Top Democratic groups threaten to unleash arsenal to torpedo Schultz third-party bid – Washington Examiner

Two top Democratic groups are threatening to devote resources to thwart former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who announced over the weekend that he is “seriously considering” an independent bid for the White House.

By putting Schultz on notice, they hope to ease widespread concern among Democrats that a third-party campaign by the billionaire could steal votes away from their party’s nominee and deliver a second term to President Trump.

American Bridge, the top Democratic opposition research group, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a top liberal organization, are warning Schultz against launching his third-party bid after he embarked on a book tour this week. Both groups are committed to defeating Trump, and they said Tuesday that if Schultz is an obstacle to achieving that goal, they will oppose him with full force.

“Our organizational mission is to defeat Donald Trump in 2020. If Howard Schultz decides to run as an independent and stands in the way of defeating Trump, we will oppose him at every turn,” said Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for American Bridge, told the Washington Examiner.

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American Bridge has been a major opposition research firm for nearly a decade, providing the Democratic side of the aisle a way to have trackers follow candidates up and down the aisle for footage they can use at opportune moments.

PCCC revealed to the Washington Examiner that it has begun circulating a petition at SchultzHelpsTrump.com in an effort to keep him from siphoning votes from a Democratic nominee.

“If Howard Schultz wants to defeat Trump, running as an Independent is as politically out of touch as his attacking Elizabeth Warren for wanting to tax his wealth to provide health care and education to millions of Americans. Democratic, Republican, and Independent voters want a president who will fight for everyday working people and challenge big corporations — not a billionaire corporate CEO,” said Marissa Barrow, a PCCC spokesperson, in a statement.

“If Schultz wants to run and lose in the Democratic primary, that’s fine — but our petition at SchultzHelpsTrump.com tells him he better not dare re-elect Trump by running as an Independent and siphoning off the anti-Trump vote,” she added.

The announcements came a day after Priorities USA, a top Democratic group that spent over $200 million in the 2016 presidential contest, announced that it would consider Schultz a “target” in the 2020 race.

Schultz kicked off a book tour to tease a possible run Monday night in New York where he was heckled for potentially handing a second term to Trump — a main fear of national Democrats.