I expect dozens of politicians for the 2020 election cycle (for Congress as well as president) to start officially announcing later in the week, or maybe next week. Kara Eastman (NE-02) and Elizabeth Warren (President) beat them to it. Kara announced she's running for Congress again-- Blue America's first endorsed candidate for the 2020 cycle-- a week or so ago and Elizabeth Warren announced that she's formed a presidential exploratory committee a few hours ago. Please watch Senator Warren's excellent announcement video up top.Earlier this morning I thought I would take some time and do the research for another in the DWT series, Worst Democraps Who Want To Be President, to welcome corporate ambititron Terry McAuliffe into the fray. His SuperPAC sent out an e-mail this morning: "We need Terry's voice in the arena and our PAC has already raised his profile in key early states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina through early ad buys." How insider and full of crap is that? It's all about me, me, me. And the image... I wonder how much they made the consultant who came up with it; for their sake, I hope not too much:I'll hold off on McAuliffe for the day. I like this frame from Elizabeth Warren's video so much better:Her brand new website doesn't have much verbiage yet-- almost none at all, in fact. But this biographical paragraph, all there is, is useful if you want to understand who she is and why she's running: "Elizabeth grew up on the ragged edge of the middle class in Oklahoma and became a teacher, a law professor, and a US Senator because America invested in kids like her. She’s spent her career taking on powerful interests and fighting to give every kid the same chance to succeed." Her video shows what we should all know already, unlike Claire McCaskill, Warren is one senator who is very much in touch with the zeitgeist. As you probably may know, I'm a Bernie supporter. But I'm a Warren supporter too. I wish they were running as a ticket.Associated Press pointed out this morning that "Now, as a likely presidential contender, she is making an appeal to the party’s base. Her video notes the economic challenges facing people of color along with images of a women’s march and Warren’s participation at an LGBT event."
Warren has the benefit of higher name recognition than many others in the Democratic mix for 2020, thanks to her years as a prominent critic of Wall Street who originally conceived of what became the government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.She now faces an arduous battle to raise money and capture Democratic primary voters’ attention before Iowa casts its first vote in more than a year. She has an advantage in the $12.5 million left over from her 2018 re-election campaign that she could use for a presidential run.Warren’s campaign is likely to revolve around the same theme she’s woven into speeches and policy proposals in recent years: battling special interests, paying mind to the nexus between racial and economic inequities.“America’s middle class is under attack,” Warren said in the video. “How did we get here? Billionaires and big corporations decided they wanted more of the pie. And they enlisted politicians to cut them a fatter slice.”
I fell in love with Warren in 2014 when I read one of her books, A Fighting Chance. I was so thrilled that there was someone with her intelligence and elegance fighting on our side. In the prologue, she wrote "Today the game is rigged-- rigged to work for those who have money and power. Big corporations hire armies of lobbyists to get billion-dollar loopholes into the tax system and persuade their friends in Congress to support laws that keep the playing field tilted in their favor. Meanwhile, hardworking families are told that they’ll just have to live with smaller dreams for their children. Over the past generation, America’s determination to give every kid access to affordable college or technical training has faded. The basic infrastructure that helps us build thriving businesses and jobs-- the roads, bridges, and power grids-- has crumbled. The scientific and medical research that has sparked miraculous cures and inventions from the Internet to nanotechnology is starved for funding, and the research pipeline is shrinking. The optimism that defines us as a people has been beaten and bruised. It doesn’t have to be this way. I am determined-- fiercely determined-- to do everything I can to help us once again be the America that creates opportunities for anyone who works hard and plays by the rules. An America of accountability and fair play. An America that builds a future for not just some of our children but for all of our children. An America where everyone gets what I got: a fighting chance."I've been an Elizabeth Warren partisan ever since, although a year earlier I had noted with enthusiasm that she led a fight against Obama's putrid deal with Republicans (and through them, Wall Street) on the student loan debacle, a bill-- likely masterminded by Biden-- which benefitted some students in the short term and crucified all students over time-- a really ugly, shameful "compromise." The deal on student loan interest rates was an unacceptable plan to sell out and profit off the backs of students. It jeopardized the long term well being of students, their families, and the country’s economy by making a college level education inaccessible for many, while locking those who do go to college into even more years of debt. Warren was one of the senators then willing-- enthusiastically willing-- to stand up to Obama, Biden and Wall Street and say that we needed legislation that protects students and promotes education and entrepreneurship, not a plan that raises rates and puts students at the mercy of the market. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie, Ed Markey, Jack Reed had the guts to go after their own misguided president. Remember, this was 2013. Bernie spoke out: "The White House is being disingenuous and is trying to sweep under the rug big increases in interest rates for students and parents in the near future. Because college costs are out of control and interest rates are rising, students are leaving college deep in debt or in some cases choosing not to continue their education because they cannot afford it."The Amendment offered by Warren and Reed failed 46-53 in the Senate, corrupt conservative Democrats Tom Carper (DE), Joe Donnelly (IN), Tim Kaine (VA), Mark Pryor (AR) killing it-- along with Angus King (I-ME) and Tom Harkin (IA-- don't ask me what kind of fucking bee got in her bonnet that day) by voting with every single Senate Republican; Claire McCaskill (MO) coincidentally got locked into the lady's room and didn't have to vote.After the roll call, Senator Warren sent out this brief statement, while Obama and his Wall Street pals celebrated: "Today's vote is over, but our fight to make college more affordable and a better deal for our students continues. I'm in this fight for the long haul-- we must invest in our kids, bring down the skyrocketing costs of college and tackle the more than trillion dollars in student loan debt that is crushing middle class families and threatening our economy. I am eager to work with the President and my colleagues to attack these problems head-on and find solutions that will provide a real shot at an education for all of our children."Elizabeth Warren by Nancy Ohanian
