Hillary's Nightmare? A Democratic Party That Realizes Its Soul Lies With Elizabeth Warren.

[frazzled]

96. Why are we talking about "souls"?

My "soul" is not with Elizabeth Warren (any more than it is with Hillary Clinton). I think with my brain with regard to political matters, not my "soul."

Elizabeth Warren seems to me to be the new version of John Edwards circa 2007/early 2008. He talks about "the two Americas," and despite having never shown to have done a single thing about this situation, and despite a very short stint in public service of any kind, he becomes the new great white hope of people seeking an alternative to politics as usual.

Well, Elizabeth Warren has also had a very brief stint in public service--beginning in 2008, when Harry Reid appointed her to the TARP oversight board (someone correct me if I'm wrong about this). We all know that she was a registered Republican until 1995, surprisingly late in life to have seen the light. We know that she appointed many Wall Street bankers to the CFPB during her time there setting up the agency (which is ok with me: I bought her explanation that these were the people who knew the system best, from the inside). Otherwise, we know very little about her positions on an entire range of issues, or how she would govern. She's a fine person, but at this point, still largely a cipher.

Let's not keep having soul-grabbing darlings who are merely convenient foils for our impatience and dissatisfaction with the status quo. I don't believe Elizabeth Warren would have an iota more success in changing things than Barack Obama has had. The trenches are muddy out there, and the reality is that any Democratic candidate is going to have to get down in that mud. There are no magic bullets to liberal nirvana, but rather a slow slog. I'm sure Mayor de Blasio, who has a long and storied history of fighting for progressive causes, is going to have to make compromises and disappoint us, too; and I'm sure he'll be the first to admit it. But he'll also make some good dents in the system, and hopefully bring a small amount more equity to the people of New York. And for that I'll be very glad.