More than 300 former Obama campaign staffers signed an open letter Friday morning urging Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for president in 2016.
The letter draws parallels between Obama's come-from-behind insurgent candidacy and Warren, who would enter the race an underdog against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton if the latter runs, as expected.
Clinton is seen as the likely Democratic nominee if she jumps in the race, and leads every survey of the potential Democratic field by double digits. But the same was true during her first run for president, in 2008, when a then little-known senator from Illinois jumped in and upended what many expected to be a coronation for the former first lady.
"We believed in an unlikely candidate who no one thought had a chance," the letter opens.
"We know that the improbable is far from impossible," it goes on.
Once again I am conflicted.
Like many others I have some reservations concerning Hillary. Though I still see her as the Democratic party's best hope in 2016.
That being said the speech that Warren delivered on the Senate floor Friday spoke to me in a way that I have not felt since Obama's amazing speeches during his campaign and in the early days of his presidency.
If there were no Hillary, I have no doubt that I would be pushing with all my might to encourage Warren to run.
However I also believe that Warren will be a powerful voice in the Senate and that in those chambers she can electrify the Democrats like few others can these days.
Of course if Hillary taps Warren as her running mate then for me that would be the best of all possible options.
Anybody care to disagree?
As far as I know, Warren has no foreign policy credentials and knows absolutely nothing about the military. It's too soon for her to run, but in 2020 or 2024 she will be awesome.
ReplyDeleteI like her also and have concerns for the same reasons, but in 2024 she will be 75 years old. I hope we some younger people up to speed by then. There are many people in great health at 75, but a presidential campaign, let alone the presidency itself, is an incredible physical strain.
DeleteTotally agree and we need her in the Senate.
DeleteSame can be said for many of the Republican would be candidates, especially Scotty Walker. But that won't stop them.
DeleteWarren as Clinton's running mate would be a terrible option. As vice president, she would be essentially voiceless. Better to stay in the senate, where she can grill the hucksters while sitting on her committees, rally other Democratic senators and congressional representatives, and make more speeches educating the public as to what is actually going on in the country.
ReplyDeleteI agree. If she keeps making those speeches, and advancing in the Senate, she can help build Democratic principles into being accepted as the norm that citizens of this country can expect, not the bizarre, destructive tealiban version of reality.
DeleteI would like to see her as Senate Leader one day.
Not only that, but the voters will have a difficult enough time with one female candidate, let alone two.
DeleteTwo women on the ticket, no matter who they are, will be a sure loser.
"I would like to see her as Senate Leader one day."
DeleteYesss!!!
It's Sanders/Warren 2016. With those two, our financial house will be put into order.. I have always stated that it's Hillary's if she wants it but I would have to hold my nose as I voted for her . The last frigging thing America needs is to keep a dynasty going on whether it be a Bush or a Clinton. She is a war hawk, albeit a very accomplished and skilled politician. But America needs their voice heard and their pensions safe.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely adore Warren, part of me thinks she might do more good shaking things up on the floor of Congress with the likes of Cruz and the other nut bags on the right spewing their garbage. But I would bust my ass if she decided to run. I actually think Bernie is waking things up too and he doesn't take money from big business at all. Does he have a chance? I think so as time goes on. He speaks to all the working people, they just got to get over that he is actually a real Socialist, which would be fantastic in a lot of ways.
time will tell. I just know that if Hillary runs, it will be nonstop Benghazi, Benghazi 24/7 and don;t forget all of Bill's indiscretions as well. Haven't we heard enough of that crap?
I like the idea of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. But Sanders has got to get the courage to call himself a Democrat. As an Independent he will get nowhere. I do not want a Republican in the White House until the Democrats have recovered both houses of Congress with strong majorities and have honest and stalwart and intelligent justices on the Supreme Court to save the Constitution.
DeleteBeaglemom
I absolutely love Bernie Sanders.
DeleteBut he also getting on in years.
He doesn't have the name recognition to win.
I'm afraid a Sanders/Warren ticket would lose. And we can't afford to lose.
I like Warren in the Senate ... she's shaking things up. However, my husband has said he WON'T vote for Hillary because of her Wall Street ties. The only way to counter that is to have Warren on the ticket as VP, IMHO. Or else, we get Jeb or Mitt.
