Fast forward three decades, and Elizabeth Warren is a senator from Massachusetts who is running for president. She holds the seat that Ted Kennedy once held, but she had to wrest it away from the Republican who won the special election after Senator Kennedy died. She wasn't a politician before that, nor is she a life-long Democrat. She is, however, the most knowledgeable person in Congress about the banking, securities, and insurance industries. Only Representative Katie Porter in the House comes close to her knowledge on how all these things work, and Porter is a freshman.
When my conservative sibling criticized Warren for claiming she has native blood, I asked her if we did. According to our mother, her mother's grandmother was Native American, so either she had to say yes, or she had to claim our mother is a liar. Warren did not negotiate a six-figure salary to teach because she said she had native blood. She got the job because she was renowned for her knowledge on consumer protection and the operations of businesses from which consumers need protection. That doesn't play well into my sibling's narrative, so she continues to criticize Warren for what we also do.
I like Elizabeth Warren and will even go this far: if Elizabeth Warren is the Democratic nominee for president in 2020, I will vote for her. Unfortunately, I don't think that will be enough for her to win.
One of the things that establishment Democrats are going to need to get used to is that the people showing up at rallies for Bernie Sanders are not interested in "voting blue no matter who." These are people who love Tulsi Gabbard and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, too. They love Tulsi because she gave up her seat on the party's national committee in 2016 to openly support Bernie Sanders. It was the ethical thing to do. They love AOC because in 2018 she took on a super-delegate who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. She took him on because he voted for Clinton.
That is going to be something that Senator Warren will not be able to overcome. I will vote for her despite that she was a super-delegate who voted for Clinton in 2016, but I have also known of her for three decades. I suspect that many, if not most, of the people who go to Bernie's rallies will not be so forgiving.
She is a bit more progressive than most establishment candidates, but she falls short of being progressive from the viewpoint of progressive voters. Her idea to pay for Medicare for All with an employee head tax will keep the burden for the entire cost of health care upon the working class and small business owners. Bernie's plan is to increase taxes 4% on all earnings above $29,000 regardless of how it is earned. Both plans are projected to cover the costs, but Warren's plan will convert current insurance payments into a tax. On the other hand, employers could pay the insurance premiums they currently pay to the employees as pay raises. Sanders' plan would consequently serve to also stimulate the economy.
However, it doesn't really matter how Elizabeth Warren stacks up against Bernie Sanders when it comes to qualifications and quality of plans. It only matters that she, or whoever the nominee is, will need the votes of the people who support Bernie Sanders in order to win the office of president in 2020.
This is no secret, which is why it is so confounding to those of us who support Bernie. The plan in 2016 was to throw the nomination to the party favorite with the presumption that her primary opponent's supporters would certainly choose her over Trump. It didn't work then, and it won't work now.
To my chagrin, Senator Warren gets ripped as badly as any of the other establishment candidates by other people who support Bernie. They don't care about her consumer protection background. They don't care that she offers plans that are fiscally sound. All they care about is that she betrayed Bernie in 2016, and they are not going to forgive that.
It's their right to do that. Those are their votes to cast, or, as in 2016, not cast.
There will be a more organized push by many supporters of Sanders to vote for him as a write-in candidate. He will likely oppose that, but it's already being talked about. I think that is a good idea. Why vote blue no matter who when that plays into the hands of the establishment? Much of this is about the money for the elected officials. If they want the money, it will cost them the votes. If they want the votes, they need to give up the money.
People are growing tired of their interests being placed behind the interests of wealthy donors, and then having it explained that they aren't smart enough to understand the inner workings. Elizabeth Warren has not done that. She has taken on the rich and powerful with fervor. She works hard in the Senate to level the playing field for consumers. However, many Bernie supporters will never take that deep of a look at her.
What needs to be seen by people who identify as Democrats is that the 6,000 people who show up at Warren's rallies can join the 25,000 who show up at Bernie's rallies, but Bernie is the only one of those two who has a shot at the entire 31,000 votes.
I like Elizabeth Warren, but she will not draw the votes of the most ardent supporters of Bernie Sanders. That will likely cost her the election in 2020.
