Today's Talker: Is Warren the candidate Democrats have been waiting for? Some doubt it.

Monday, December 31

Warren candidate Democrats have been waiting for?

Presidential victory for her means 'finding the balance between anger and aspiration' and tapping into voters failed by the economy.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., announced Monday that she would launch an exploratory committee for a 2020 presidential run.

Fixing the opportunity crisis

By Jim Kessler

Whether you agree or disagree with her, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's presumed entry into the presidential race will make the 2020 Democratic nomination more interesting. She's exceptionally smart, passionately committed to progressive principles, and has a deep understanding of policy. Her opening video shows a deft political touch, offering something for every type of Democrat and independent who want to mend, not end, capitalism. Like all candidates, she'll make mistakes, as she did with her ill-timed DNA test last fall. But her strong grassroots following and passion for the issues likely means she starts this race as one of the legitimate front-runners.

The big question for Warren is whether she can expand her appeal beyond those who are angry about the economy being rigged to include the much larger group of voters who are worried about the economy leaving them behind. Finding the right balance between anger and aspiration is key. Technology and globalization have been profoundly disruptive, shrinking the opportunity to succeed to a small slice of people and places. While the Digital Age is working just fine for the lucky few, most other Americans are facing a genuine opportunity crisis. People rightly wonder whether they and their kids will have a real shot at earning a good life where they live.

If Warren — or someone else — can convince voters that she has the ideas and the will to fight every day to ensure that everyone has a real opportunity to earn a good life no matter the ZIP code, race, gender or sexual orientation, that candidate will unite traditional progressives, moderates and independents to cruise to the nomination. And he or she will be unstoppable against President Donald Trump in the general election.

Jim Kessler is executive vice president for policy at Third Way, a center-left think tank. Follow him on Twitter @thirdwaykessler.

For Warren, there is a path to victory

By Lawrence Lessig

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has framed her campaign exactly as she should — focused on middle-class values and the "corruption" of the current system. If she can stay focused on these issues that unite America — and stay far from the fights that divide the Democratic Party — she could make herself the natural leader for her party and the nation.

"The system is rigged" is Warren's slogan. It is what America believes. If she can offer America a clear path to unrigging that rigged system, and therefore a path to rebuilding the middle class, she will be our next president.

Lawrence Lessig is Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Follow him on Twitter: @lessig

What others are saying

Chris Cillizza, CNN : "You have to wonder whether she missed her moment. Sen. Elizabeth Warren enters this 2020 contest as one of the fundraising leaders (she had more than $12 million in the bank at the end of November), one of only a handful of candidates regularly polling in the high single-digits or low double-digits in most national polling on the 2020 contest, and someone who has already built the start of real organizations in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire. And yet, the shine that surrounded her from her 2012 Senate win through (and even after) the 2016 election has been quite clearly tarnished, most notably by her botched attempt this fall to put questions about her Native American heritage behind her. ... That Warren decided to be the first major candidate to explore the race ... is in some ways an acknowledgment of her weakened state. The supposed favorites usually hold off announcing their runs until the spring — waiting to see how the field shakes out a bit (and letting the lesser-known candidates fight it out) before wading in."

Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post : "Warren is the first in a batch of Senate Democrats — Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, to name just four — likely to announce early in 2019. In this case, being first doesn't really confer any benefits, especially when one announces on New Year's Eve when most Americans aren't focused on politics. She enters the race with several advantages. While she is 69 years old, she is a fresher face and less crotchety than Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., whose frontal assault on capitalism puts him to the left even of Warren. She already put out a compelling anti-corruption platform that goes after everything from corporate lobbyists to President Donald Trump's emoluments. She is, even her opponents concede, whip-smart and exceptionally knowledgeable about bankruptcy and financial reform. In addition, she has already developed a network of supporters and is a proven fundraiser."

Natasha Korecki, Politico : "The anti-Warren narrative was written before the Massachusetts senator even announced she was exploring a presidential run. She's too divisive and too liberal, Washington Democrats have complained privately. Her DNA rollout was a disaster — and quite possibly a White House deal-breaker. She's already falling in the polls, and — perhaps most stinging — shares too many of the attributes that sank Hillary Clinton. In the year of the woman, it adds up to one unwelcome mat for the most prominent woman likely to be part of the 2020 field. But it also presents an unmistakable challenge: How does Warren avoid a Clinton redux — written off as too unlikable before her campaign gets off the ground? In interviews with Politico, nearly a half-dozen current and former Warren advisers and associates acknowledged the rap on her, even as they dismissed it as little more than Washington chatter. Any comparison to Clinton will recede, they said, once Warren hits the campaign trail in early states and weaves her own narrative in front of real voters."

What our readers are saying

As much as I would love for Warren to run and win, I don't think she can. As evidenced by the last election, America will not vote for a woman, even though she is the most qualified, intelligent and experienced. Basically, the American electorate seems to be ignorant, puritanical, small-minded and jock-centric. So, they can't seem to bring themselves to vote for a woman. Maybe she would succeed as vice president, but at this point in America, not president. Sad.

— Richard Blue

Should have run in 2016.

— Richard Ginn

Only in Trump World are a senator and a prior vice president considered irrelevant.

— Bobba Luie

This country doesn't need someone like Warren. She will only create another set of rules, taxes and policies to make us a weaker nation with no borders and jobs flocking overseas.

— Lou Creola

Her chances might depend on who the other Democrats run in primaries. If there are multiple far left like her in the mix to split the radical vote and only one moderate to get all those votes, the moderate probably wins.

— Larry Richards

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