I SEE WARREN AS VERY MUCH LIKE LINCOLN
What she would bring to the job is life experience and immense intellect.
Like Abe, Elizabeth grew up in poverty and made her own way. Like Abe she first became known as a lawyer. In his case the law was that of the frontier, in hers it was bankruptcy court.
Of course, this is not 1960. The candidate will not be determined by cigar-smoking party insiders who really wanted Seward but settled for Lincoln believing he would take guidance from the more experienced politician. Amazingly they were correct.
The process today is a lot more about PR. I am very disappointed by Warren’s showing in Iowa. It is too easy to put this down to the political skill of her ground team vs Mayor Pete’s or even to the huge enthusiasm Bernie’s supporters have.
I believe that Warren’s problem is that she has become overly linked to Sanders. The media make it seem that she is Bernie in a pants suit.
Warren needs to break that link, probably by bringing in the sort of endorsements Sanders can not get. I would love to see one debate about policy rather than who is more or less a sexist. She somehow, like Lincoln, has to convey the idea that she is not a radical but is determined to save the union and eliminate the spread of Trump-style slavery.
Lacking a smoke-filled room in Chicago, Senator Warren’s strategy might be to reach out to the kind of people she will need to make her government work. Some thoughts:
1. Duval Patrick 7. John Kerry
2. Harold Ford 8. Admiral Joe Sestak
3. Bill Gates or Warren Buffett 9. Lauwence Tribe
4. Susan Rice 10. LeBron James
5. Jay Inslee 11. James Clyburn
6. Jennifer Granholm 12. Andy Yang
My list is anything but inclusive. I have chosen names of people smart enough to understand that Warren is someone Jaime Diamon and the UAW could work with together.
Warren has the same problem Bernie has and that is how does she win without splitting the Democratic party. There is a inside elite that are really corporate Democrats. They really really like Bloomberg or his money. Of course why shouldn’t voters just vote for a real Republican, but that is the mystic of the third way. Shhh don’t let out the secret.
Like 1860 the Democratic party could split this election and that is really what allowed the rail splitter to become President.
Right now the office of President is Donald Trump’s to win or lose. It may make no difference who the Democrats run. The insiders might be wise to let Warren and Sanders run gambling that the results will be a George McGovern victory for them, and put off having another liberal or real Democratic candidate for another 20 years and continue the non Democratic primary system of the party where the insiders have their thumb on the scale. With the Republicans having a more Democratic system that means they occasionally have cadidtates the insiders abhor and have to hold their collective noses, and accept the bloody nose of defeat…oops victory?!?
You just proved my point. Bernie and Warren are two very different types. He is populist, like Trump. As President, he would only be able to govern by fiat. As long as she is seen as “like Bernie” her path is difficult. She is not Bernie but needs to show that!