The ruling oligarchs have decided Bernie Sanders won’t be the nominee, so they’re ignoring him and attacking Elizabeth Warren. But Robert Reich, a liberal commentator, exaggerates the fears of the establishment.
Warren’s plans have riled many wealthy people, but they don’t abolish anyone’s power, so they are hardly status threatening. However, a badly-designed study (see Reich’s article) is a poor way to attack her . . . Well, no, I guess that is the way to do it. They’re damning her through innuendo rather than with facts, and manufactured hysteria is hard to counter.
I am impressed that Warren has detailed plans; every candidate should have them. I don’t believe her plans address the root cause of our problems, but she’s done the preliminary work most candidates never do, so we know she has mastered the subject matter of a wide range of issues. I can’t say that for any other candidate except Sanders.
I don’t think, though, that Warren intends to govern from her plans; they are political documents designed to attract primary voters. The plans are more liberal than Warren, who still “leans into” her Republican past, normally finds comfortable. I won’t be surprised if many of the details of her proposals are “lost in the shuffle” if she transitions from candidate to president. By then, of course, that won’t embarrass her, because the election will be over and only policy wonks and historians will remember the details.
She’s a self-declared “capitalist to my bones”, who won’t restructure the economy in a way that threatens the ruling class, even if they sometimes pretend to believe otherwise. The Economist, a conservative magazine, notes that she’s the “savior of capitalism,” who fervently believes in markets. Perhaps she’ll be like FDR, who saved capitalism despite the objections of capitalists. Sure, the über wealthy may pay more taxes if Warren is president; sure Wall Street will have to deal with more regulations and oversight, but the one percent will still control the game. They’re making noise to see if Warren will panic and lower her proposed tax rate. She’s already backed away from Medicare for All.
It’s primary season, and Warren is attempting to attract the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Sadly, that’s a comparatively small group of people: there are far more Democrats who self-identify as moderate than liberal. Warren’s problem is two-fold: liberals like Sanders and moderates don’t engage in the primaries.
Warren is a moderate (at best), but she needs liberals to win the nomination. Sanders’ appeal to liberals is complicating Warren’s race, driving her further to the left than her natural instincts might otherwise allow. She’s also battling the underlying bias against women leaders, so she’s using detailed plans to prove her competence.
Over the next few months, we’ll find out if Warren has successfully appealed to enough liberals to win the Democratic Party’s nomination. I’m sure she has a plan for that.
(*The same isn’t true of the Republican Party. There are far Republicans who self-identify as extremely conservative than there are Republicans who self-identify as moderate.)
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