I read a lot of progressive websites and she is by far the preferred candidate for president, many libertarians as well are on board, and even some conservatives (many profess admiration for her foreign policy but dislike her other progressive stances). So I don't know who the "contacts in DC" are, (Aquaman?), but in the real world as Chad points out in the article above, calls for Tulsi for president are widespread - from many journalists, bloggers, and pundits and of course the public. Then there are many establishment Dems who see Tulsi as a threat to the status quo, e.g., as a threat to the military industrial complex, the prison industrial complex (which depends on drug offenses more than anything else), Wall Street bankers and wheeler dealers, and so on. Which is why we can see such hysteria from those types when it comes to Tulsi - all the while not realizing how their progressive bona fides are vanishing before their eyes as they do so. Lacking a clue, they've lost the plot.