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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANuARY 11, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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PRO-CON
Is Warren a viable presidential candidate?
Justin Wan/Sioux City Journal
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts speaks at a Saturday campaign event at Orpheum Theatre in Sioux City, Iowa.
PRO: Warren definitely viable, CON: She stumbled in starting
but many other Democrats are gate and may not recover
hankering to take on Trump
W
ASHINGTON — While the
she campaigns or speaks publicly.
campaign for president seems to
A result of her popularity is that Warren
be endless, the recent and very
was in the top 10 for fundraising in 2018,
public entry of Massachusetts Sen. Eliza-
despite not having a particularly competi-
tive re-election. That suggests she has the
beth Warren into the 2020 election marks
basic campaign finance viability needed to
a beginning.
Democrats are likely to have a large
compete.
primary field in their effort to defeat
All this adds up to make Warren a
incumbent President Donald Trump and
clearly viable, if we must use that term,
Warren is the first, but certainly not the
candidate for president.
last, qualified and politically viable candi-
Now, while Warren is the first viable
date to run.
candidate to enter the race, even though a
Viability is a word that pun-
few others missing some of those
dits, strategists and activists use
key criteria have already entered,
to narrow down large fields of
she will not be the last. Serious
candidates.
consideration will need to be given
However, you may remember
to other candidates as well.
that Trump’s first campaign was,
Assumed candidacies include
almost universally, considered not
former Vice President Joe Biden as
viable, so you need to understand
well as Sens. Bernie Sanders, Sher-
rod Brown, Kamala Harris, Cory
Don
that viability is ultimately deter-
Kusler
mined by voters.
Booker, Jeff Merkley, Amy Klobu-
char and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Several questions should be
asked and answered when consid-
There are many other well-
ering viability.
known Democrats considering as well,
Is the candidate well-known? Is the
including the popular Beto O’Rourke of
candidate experienced working on specific
Texas, who narrowly lost his initial try for
issues crucial to voters? Will she or he be
the U.S. Senate last year.
able to raise the money needed to com-
The list includes other elected offi-
cials such as Colorado Gov. John Hicken-
pete? Can they connect to primary voters
looper and former New York City Mayor
and to the wider general electorate?
I’d say viability, while not dependent
Michael Bloomberg.
on satisfying all of these criteria, certainly
Others expressing interest include for-
mer Attorney General Eric Holder, entre-
depends on satisfying most of them.
preneur Andrew Yang and another dozen
Warren is professionally accomplished
as a law professor and scholar, experi-
potential candidates.
enced as an advocate for working-class
While not delving into every candidate,
Americans in her work on fairness in
a few short examples of viable candidates
banking, and has served with distinction
would be Biden, who has already won
as a United States senator.
twice nationwide; Sanders, whose primary
And she has become well-known
challenge of Hillary Clinton was remark-
ably strong and wide in its support; and
through her outspoken advocacy, is
Brown, who has won tough contests in
beloved by primary voters in the progres-
sive wing of the Democratic Party and is
battleground Ohio as a progressive while
even a frequent target of Trump’s ire and
championing working-class issues includ-
ing trade.
ridicule.
Interestingly, she is also a former
The campaign for 2020 will be excit-
ing and an important decision will need to
Republican, adding to her potential cross-
over general election appeal.
be made. Voters are fortunate to have what
Warren’s experience advocating for
seems to be a strong, inspiring, diverse,
consumer protections, especially in bank-
progressive, and yes, viable field of can-
didates to choose from and Warren defi-
ing, allows her to deliver a genuine and
nitely fits that bill.
expert narrative on the damaging eco-
nomic divide that voters everywhere feel
Don Kusler is national director of
and are yearning to solve and she deliv-
Americans for Democratic Action, a pro-
gressive advocacy organization.
ers this message in an engaging way when
D
ALLAS — What if you entered a
share — so she’s trying to prove she’s
presidential race and no one really
“one of us.”
cared?
When Democrats run in deep red
states, they often appear in a political ad
That was the ho-hum reaction to
shooting a gun. It’s an effort to identify
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s
with red-state voters.
New Year’s Eve announcement that she
Warren’s in a blue state, so the for-
was forming a presidential exploratory
mer Harvard professor decided to host
committee.
an Instagram Live chat drinking a bottle
She’s the first Democrat to take the
of beer. It was painful to watch.
step and so the media widely covered it,
People who have never handled a gun
but she will have a lot of competition. Is
look awkward — and staged — when
she an odds-on favorite? Probably not.
they try. That’s how Warren looked with
First, politicians, like athletes in a
her beer bottle, asking her off-camera
long-distance race, can peak too soon
husband if he wanted one.
and find themselves fading as compet-
itors pass them by. That may be
Professor Warren may be a fre-
quent beer drinker — her favor-
one of Warren’s problems.
ite is Michelob Ultra, which alone
Four years ago she was the
may cost her some votes — but
darling of the Democratic Par-
ty’s small but growing progres-
Harvard professors would appear
sive wing. Dissatisfied with Hil-
more natural holding a glass of
lary Clinton, progressives urged
pinot noir.
Warren to enter the 2016 presi-
Progressives are drawn to
dential race.
Merrill
Sanders because he seems gen-
Matthews
uine; Warren’s efforts to appear
However, Senate Majority
genuine only make her appear less
Leader Harry Reid, a strong Clin-
ton supporter, reportedly offered Warren
so.
a Senate leadership position if she’d stay
Third, her claim to be part Native
out of the race. Warren accepted, disap-
American, which has been largely dis-
pointing her supporters at the time.
missed and widely ridiculed, may not be
her only exaggeration.
But Vermont senator and self-de-
scribed democratic socialist Bernie
For better or worse, every serious
Sanders made no such promise. He chal-
presidential candidate becomes the tar-
lenged Clinton and championed a very
get of opposition research, examining
every detail of a candidate’s background.
progressive message, drawing huge
Warren was once a Republican. Will
crowds of energized, young support-
ers, and giving Clinton a real run for her
researchers discover actions or state-
ments that contradict her claims to
money.
progressivism?
The result is Sanders became the de
If she handles future revelations as
facto head of the progressives and War-
ren became yesterday’s news. Now she’s
poorly as she has her Native American
almost no one’s first choice.
claim, she may be done for.
Recent polls show Joe Biden, Beto
Elizabeth Warren is a successful,
O’Rourke and Sanders as the three
intelligent woman who worked her way
up from a lower-middle-class childhood.
top Democratic presidential contend-
ers. Economic forecaster and publisher
She has a good narrative.
Kiplinger puts Warren in eighth place.
But presidential campaigns are about
And a recent poll published by The Hill
energizing voters and attracting hun-
dreds of millions of dollars in campaign
has her in low single digits.
contributions. If a candidate can’t do
In other words, she’s gone from top
those things, then he or she needs to bow
to flop — or close to it. The election is
out early.
two years off so Warren may be able to
Warren has time to prove she can
regain her mojo, but beer soirees and
do both and take the lead. But for now
dubious ancestry claims haven’t
helped.
she seems to be chasing the progressive
Which brings us to the second point:
movement rather than leading it.
genuineness.
Merrill Matthews is a resident
Warren is considered a little cold and
scholar with the Institute for Policy
aloof — a criticism both she and Clinton
Innovation.