Warren trounces Clinton in poll of liberal group

Thousands of members of the liberal group Democracy for America (DFA) prefer Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for president over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to a new poll. 

Warren receives 42 percent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) gets 24 percent and Clinton gets 23 percent in the DFA poll of its members. 

The DFA poll also holds even worse news for Vice President Biden. He comes in at just 2 percent, behind former Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich, at 3 percent.

{mosads}The group says that 164,733 votes were cast by its members across the country, with each voter able to rank their choices. 

Despite the liberal enthusiasm for Warren, she has repeatedly insisted she is not running and given few indications of planning for a run. Sanders has said he is considering a run, though he is seen as having extremely long odds. 

Still, the poll results could indicate that Clinton has work to do with the liberal base. 

“If you only listened to Washington pundits, you’d wonder why Democrats are even bothering holding primaries and caucuses, but the results from our first 2016 presidential pulse poll indicates that progressives want to hear from many candidates during the nomination process and that the fight for the support Democrats’ grassroots base is far from over,” the group’s executive director, Charles Chamberlain, said in a statement. 

There has been talk of a possible meeting between the Clinton camp and DFA, as well as another liberal group enthusiastic about Warren, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Also featured in the DFA poll: former Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), who announced an exploratory committee on Wednesday night, got just 0.69 percent.

Even if Clinton does not face a real challenge, liberal groups are making clear they will be pressuring her to speak out on income inequality. 

“No matter who runs for president,” the group wrote in an email to supporters, “DFA will be pushing every candidate to boldly tackle income inequality and other critical issues that will decide the 2016 election.”