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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsElizabeth Warren has what no other potential 2016 Democratic contender yet offers: a message
Elizabeth Warren makes a powerful case.
by Eugene Robinson
Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she isn’t running for president. At this rate, however, she may have to.
The Massachusetts Democrat has become the brightest ideological and rhetorical light in a party whose prospects are dimmed by — to use a word Jimmy Carter never uttered — malaise. Her weekend swing through Colorado, Minnesota and Iowa to rally the faithful displayed something no other potential contender for the 2016 presidential nomination, including Hillary Clinton, seems able to present: a message.
“We can go through the list over and over, but at the end of every line is this: Republicans believe this country should work for those who are rich, those who are powerful, those who can hire armies of lobbyists and lawyers,” she said Friday in Englewood, Colo. “I will tell you we can whimper about it, we can whine about it or we can fight back. I’m here with [Sen.] Mark Udall so we can fight back.”
Warren was making her second visit to the state in two months because Udall’s reelection race against Republican Cory Gardner is what Dan Rather used to call “tight as a tick.” If Democrats are to keep their majority in the Senate, the party’s base must break with form and turn out in large numbers for a midterm election. Voters won’t do this unless somebody gives them a reason.
Warren may be that somebody. Her grand theme is economic inequality and her critique, both populist and progressive, includes a searing indictment of Wall Street. Liberals eat it up.
"The game is rigged, and the Republicans rigged it..."
The rest: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-elizabeth-warren-makes-the-case-on-income-inequality/2014/10/20/ba54c68e-588a-11e4-8264-deed989ae9a2_story.html
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That last line is just as good as FDRs "I welcome their hatred".
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WillyT
(72,631 posts)
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)I think she is pretty much on the same page as Hillary Clinton in this regard.
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)ISIS is the #1 priority for the United States.
I think our #1 priority should be something internal, like the economy, jobs, making American's lives better, not spending a trillion bucks erradicating some small band of bad guys on the other side of the planet whom we're already dealing with under President Obama's leadership.
Proud Public Servant
(2,097 posts)I am so sick of politicians who run as Democrats, cheerfully take Dem money and organizational support, yet won't loudly and proudly trumpet their identity as Democrats. And I'm just as sick of Dems who are so desperate to win elusive "independents" that they won't call out the GOP in no uncertain terms. Just for her rhetoric alone, Warren joins the great partisan fighters of our party, from FDR and Truman through JFK, Humphrey, and Wellstone.
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)used to vote republican and supported Reagan back when she was a young stay-at-home mom and trying to find herself politically a couple of decades and more ago, she is now talking the Democratic talk, unlike Clinton, who seems to shy from making policy statements as a policy. I still do not know what Hillary stands for except what I've seen with my own two eyes, which I do not like. I do, however, know exactly where Warren stands on the issues, including her stance on fighting ISIS, which I happen to disagree with.
Even when I disagree with Warren, at least I know exactly where she stands. And that, to me, is admirable. And, as you said, it is "great to hear someone speak as a DEMOCRAT again!"
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)Independents demanding (or extorting) that Democrats choose who they want even if it is not even an actual Democrat on a forum with a mission of electing Democrats. To me they act just like the Teabaggers on the Right.....they use the same exact tactics...but they cannot abide supporting who the majority of Democrats select in a Primary election UNLESS it is a candidate they approve of...
Andy823
(11,495 posts)I just wonder if there really "is" a candidate they approve of, at least on running as a democrat. I am willing to bet that even if Warren, or Sanders were to win in 2016, it would not be long before a lot of the posters who bash Obama on a daily basis would be doing he same thing to either one of them because they don't follow some kind of purest agenda these posters seem to have.
VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)Some are just antigovt types in general...esp those that make the ridiculous claim that both parties are the same
whathehell
(29,026 posts)SheilaT
(23,156 posts)She actually says things that make her sound like a Democrat. An FDR Democrat which was the high point of our party.
Despite all the love for Hillary here, and despite Ms Clinton's amazing name recognition, there's a complete lack of understanding of just how hated the Clinton's are out there in what we might call the real world. If she gets the nomination, you can be sure that every single thing that woman ever did will be brought up. And while I absolutely do not want to see her running because I think she simply is not a good choice (too much same-old same-old, no new ideas, no actual support for working or middle class families) I also don't want to live through the campaign that would then happen. At least I'm lucky enough not to own a TV, so I see almost no political ads ever. The only ones I've seen so far this year have been the ones shown me by Rachel Maddow.
Warren, on the other hand, does understand what the majority of people have been going through for so long now. And she talks about it. She seems genuinely bothered that no bankers ever served jail time. She may not have directly experienced it herself, but she's close enough to regular Americans to get what many of us have gone through. That's hugely important.
ProfessorPlum
(11,253 posts)If she isn't running this time, it is a huge waste of trees and ink. It is the most compelling argument for a candidate that I have ever had the pleasure to read, because her anger at the way normal people are getting screwed eight ways to Sunday by all of the suit-wearing thieves in this country is palpable. She is real. And when she announces her candidacy, she will have my full support.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Yay, Elizabeth Warren!
malthaussen
(17,175 posts)"the brightest ideological and rhetorical light" is all very well and good, but Mr Obama talks pretty, too. What nobody -- not Mr Sanders, not Mrs Warren, and certainly not Mrs Clinton -- has offered so far is any kind of coherent program to right the listing ship of state. "Repeal Citizen's United" is all very well and good, "the game is rigged" makes a nice tombstone, but what do the potential candidates propose to actually do about these things? Frankly, speechifying bores me.
-- Mal
Andy823
(11,495 posts)Along with Sanders, and whoever else wants to jump into the race. I would then listen to all of them, decide who to vote for in the primary and vote for them. I also, even if it were not my choice in the primary, vote for whoever became the nominee for the democratic party. We can not afford to let republicans win this year, and especially in 2016.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Hoo boy
