We must not allow the ‘Hillary-fication’ of Elizabeth Warren

Senator Elizabeth Warren recently formed a presidential exploratory committee. For all practical purposes, she is running for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

Republicans are still living under the impression that the country is either Right Wing or Center Right. Too many Democrats believe it is a Center-left country. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I wish politicians and political operatives would do the necessary work to not only meet the populace where they are but give them hope that their leftward proclivities can materialize. In other words, do not allow the scare tactics of the plutocracy to force a vote for what is acceptable instead of what is desirable.

Elizabeth Warren is well aware of America’s pulse. She has been articulating it for some time now. Senator Warren gave a speech at Netroots Nation 2014 where she enumerated the issues that made it clear America is a Progressive country. I wrote then,

Elizabeth Warren proves with fact-based data that most of the American population are in fact Progressives/Liberals. She used the examples of the passage of minimum wage increases in four states even in a year that was devastating for Democrats.

Warren went on to enumerate progressive issue after progressive issue including student debt, election reform, Wall Street reform, and many other issues where irrespective of self-identification, Americans are progressive.

The Right was effective in demonizing the word Liberal and now the word Progressive. They needed to demonize the label because they knew what Americans’ real values were. If they could disassociate values from the proper moniker, they could win with deception. They have been successful in most instances thus far. After all, it has given them a near lock on the U.S. House of Representatives.

It is for this reason that real Liberals and Progressives must self-identify as such and articulate the values as Elizabeth Warren is doing. That will ‘rehabilitate’ the words under which real progress was attained in this country. It will initially be slow and painful. One must remember however that the decline was slow and methodical to ensure it was not noticed. ”

Unfortunately, Senator Warren ceded 2016 to Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and a few other candidates. She likely figured the cake was baked. Instead, she waited for her turn.

Can Warren rekindle that Progressive passion that Bernie Sanders almost won with, in 2018? The answer is a categorical yes. More so than anyone potentially running sans Bernie Sanders, she speaks to both people’s intellect and to their sense of compassion and fairness.

The Pocahontas caricature that Donald Trump started seeding is an issue that Progressives must not allow to cauterize in people’s psyche. The attack is a backdoor into an attempt to diminish her accomplishments without resorting to direct sexism. Some Democrats will see Warren as too anti-corporation especially given her Accountable Capitalism Act. They will label her as too Liberal and will likely attack her as they did Bernie Sanders insisting that she is on the fringe.

The media must be called out immediately as soon as they allow the Right to drive that narrative. Absent that, the story will metastasize just like “death panels, “throw grandma off a cliff” did with the Affordable Care Act. The media were instrumental in giving Hillary Clinton’s email issues legs it should never have.

Progressives cannot allow the Hillary-fication of Elizabeth Warren. It has already started. Politico’s article, “Warren battles the ghosts of Hillary.” is a case in point.

The anti-Elizabeth 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?

Ironically, this chatter is coming from the sect of Democrats who form the left rail of the track I spoke about in “Forget the left/right fight and start thinking derailment.” It makes said article, that more probative.

America is ready for politicians who they believe will fight for them. If they believe a Progressive leader will show the spine to support America’s real convictions, they will offer their support. It is clear that this cycle we will have at least two unabashed Progressives running in the Democratic primary. One hopes they derail the status quo.