Street donors. Click here to sign on.

The petition and actions by PCCC members have already been covered by the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC News, Wall Street Journal, and more!

The New York Times reported:

In a sign of the leftai??i??s new aggressiveness, a coalition of liberals is trying to marginalize a centrist Democratic policy group that was responsible for a Wall Street Journal op-ed article this week that said economic populism was ai???disastrousai??? for the party.

The coalition, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and three other liberal advocacy organizations have urged their members to contact a group of congressional Democrats who are honorary leaders of the centrist group, Third Way. It published the op-ed article on Monday contending that the liberalism of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio of New York City and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts would lead Democrats ai???over the populist cliff.ai???

The article ai??i?? written by Jon Cowan, president of Third Way, and Jim Kessler, its senior vice president for policy ai??i?? criticizes progressives like Ms. Warren and Mr. de Blasio for opposing measures to cut ai??i?? Social Security and Medicare.

The liberal groupsai??i?? campaign has already gotten results, the latest indication that the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is ascendant.

Help us continue to put pressure on Wall Street-backed …

In a sign of the leftai??i??s new aggressiveness, a coalition of liberals is trying to marginalize a centrist Democratic policy group that was responsible for a Wall Street Journal op-ed article this week that said economic populism was ai???disastrousai??? for the party.

The coalition, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and three other liberal advocacy organizations have urged their members to contact a group of congressional Democrats who are honorary leaders of the centrist group, Third Way. It published the op-ed article on Monday contending that the liberalism of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio of New York City and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts would lead Democrats ai???over the populist cliff.ai???

The article ai??i?? written by Jon Cowan, president of Third Way, and Jim Kessler, its senior vice president for policy ai??i?? criticizes progressives like Ms. Warren and Mr. de Blasio for opposing measures to cut … Social Security and Medicare.

The liberal groupsai??i?? campaign has already gotten results, the latest indication that the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is ascendant.