ReplyDeleteI still think many independents, and quite a few Democrats, will have a hard time voting for Hillary Clinton. Up against Jeb Bush, I think she loses. As for Warren, I think she should stay in the Senate, make a name for herself, and establish some relationships in Congress that could potentially serve her if she runs for President in 2020.
ReplyDeleteToo soon for a Warren presidential run. I agree with Anon 6:50; she has a powerful hand in the Senate and is making big advances in controlling the out-of-control bankers and shakers (and showing Repubtiles how it should be done right). Let her have the reins and run her course. She is most effective right where she is. Hillary has the credentials, the experience and the gutz to take on the GOP and the RWNJs and a long list of loyal and devoted Dems to help her. Bernie and Hillz 2016 with Warren up on deck. Please make it happen, Americans.
ReplyDeleteI would vote for Warren in a heartbeat. Hillary? Would have to hold my nose to cast that ballot; she was all in favor of attacking Iraq, and that bent my nose out of joint something fierce.
ReplyDeleteBig, big, big mistake. I like Elizabeth Warren. I like Hilary Clinton. But the media made mincemeat of Warren a couple of years ago and will persist in doing more of the same. The Democratic Party has got to be united and organized for 2016 or we will give the GOP the whole shebang on a silver platter. We've done it before by dividing ourselves with bickering.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
I'm a pessimist by nature (and therefore, sadly, often right). I think Hillary will have a hard enough time against Jeb, or even Mitt, simply because she is a woman.
ReplyDeleteHaving Elizabeth Warren on the ticket with her would just be guaranteed doom.
I wish with all my being this were not true, but given what I've heard people saying---when they imagine they're with like-minded others of course---I fear that it is.
---Julie in Denver
Yes, Gryph, I'm quick to disagree with the running mate idea. Clinton is no populist, and there is simply no reason to believe she would ever embrace the ideals that drive Warren. As VP, Warren would be neutralized. One thing that could force Clinton to accommodate Warren's ideals is for Warren to remain in the Senate and lead a populist movement within the party that Clinton would have to court - even to get her nominees approved by the Senate. That would pull the Dem party back to the left where it desperately needs to go, and where it hasn't been since the first Clinton presidency shunned populism and embraced the revolving door government that Warren adamantly opposes.
ReplyDeleteAs Warren increasingly gives voice to her positions and the energy of party activists rises in response, it is becoming more clear what an energy crisis Clinton may face in 2016. Just for kicks, sit down and list the things Clinton stands for that are consistent with Dem ideals and/or inspire your enthusiasm. (I'm guessing you're not going to get writer's cramp or be jumping up and down any time soon.) With Clinton's coy BS about running and her annoying sense of entitlement to the nomination, combined with a campaign slogan that goes something like, "Well, at least I'm not a Republican," she's going to have a problem when it's time to GOTV, and she could end up hurting the Dems down-ticket as well. To acknowledge that she's the Dems best chance to retain the presidency is just plain nauseating.
I am against Elizabeth Warren running for President. Why does everyone immediately think "President!" when they like a politician? I think her unique talents are better used in the Senate for now. Let her have more time in the Senate; she will then have more experience and be a better candidate for 2020 or 2024.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree. There is no one I want more to be president, but it is early in her career. She might not have enough followers or backing. I worry she too will become a perennial runner, and that might hurt her chances down the road. We NEED her eventually. But she has more power where she is, for now.
DeleteMildred
And also, I am not thrilled with H Clinton, but she might be the only chance for a dem in the office 2016.
DeleteMildred
She can do a lot for us in Congress, especially if the Dems can get their act together for the next election. If I were her, I wouldn't want to run for president, at least not at this point.
DeleteThe thing about Clinton is she's been through the wringer a few times now. Anything they throw at her can be neutralized since it already has been.
We need to be realistic. No candidate will be perfect and they will ALL disappoint their supporters at some point. We also don't live in a purely progressive nation. There are many so-called moderates and (unfortunately) many so-called conservatives.
We need someone who is electable and someone who will give us as much of our agenda as possible.
I can give you my dream team, but that doesn't mean that team can be elected to the oval office. They may not even make it out of the primaries.
I don't think Hillary is going to live long enough to run.
ReplyDeleteBut, if she does, I don't think she can muster the votes to win.
Too much corruption in elections now. An overwhelming number of people need to vote Democratic to even get CLOSE to a squeak-by win.
Re Warren as VP to anybody is ridiculous -- we need her voice in the Senate OR as President -- she is already rallying the Democratic troops.
Hillary exudes an air of entitlement. Where is she these days? Her "campaign" meetings have been ill-attended & her performance lackluster.
Warren has vision, fire in her belly, speaks the truth to power, wants to limit the way the 1% controls the economy. Hillary has money & the backing of the 1%.
I'm sick of money as the new God. It's as corrosive as religion.
Of course, Warren is now in the gun sights of the 1%... she's a big mouth to be silenced...
I'm sorry, do you think Hillary is going to be killed or that she's so old, she'll never make it another year?
DeleteShe's only 67.
(Money isn't the "new god." It's been god forever)
It is her brain health I worry about, not her age.
DeleteWarren would be a fool to run for president - she might win. And then she would "disappoint" all those Democrats who had pinned THEIR hopes on her. I stood on the lawn in front of the Senate on January 20, 2009, and witnessed Barack Hussein Obama be inaugurated as president. And then the Democratic sniping began. "He's not liberal enough for us", and "he promised this and hasn't gotten it done". "He's a disappointment", etc, etc. Millions of people had attached what they thought Obama should do, and when he couldn't do it, they were outraged. Never mind all the wonderful things he DID do, he's "disappointed" these once true-believers.
ReplyDeleteNo, Warren, who I met at a campaign stop in November for Tom Udall, is great. But she belongs in the Senate. She probably knows in her heart-of-hearts that if she was elected president, she'd ultimately disappoint her supporter.
As for me, I think Obama has done a marvelous job as president, but then I'm pretty cognizant of what the political process entails. If we say the Tea Baggers are ignorant of the political process, we must admit our fellow liberals can be even the same.
I agree, it's mighty hard to get 150M possible voters educated about the political process -- it should really start in elementary school. However, a couple of things I've noticed lately on progressive websites and blogs such as this one: it seems many folks have forgotten how hard Hillary tried to get a comprehensive healthcare law passed in 1993; how she presented her bona fides about women and children ("it takes a village" etc.) and of course her foreign policy experience and the aftermath of Benghazi where she stood up so well to the GOP idiots who tried to hard to tear her down and make a liar out of her. She has guts!
DeleteBut the other thing I want to mention is that Americans in general put FAR too much emphasis on the star quality of a potential president (do I like her/him or do I not), forgetting that a vote against any Democrat on the ticket is also a vote against the ability to appoint more progressives to the Supreme Court, not to mention a host of other progressive issues.
JMHO as a neighbour who cares.
I agree with the comment by phoebes in santa fe. I too hear the "disappointment" lobbed at our President O. And it makes me crazy. The man has accomplished an unbelievable amount of things in the time he's been in office, dealing with the obstructive temper tantrums of the Republicans in the Congress. And then to have his own party turn on him because he's not doing enough? Sheesh. Sorry, this post is about Elizabeth Warren, so I'll get to it. I just wanted to say "ditto" to phoebes.
ReplyDeleteAs for Senator Warren. I think she is outstanding. I like her in the Senate. I would love it if she could be elected President. She'd be fantastic. Until the same thing that has happened to President Obama would happen to her.
Wouldn't she be more effective where she's at? Sort of like the late Senator Ted Kennedy? She could become the Lioness of the Senate.
I will vote for Hillary Clinton, should she run, based solely on the fact she is a woman and I am so damned tired of not having a female elected to the highest office in the land. I don't think I'll hold my nose, but no way in hell do I want another Bush in the White House. Did you hear that Jeb Bush is now releasing 250,000 emails from his time as governor for the purpose of "transparency." Lord love a duck. It starts.
So, to recap: I think Elizabeth Warren is completely awesome. I think she should stay where she's at because I would be afraid her effectiveness would be seriously compromised should she run for President, or be elected to that office.
I think that without the many millions of campaign dollars the Wall Street politicians like HRC and, yes, even Biden can call on, an up-and-coming crusader-turned-politician like Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders would be wrecked in the same way Wendy Davis was in Texas.
ReplyDeleteThe "opposition research" orchestrated by the Karl Roves and Frank Luntzes (I imagine there are worse POSs than them in the GOP) would be brutal, and you know they're not above outright lying.
Until progressives can somehow orchestrate a roll-back of Citizens United and gain a progressive seat on SCOTUS, I'd just as soon people like Warren, Sanders, Sherrod Brown, Steve Israel, etc. continue as they've been doing.
