Friends, my latest article, appearing in the
Daily Caller, explores Elizabeth Warren's struggling presidential candidacy. How is a woman who can't keep her own ethnicity straight supposed to capture the Democratic nomination? The answer: she isn't, and she won't. Read all about it...
The Primaries Haven't Started Yet,
But Elizabeth Warren Has Already Lost
Although the
titanic struggle in the Democratic Party between its moderate and
liberal/socialist wings has yet to be decided, one thing is certain:
the candidacy of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is going
nowhere.
Warren is a
darling of class-warfare-loving leftists. She inspired President
Obama's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and thus can take
partial credit for the tepid growth of the Obama years (especially
the tepid part).
Although her
“progressive” economic philosophy bears a striking resemblance to
the socialist vision of Bernie Sanders, Warren passed on endorsing
Sanders in 2016. Instead, towards the end of the nominating process
she embraced the stultifying candidacy of Hillary Clinton, assuming,
no doubt, that she would surely triumph over Donald Trump. When
Clinton fizzled, Warren got the worst of both worlds: Sanders
supporters viewed her as a sellout, while her association with
Hillary, a two-time presidential loser, paid no political dividends.
The
bad news kept coming. In October 2018, Warren decided that, in
preparation for a presidential run of her own, she had to
preemptively defuse the charge that for years she had falsely claimed
to have Native American ancestry. The method she chose was
unfortunate: she trumpeted genetic test results that indicated that
she is, at best, infinitesimally Indian — in fact, she may even be
less Indian than the
typical white American. Her claims to Native American heritage thus
became laughable, whereas before they were merely suspect. President
Trump's perceptive mockery of Warren as “Pocahontas,” and her
inability to respond effectively, sealed the judgment of the
mainstream media: Warren had been bested by the Belittler-in-Chief.
Nonetheless,
Warren persevered, and on February 9th
she launched her presidential campaign with great fanfare in
Lawrence, Massachusetts. Weeks before, her stilted appearance in a
campaign video, offering her bemused husband a beer, had elicited
guffaws, but in Lawrence her fiery speech roused the liberal base.
More than a few Democrats were wowed by her intellect and by her
obvious passion for throttling Wall Street fat cats.
Warren
struggled vainly, however, to break into the double digits in
nationwide polls of Democratic primary voters. In fact, since
February 9th,
Warren hasn't reached that critical threshold in a single poll, and
her trendlines have been pointing downwards. Alarm bells are sounding
in Taxachusetts, and with good reason.
The
worst was yet to come, however, as Bernie Sanders announced his own
candidacy on February 19th.
This was a double blow to Warren. Not only did Sanders threaten to
siphon off many affluent, educated white liberals who otherwise might
have found a natural home in the Warren campaign, but in addition
Sanders quickly surged to the top of the polls in the all-important
New Hampshire Democratic Primary. For Warren to capture the
Democratic presidential nomination, she absolutely must
win
New Hampshire (much of the state is essentially a bedroom community
for Boston: the heart of Warren country). Bernie's star power in the
Granite State makes that next to impossible. In fact, Warren is
currently running in fourth
place
in New Hampshire — behind even Senator Kamala Harris of California.
Ouch!
Additional
revelations about Warren's “Indianness” may prove to be her
undoing. The Washington
Post
unearthed evidence that she had, in 1986, listed her race on an
application to practice law in Texas as “American Indian.” The
persistent rumor that she had disingenuously claimed to be Native
American in the formative years of her legal and academic career, in
order to benefit from minority status, seemed to be confirmed. Her
recent sop to Native Americans — a promise that they too should be
“part of the conversation” on reparations — can't undo the
severe damage to her credibility.
Warren remains a force in the Democratic Party, and she remains near
the top of Democrats' vast field of Presidential candidates — for
now. It appears very unlikely, however, that she can win the
nomination. As more liberal and more authentic candidates steal her
thunder, Warren may eventually come to the conclusion that the best
she can hope for is the Vice-Presidential slot. Chances are rising
that she will drop out of the race before a single caucus or primary
vote is cast.
That would chagrin President Trump, who clearly relishes the idea of
running against a “phony Indian.” Warren's tin-eared version of
crypto-socialism would also have been a perfect foil for a President
who has achieved massive economic and job growth.
Alas, Republicans will have to look elsewhere for their nemesis.
Warren is a clunker.
She may not be the Democrats' biggest loser in 2020, but she is
their first.
Dr.
Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred
and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com.
He appears weekly on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480.
And here's the Daily Caller version:
