Can Maryland's Donna Edwards Be the Ted Cruz of the Left?

Since the end of 2014, a coalition of progressive groups—MoveOn, Democracy for America, Ready for Warren—has organized in early primary states to get Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren into the 2016 presidential race. She has refused to oblige. Just this week, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee successfully tapped the panic buttons of reporters and activists by putting out an email under Warren's name, titled "I'm In." She was in... for further Democratic fundraising.

The newly open Senate race in Maryland is giving these same progressives a new, less quixotic cause: Getting Representative Donna Edwards to run for Senate. MoveOn and DFA have both dipped into the Free State with emails to supporters who could be activated for a bid. In a message to its Maryland members, MoveOn insisted that "for a progressive to win, they'll need to start gathering support and putting together their campaign right away." That preceded a list of 14 Democrats, from the likely (Representative Chris Van Hollen, who is actively looking at the race), to the unlikely (defeated gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown) to Donna Edwards.