It seems everyone on the activist left of the Democratic party wants Elizabeth Warren to challenge Hillary Clinton. The New York Working Families Party, born out of the infamous and disbanded ACORN empire, has endorsed her. A new YouGov poll paid for by Warren backers purports to show that once voters are familiar with the stances of both women, Warren will beat Hillary in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
Warren, who was elected to the Senate from Massachusetts only four years ago, has refused entreaties to run, although she always uses the present tense (âI am not running for presidentâ), which gives her some wiggle room. After all, at age 65 she canât wait forever if she wants to reach the White House.
...Warrenâs reluctance probably has more to do with the reach and ruthlessness of Team Hillary. âHer command of the Democratic machinery, from fundraising to grass-roots organizing, is so extensive that almost everyone else is understandably intimidated about even testing their talents against her,â the Washington Post observed of Mrs. Clinton.
...potential rivals are scared of running is that they know Team Hillary pulled its punches against Obama in 2008 â in large part because he was African American.
...Itâs fairly certain that Elizabeth Warren, if she ran, would not receive such a pass from Team Hillary
...A ready-made army of liberal bloggers and surrogates would stand ready to belittle Warrenâs lack of political experience and foreign-policy credentials.
And then there would be the character shots. Anti-big-business liberals would be reminded frequently that for all her populist rhetoric, Warren opposes a bill to audit the Federal Reserve and supports funding for the Export-Import Bank, a favorite of crony capitalists.
Then there is the âFauxcahontasâ scandal. In April 2012, the Boston Globe broke the news that while Warren never claimed American Indian heritage as an undergraduate or law-school student, she began doing so in her 30s as she sought jobs at highly competitive law schools such as Harvard.
The Association of American Law Schools requires law professors to answer ethnicity questions on its questionnaire. Only Warren can release a copy of her original questionnaire, and she has refused to do so. Back-channel Hillary surrogates would make hay out of that.
Then there is the scandal-in-waiting concerning her sleazy scholarship while a law professor.