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Elizabeth Warren Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 15, 2014 26 Comments
I know, you thought I'd been trolling you these past few months with all my writing about how Elizabeth Warren might actually run for President, and how she would crush Hillary if she did (and they both know it). But I wasn't trolling. Warren's surge in the Wisconsin delegate straw poll was noticed mostly only by us, but was a sign that there could be a groundswell of support. Despite all her present tense denials, there is no doubt in my mind that Warren is seriously considering running but waiting until Democrats demand it. Warren is a unique political talent, in ways we have been documenting since early 2012. There is no one on the political scene today who plays upon and preys upon a sense of victimization and envy as well as Warren. So it doesn't surprise me that Ready for Warren has formed, as reported at HuffPo:
An enthusiastic band of activists has launched a campaign to slow the momentum of Hillary Clinton and convince Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that she should run for president in 2016. "I think there's an opportunity for us to convince her if we're really able to make the case as to why we think she's the right person," said Erica Sagrans, who has signed on as the Ready For Warren campaign manager. The group already has a Facebook page, Twitter account and a new website with a petition encouraging Warren to run. Sagrans, who worked on President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, will be joined by political activist Billy Wimsatt, who previously founded the League of Young Voters and is going to be a senior adviser to the new group. Reached for comment, Lacey Rose, Warren's press secretary, told HuffPost, "No, Senator Warren does not support this effort."
They are not intimidated by the well-monied Ready for Hillary:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 29, 2014 41 Comments
If Hillary Clinton runs for President, she's still the odds-on favorite because she has the Democratic machine behind her. The conventional wisdom is that the nomination is Hillary's to lose. If Hillary's disastrous book rollout and tone-deafness about her wealth are any indication, Hillary might just accomplish the unthinkable of imploding a second time as presumptive nominee. Hillary's worst enemy is Hillary. There's only so long you can pretend to be something you are not. Enter Elizabeth Warren. We have been arguing for years that Warren is a unique political talent, someone who can demagogue the national victim narrative better than anyone in recent memory. Do not underestimate the power of a politician whose entire reason to be is to convince people that the problems in their lives are not of their own doing, but of a rigged system in which they are abused by powerful, if unseen, forces. Put aside all the hypocrisy's of Warren's own life. There are many people willing to overlook how Warren tried to rig the system to her own advantage if that is what is needed to believe in their own victimhood. In a nation suffering from an unending decline in workforce participation rates, in which every month hundreds of thousands of people give up hope of finding a job and drop out, blaming a rigged system is a powerful message. Jonah Goldberg calls Warren The Obama of 2016:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 22, 2014 18 Comments
I told you so.  Elizabeth Warren's repeated supposed refusals to run for President always were framed in the present tense: I am not running for President. That, of course, technically was correct.  I don't think anyone of note "is" running for President yet, but many are seriously considering it and likely will run. Nothing makes Warren's word games more clear than her interview with (my law school classmate) Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post:
The Massachusetts Democrat insists that she’s not running for president, and there’s little reason to doubt her — although, interestingly, Warren sticks doggedly to the present tense to describe her intentions. I asked Warren about this phrasing the other afternoon over iced tea mixed with lemonade at a restaurant near her Capitol Hill office. In these precincts, senator sightings are commonplace but, even here, Warren enjoys celebrity status; the manager promptly presented Warren with a copy of her memoir, “A Fighting Chance,” to sign. Why not simply declare that she will not run for president in 2016? “I am not running for president in 2016,” Warren responded. Yes, I pressed, but why not say, I am not running and I will not run?

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 21, 2014 30 Comments
Elizabeth Warren is doing the best she can with the ideology she has. So it was a shock to see Chris Matthews, of all people, call her out for being all talk and no real action. As if she would just say things for political effect. Or take advantage of situations unfairly for her own gain. Come on Chris. Leave Elizabeth alone. From The Daily Caller:
Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren clearly expected a softball interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Thursday night. But midway through her predictable talking points, the left-wing “Hardball” host unexpectedly struck out at the progressive darling over what he views as Democratic inaction on jobs and infrastructure.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 12, 2014 15 Comments
The Kentucky Senate race is essentially tied in the polling. A poll released today by a Republican pollster shows Alison Lundergan Grimes up by 3 points, within the margin of error. Elizabeth Warren is about to inject herself into the race in a big way. Warren's student loan bill, which even an author at liberal Slate.com called "a glorified talking point," failed to pass an early procedural vote on Wednesday. In response, Warren declared war on Mitch McConnell, vowing to campaign and raise money for Grimes. The notion of taking political retribution is in keeping with Warren's vow to have "plenty of blood and teeth left on the floor" of those who oppose her. HuffPo reports, Elizabeth Warren To Hit Back At Mitch McConnell By Campaigning For Alison Lundergan Grimes:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) railed against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday for failing to support her student loan refinancing proposal, which the Senate killed in a 56-38 vote earlier in the day.... When MSNBC's Chris Hayes asked Warren how she planned to fight back, the senator gave a response that could shake things up in Kentucky, where McConnell faces a tough race for reelection against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes. "One way I'm going to start fighting back is I'm going to go down to Kentucky and I'm going to campaign for Alison Lundergan Grimes," Warren said. "She's tough, she's feisty, she endorsed the student loan bill, said she wanted to bring down interest rates for Kentuckians. ... So my view is I'm going to get out there and try to make this happen for her."
