2020 Dems love the progressive fire but fear the flame

By NATASHA KORECKI and HOLLY OTTERBEIN07/15/2019 05:02 AM EDTPHILADELPHIA — More progressives gathered here over the weekend for the annual Netroots Nation convention than at any time in the event’s 13-year history.Yet all but one of the top-tier candidates running for president, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, were nowhere to be found.Story Continued BelowWhile it might have seemed like a missed opportunity, given the state of the roiling progressive grass roots — with the movement’s confrontational tactics and insistence on down-the-line, issue-by-issue adherence to liberal orthodoxy — the campaigns concluded that the safer play was to send their regrets.It’s a calculation they frequently have to make this year as candidates intent on controlling their own message — and avoiding bad viral moments — run up against a battalion of trained leftist activists bird-dogging them, demanding specific, on-the-record answers.But it’s also a notable contradiction. “It puts politicians on the spot in a way that I think resonates with a lot of people who are sick of hearing stump speeches and talking points, and they want to hear someone respond to the real questions that people have.” Roberts acknowledged that while he agreed with the tactic, it might have factored into most 2020 candidates skipping the largest gathering of progressives in the country.“Campaigns want to be able to control their image, their message,” he said. That was expected, given the former vice president’s past clashes with the left flank of the party, including his recent criticisms of Medicare for All. Indeed, the event featured a pop-up panel that argued why Biden was the “least electable.”Some top progressive lawmakers who addressed the event were scratching their heads over the absence of 2020 candidates.“If I were running for president, I would come speak here,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington said. “It is one of the largest progressive gatherings, it’s important.”Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said it was the same gathering of progressives years ago that helped propel his Senate run.“They should all be here,” Merkley said of the 2020 candidates.