Don't kid yourself, Wendy Davis wasn't wrecked in Texas because of money. She wrecked herself because she was absolutely the wrong candidate to run against a conservative in Texas, and her whole campaign was based off a stunt. She was a joke. I laughed my behind off at all the commentors here trying to make believe Davis was going to win even halfway thru election day.
DeleteI agree with most commenters here. Elizabeth Warren is MUCH better served where she is, where she can make a difference and feel free to speak out. Same with Bernie Sanders (although I do hope he primaries as a Dem, simply to get his message out. I think that's what he intends to do, but he would never be nominated. It's the message that's important). If Hillary is what we have, we MUST vote for her, holding our noses if we have to. The prospect of the Thugs taking over in 2016 is too dismal and destructive to imagine (and with the Koch boyz, who knows what would happen). And, please, as much as the popcorn factor would be off the charts, DON'T urge Dipshit of the North to run. The Conservangelical Dominionists would think nothing of rigging the election, then--oopsie--the WT dingaling "wins" and they gain their Seventh Mountain.
ReplyDeletesome interesting info in the comments:
ReplyDeletehttp://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2014/12/did-cromnibus-kill-wall-street-reform.html#
You know - when Elizabeth Warren speaks, she sounds like Sarah Palin THINKS Sarah Palin sounds. Elizabeth Warren is the woman Sarah Palin imagines herself to be.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Warren speaks in intelligently wrought specifics (rather than word-salad talking points) and then Senator Warren actually rolls up her sleeves and gets right down into the governing trenches and does the good work to back up her rhetoric.
Sarah Palin, on the other hand, speaks and sounds like "duhhh-ho ho, deeble-dee, derpy-derp derp duuu-huh-huh-huuuh" and blathers out talking points that she doesn't even comprehend. Then Sarah (who QUIT her governing job) jets off to get drunk with her hillbilly family - blissfully unaware that good ol' Sarah just did her best to get one of the bad guys elected.
Elizabeth Warren doesn't want to be president. She didn't even want to go into politics. She wanted to work for the government but Obama didn't nominate her because the Republicans would block her. People should leave her alone. She just wants to do her expert thing.
ReplyDeleteThe media is doing all the POTUS promotion of Elizabeth Warren. She would not win and is best left a member of the U.S. Congress where she'd remain very effective!
ReplyDeleteHillary Clinton is far more experienced than Elizabeth Warren and/or any of the Republicans that would be put up for 2016.
Hillary will win hands down! She has my vote and every one I know should she decide to run. She and Bill Clinton would be wonderful seeing again in the White House. Imagine - two POTUSs Clinton!
I love Elizabeth Warren. I really do. And I think she'd make a great president.
ReplyDeleteHowever.
The Democrats don't need a candidate that will be a great president. They need a candidate that can beat anyone the Republicans put forth.
Elizabeth Warren is not that person.
The only way we are going to keep this country from spiraling down into a Fascist State is to keep at least one branch of government in the hands of the Democrats. We've lost the senate. The Supreme Court is on the edge and will go Republican if our next president is a Republican. It is essential we keep a Democrat in the Oval office for the next decade or more and work to ensure at democrats gain back Congress.
Sorry, but this has less to do with who would be best but who can win. If we can get a candidate in the white house that can do both, fine. If not, we have to go with winning as they priority.
Your strategy doesn't work. The recent elections are proof of that. Only a few years ago, the Democrats wrested control of the government from the Republicans. Now we've handed it back to them. In 2016, the republicans will have overreached and the Senate will start to shift back to the Democrats.
DeleteThe really problem is that the American public only has two "buttons" to push to voice their frustration--the red one and the blue one. Are you frustrated and the Democrats happen to be in power? Press the red button. Are you frustrated and the Republicans happen to be in power? Push the blue one. Meanwhile, income inequality increases and the media (Left and Right) is feeding us with fear.
America, the land of the free (with the most prisoners per capita), where anyone can grow up to be President (If you're part of a well connected family)
Very smart post mialuppa. I totally agree. Its going to be a winning game.
DeleteDemocrats Tried To Shut Elizabeth Warren Up So She Fought Them Even Harder
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politicususa.com/2014/12/14/democrats-shut-elizabeth-warren-fought-harder.html
I hope she stays in the senate, we need someone to fight off those criminals in the financial sector.
ReplyDelete