Seems to me that making Warren an issue in the race is risky for Grimes.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 11, 2014 7 Comments

There's been much speculation over whether or not Elizabeth Warren will run for president. Some folks have also suggested that Joe Biden may run for president. Here's a new question: What if they ran together? CNN's Peter Hamby reports...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 01, 2014 21 Comments
You can feel it growing. Barney Frank thinks Elizabeth Warren will run for President, despite her present-tense denials:
 What Barney Frank lacks in tact, he makes up for in clarity. The former Massachusetts congressman tells the State House News Service in Massachusetts that it's "very unlikely" Hillary Clinton won't seek the presidency in 2016. But he also believes Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., – who is in the midst of a publicity tour for her new book – privately harbors White House ambitions. She is a senator, after all. Asked whether Warren has any inclination to seek the presidency, Frank said, "Oh, I think yes. In the first place, why would you want to get into a profession and have no interest in rising to the top of it? I don’t know anybody who has that."
Despite Elizabeth Warren's statement that she isn't running for President (technically true), the media is making the case for her. The latest is Aaron Blake at WaPo's The Fix, Why Elizabeth Warren is perfectly positioned for 2016 (if she wanted to run):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 25, 2014 41 Comments
Forget the current polling as between Hillary and Elizabeth Warren. It pits Hillary against someone who "isn't running." For all my criticisms of Warren, and they are extensive, I am convinced that if she ran, she would crush Hillary, just as Obama did. Warren, as did Obama, has a unique ability to demagogue the core Democratic narrative of victimhood in ways that would make Hillary blush. She is more cunning than Hillary, more popular with the base, would bring an excitement the contrived Ready-for-Hillary movement could only dream of.   Democrats may be "ready" for Hillary, but they don't really want her. Face it, Democrats, in your heart of hearts, you want Elizabeth Warren to run.  She is the next One you have been waiting for.   You can imagine yourselves singing:
We’re gonna spread happiness We’re gonna spread freedom Obama’s Liz's gonna change it Obama’s Liz's gonna lead ‘em
You need to convince yourselves to support Hillary, and you will if you have to, but you don't really want to have to. Byron York makes the case that we should not rule out a Warren run:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 19, 2014 40 Comments
In Elizabeth Warren's new book, A Fighting Chance, Warren claims to be "hurt and angry" that people criticized her claim to be Native American, specifically Cherokee.  Warren blamed the Scott Brown campaign, the local Republican Party, and "some blogger." In fact, Warren has no one to blame but herself for her false claim to be Cherokee.  Read Elizabeth Warren Wiki, and these posts responding to the claims in her book: Warren will be launching a nationwide book tour.  Someone who wants to meet Warren is Twila Barnes. Barnes is the Cherokee Genealogist whose groundbreaking genealogical research exposed the falsehood to Warren's claims.  Barnes and her team of Cherokee genealogists traced Warren's family lines back to the early 1800s and documented that Warren's family not only was not Cherokee or other Native American, but also that they never lived as such: Barnes also debunked much of the "family lore" used by Warren to justify claiming Native American status.  One of my favorites was Barnes' discovery that Warren's maternal great grandfather, on the supposedly Cherokee bloodline, was featured in the local newspaper in 1906 as being white and having shot an Indian. And also Barnes' discovery that Warren's parents' wedding was joyously announced in the local newspaper, which would contradict Warren's claim that her parents had to elope because her father's family would not tolerate their son marrying an Indian.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 16, 2014 23 Comments
Elizabeth Warren's autobiography is out, and it looks like she is sticking precisely to her campaign script on her false claim to be Cherokee. The title is "A Fighting Chance." The Boston Globe, which has an advance copy (perhaps as a courtesy since it gave Warren so much help in the campaign), summarizes:
She spends several pages describing the family connections that have led her to assert a partial Native American heritage, for which she was criticized by Republicans in her 2012 Senate campaign.... “As a kid, I had learned about my Native American background the same way every kid learns about who they are: from family,” she writes. “I never questioned my family’s stories or asked my parents for proof or documentation. What kid would?” Her ancestry became a major issue during the campaign, and Warren says she was stunned by the attacks – and that she couldn’t provide documentation because her family hadn’t registered any tribal affiliation. “In Oklahoma, that was pretty common,” she writes. “But knowing who you are is one thing, and proving who you are is another.” She reiterated that she did not use her background to gain special treatment. “I never asked for special treatment when I applied to college, to law school, or for jobs,” she writes.
This family dodge has been exposed so many times, detailed at Elizabeth Warren Wiki. The short version is that she never lived as a Native American, but did use the claim to her advantage to get listed as a "Minority Law Teacher" in a directory used as a hiring device in the 1980s. Somehow the editors of The Harvard Women's Law Journal knew about it when Warren was a visiting professor because they listed her as a Woman of Color in Legal Academia. Warren and Harvard never have released her hiring records.
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