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TIME Politics Hillary Clinton Kevin LamarqueReuters Sen. Elizabeth Warren listens to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testify, at a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on "Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress" on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 24, 2015.

Liberals have two recurring nightmares about the 2016 elections.

In the first, they wake up on Nov. 9, 2016, to find that Americans have elected a Republican who has spent the past year and a half promising to dismantle Obamacare, undo the Environmental Protection Agencys clean air regulations and cut corporate taxes.

In the second, they wake up on Nov. 9, 2016, to find that Americans have elected Hillary Clinton, who has spent the past year and a half promising them absolutely nothing and courting independents and moderates.

The second scenario is obviously preferable to most liberals, but its still worrying. Theyd much prefer to elect a Hillary Clinton who has made specific, concrete campaign pledges to them especially since political science research shows that, contrary to popular belief, politicians tend to keep their promises.

But without a competitive Democratic primary, how can liberals push Clinton in their direction? For now, theres no clear roadmap, but liberal activists have five general ideas.

1. Pray that Elizabeth Warren runs.

Liberal outfits such as Progressive Democrats of America and Democracy.com have launched small-scale grassroots campaigns urging Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (Ready for Bernie) and former Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley (Draft OMalley) to join the race. But the big money is on Massachusetts Senator and liberal firebrand Elizabeth Warren. MoveOn.org gave $1 million to launch Run Warren Run, and Howard Deans old shop, Democracy for America, dumped an additional $250,000 into the effort. The Boston Globe ran a special package last week declaring that Democrats need Elizabeth Warren in 2016.

While Sanders and OMalley seem likely to follow through with a run, neither has the clout at this point to mount a serious challenge. Both are polling in the double digits behind Clinton. That makes drafting Warren, despite the fact that she has said repeatedly that she is not running, priority No. 1. We want to get Elizabeth Warren into the race. She is someone progressives innately trust, said Neil Sroka of Democrats for America. When he was pressed for a contingency plan, he said, Were extremely focused on trying to get her in, building the infrastructure she would need to run, and extending the amount of time she has to change her mind. Wesley Clark, another one-time progressive fave, didnt enter the 2004 race until September 2003, Sroka added, hopefully. (Of course, he didnt win.)

2. If that fails, keep Warrens ideas in the news.

Read more here:
How Liberals Hope to Nudge Hillary Clinton to the Left