Elizabeth Warren has spent the past year making a series of below-the-radar moves that would put her in prime position to run for president in 2020 if she decides to.
The liberal icon and Republican bete noire has amassed more money in her campaign war chest than nearly any senator in modern history, groomed political connections with Democrats who've been skeptical of her in the past, and worked to bolster her bipartisan and foreign policy bona fides.
It’s part of a conscious break from the heads-down posture that Warren purposefully maintained during the first five years of her Senate career, a wide range of Democrats close to the Massachusetts senator and her tight-knit political operation told POLITICO. And it’s representative of Warren’s tricky navigation between the wishes of advocates who want her cutting a clear path to 2020, and supporters who think her best bet is to run up the score in her reelection race this year.
The balancing act is evident everywhere, as Warren takes steps she never did when activists were pressuring her to jump into the 2016 presidential race.
Okay I am posting this here in order to open up a discussion on the pros and cons of a Warren campaign.
I'll start.
Pros:
- Warren already has a built in base of support of people who wanted her to run in 2016.
- She is one of he Democrats with the best name recognition, and if she runs against Trump she needs to be recognizable.
- She is whip smart.
- She has real successes to tout during a campaign that voters can easily understand and relate to.
- She is a woman during a time when women are taking center stage.
- The only real knock that Trump can use against her is that Pocahontas thing, and seriously nobody gives two shits about that.
- Her age. Voters looking for change might balk at putting another septuagenarian into the White House.
- Inexperience with foreign relations or the military. (Though in replacing Trump this might not matter.)
- She is a woman. (This will still likely turn some voters off.)
- She agreed with Donna Brazile that the 2016 primary was rigged in Hillary's favor. (I am not going to lie, this one really pisses me off.)
- She also called on Al Franken to resign and that is going to be a sore spot for a lot of Dems.
For the record none of the cons that I have listed are in any way a deal breaker for me.
I am not about purity tests, nor am I a single issue voter.
I want the best candidate that has the best chance of winning, and Warren has a lot of pluses in her column.
Thoughts?
Source http://ift.tt/2Cxuchl
