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Why Elizabeth Warren would be a very dangerous candidate in 2016 | Why Elizabeth Warren would be a very dangerous candidate in 2016 |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Let's get this out of the way: I don't think Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) is running for president in 2016. Why do I believe that? Because she's said she's not running for president in 2016 a whole lot of times. But let's say, just for sake of argument — this is a blog, after all — that she reconsidered. Well then, a question buried in the new NBC-Wall Street Journal national poll suggests that the electorate is absolutely primed for the populist messaging that she has ridden to prominence. | |
Asked whether they agreed that "the economic and political systems in the country are stacked against people like me," 56 percent of respondents in the NBC-WSJ poll agreed. That's a massive increase in the number of people who believe the deck-is-stacked-against-me idea; when NBC-WSJ asked the question in July 2002, just 34 percent of people agreed with the sentiment. In recent years, that number has moved steadily upward — 54 percent said the system was stacked against them in August 2012, and 55 percent said the same in April 2014 in NBC-WSJ polling. | Asked whether they agreed that "the economic and political systems in the country are stacked against people like me," 56 percent of respondents in the NBC-WSJ poll agreed. That's a massive increase in the number of people who believe the deck-is-stacked-against-me idea; when NBC-WSJ asked the question in July 2002, just 34 percent of people agreed with the sentiment. In recent years, that number has moved steadily upward — 54 percent said the system was stacked against them in August 2012, and 55 percent said the same in April 2014 in NBC-WSJ polling. |
Enter Warren, whose recent career — she helped form the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before running for the Senate in 2012 — has been built on the idea that the average American isn't getting a fair shake (or even the chance at a fair shake) in today's America. Warren has described herself as growing up on the "ragged edge of the middle class" and getting her first job at 9. (She was a babysitter.) And she draws on that background when she speaks, casting herself as a populist warrior for the middle class. | |
She became a liberal phenomenon — and Republican scourge — back in fall 2011 when, at a house party in the lead-up to her eventual Senate campaign, she said that "there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own." | She became a liberal phenomenon — and Republican scourge — back in fall 2011 when, at a house party in the lead-up to her eventual Senate campaign, she said that "there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own." |
Since coming to the Senate, she has kept up that rhetorical drumbeat. | Since coming to the Senate, she has kept up that rhetorical drumbeat. |
"I'm fighting to level that playing field," Warren told Minnesota Democrats this past spring. "I'm fighting to build real opportunity, fighting to give every child a chance to build something extraordinary. And I want you to fight alongside me. We are in this together." | "I'm fighting to level that playing field," Warren told Minnesota Democrats this past spring. "I'm fighting to build real opportunity, fighting to give every child a chance to build something extraordinary. And I want you to fight alongside me. We are in this together." |
Back in Minnesota campaigning for Sen. Al Franken (D) last month, Warren said: "The game is rigged, and the Republicans rigged it." | Back in Minnesota campaigning for Sen. Al Franken (D) last month, Warren said: "The game is rigged, and the Republicans rigged it." |
You get the idea. (The New Republic has a list of Warren's 10 most viral videos in case you don't get the idea.) | You get the idea. (The New Republic has a list of Warren's 10 most viral videos in case you don't get the idea.) |
I've written before that Warren is the liberal liberals thought they were getting when they elected Obama. She is combative and unapologetic in her beliefs — particularly on inequality — in a way liberals believe Obama has never been. And, stylistically and policy-wise, Warren also represents a clear contrast with the more cautious, Wall Street-friendly campaign that most people expect Hillary Clinton to make in 2016. (Make sure you read Noam Scheiber's wonderful piece from November 2013 explaining why Warren is Clinton's biggest nightmare.) | I've written before that Warren is the liberal liberals thought they were getting when they elected Obama. She is combative and unapologetic in her beliefs — particularly on inequality — in a way liberals believe Obama has never been. And, stylistically and policy-wise, Warren also represents a clear contrast with the more cautious, Wall Street-friendly campaign that most people expect Hillary Clinton to make in 2016. (Make sure you read Noam Scheiber's wonderful piece from November 2013 explaining why Warren is Clinton's biggest nightmare.) |
What separates good politicians from great ones is their sense of timing. The NBC-WSJ poll suggests that the time is ripe for Warren to take her fiery populism nationwide. But does Warren see it that way? | What separates good politicians from great ones is their sense of timing. The NBC-WSJ poll suggests that the time is ripe for Warren to take her fiery populism nationwide. But does Warren see it that way? |
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