We’ve covered Biden, Bernie, Bloomberg, and now it’s time for someone whose name doesn’t have a B in it. Since my dearly departed Kamala Harris, Warren is now the sole woman in the race who actually has a chance at winning. Let’s take a look at what her winning would mean…
–Crazy, batshit over-reactions from rich people. Corporate America has let it be known that a Warren Presidency is something they do not want to see. One Wall Street broker even said that the “markets may not even open” the day after she wins.
Even though Warren and Bernie Sanders share similar economic agendas (taking on nearly every powerful group in America), something about Warren seems to scare The Powers That Be even more than Bernie. It’s easy to say “because she’s a woman,” but I think it’s that she’s more likely to actually get things accomplished than Sanders. That may be why the billionaires are so afraid of her that they forced a half-hearted Deval Patrick to declare at the 11th hour, and Michael Bloomberg seems content to set money on fire in his own Quixotic quest to beat her. Of course, the 2% wealth tax Warren wants to impose would actually be less money than people like the Koch Brothers will spend to “stop her” but why let reality intrude on anti-socialism hysteria.
–About 1/10th of her agenda gets enacted…which is still huge. Unlike Bernie (who isn’t really a policy wonk and prefers to talk in broad strokes with vague methods of how he’ll actually accomplish anything), Warren is that persnickety, pain-in-the-ass Class President type who can get something done through sheer force of will and–let’s be honest–annoying people into doing it. She will push and push and push until Mitch McConnell will probably die of “flabbergastration” before Warren finishes Year One.
She wants to take on Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Telecom, the entirety of Private Health Insurance (only the 3rd most powerful industry in America), our presence in the Middle East, lobbying as we know it, the “revolving door” (how most politicians actually make their money), dark money, Big Gun, the military industrial complex, Fossil Fuels, the under-taxation of the 1%, student loan debt past and present, college tuition, Big Banks, and Wall Street first and foremost. Even relatively obscure things like giving ambassadorships to campaign donors is something she’s being strident against.
In all likelihood, we’d wind up with the most conscientious President since Jimmy Carter–who notoriously struggled to get anything done–and even though I don’t think most of her agenda will be enacted, I like her odds more than Bernie, and do believe she’ll work 24/7 to get some things done for the middle class.
–Foreign policy will be…not her focus. Warren isn’t interested in America’s role in the world–not really. She talks a little bit about human rights internationally (her biggest focus), but I think you can forget her really sticking it to Russia or China on just about anything. Relations with NATO and most major European leaders will be much improved, and she’s also not going out of her way to piss off Israel (unlike Sanders). Although she wants it for a drastically different reason (fixing America domestically), she basically wants the same thing Vladimir Putin wants: America to retreat from the world stage.
Overall: Even if I’m skeptical the bulk of Warren’s agenda will be enacted or is even feasible (forgiving student loan debt and eliminating private insurance will probably cost more than Yang’s foolhardy Universal Basic Income), I like that she’s at least thinking big. Domestically, her Presidency will be much more exciting than Biden’s, but perhaps less exciting foreign-policy wise. Still, she has a great way of advocating for structural change without browbeating people (unlike Bernie), and may be more likely to actually accomplish a few big things which is more than economic liberals have gotten in 50 years. BUT I still don’t think Warren (who was a Republican until late middle age) really understands how much you need to schmooze other Democrats to get anything done. She has a reputation for being aloof and guarded. And supposedly, a lot of Obama’s former circle don’t like her, and that’ll need to change to get anything done. Excitement level for a Warren Presidency: B