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MohRokTah

(15,429 posts)
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 02:28 PM Jul 2014

Elizabeth Warren isn't running for president, and that's a good thing

Markos Moulitsas takes the hammer and hits the nail on the head. We need Elizabeth Warren in the Senate to help us in moving the party to the left:

Elizabeth Warren isn't running for president, and that's a good thing

It's kind of comical. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has repeatedly said, over and over again, that she's not running for president. She's said so emphatically:

I am not running for president. Do you want to put an exclamation point at the end of that?


Yet people continue to cling to the hope that she is playing coy. "She spoke in the present tense, which means she's open to changing her mind in the future!" Um, no. She's not. And I'll tell you why, below the fold.

And I'll also tell you why it's a GOOD thing that she's not running.

-%-


You have to read the rest in Markos' diary.
49 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Elizabeth Warren isn't running for president, and that's a good thing (Original Post) MohRokTah Jul 2014 OP
There are far better places where her bright mind & remarkable skills are better served. misterhighwasted Jul 2014 #1
I agree with this ... sometimes being president doesn't always wield the most RKP5637 Jul 2014 #2
I don't think she is either and I agree that it's for the best tularetom Jul 2014 #3
This^ Precisley. misterhighwasted Jul 2014 #14
She's not being coy when she stands next to the new Mayor of Boston and tells the people of the MADem Jul 2014 #4
Many of the people who want her to run against her wishes are GOPers Cali_Democrat Jul 2014 #5
She's been perfectly clear about this. If she went back on this, she'd be just another politician. onehandle Jul 2014 #6
+1 Jamaal510 Jul 2014 #33
Yes, she'll be sooo effective moving the party left with another whatchamacallit Jul 2014 #7
Don't you get it? EW is so popular that no one will ever talk about the next president. Dawgs Jul 2014 #9
I'll say this bigtree Jul 2014 #8
Yes... They want her to be Paul Wellstone Armstead Jul 2014 #35
DU rec... SidDithers Jul 2014 #10
+1 SunSeeker Jul 2014 #39
I'm fine with that. LWolf Jul 2014 #11
I suspect that's correct. MineralMan Jul 2014 #12
If it wasn't for Warren's steadfast refusal to say "I am not and will not run for 2016", then... ChisolmTrailDem Jul 2014 #13
And, we need Hillary out of the White House to keep the party from moving right. Tierra_y_Libertad Jul 2014 #15
Condsidering the polling, we as a party want to move to the right. Which, to me... ChisolmTrailDem Jul 2014 #17
I often wonder who they are polling MissDeeds Jul 2014 #36
Senate Majority Leader BrotherIvan Jul 2014 #16
The Lioness of the Senate! ChisolmTrailDem Jul 2014 #18
Oh Yeah! BrotherIvan Jul 2014 #20
I want her to have a presidential microphone. But, if it's not to be, let her roar and ChisolmTrailDem Jul 2014 #21
Agree BrotherIvan Jul 2014 #23
Yes. I long for the Statesmen of the past. 'Teddy Kennedy' misterhighwasted Jul 2014 #29
You never loved her, MohRokTah! randome Jul 2014 #19
I ADORE Elizabeth Warren! MohRokTah Jul 2014 #22
I suppose it depends on how successful she is in helping get Dems elected in 2014. GeorgeGist Jul 2014 #24
Did you read Markos' diary? MohRokTah Jul 2014 #25
I think she'll have more power in the Senate , at least when it comes to regulating the octoberlib Jul 2014 #26
Right now, she is able to help those running for Senate, such as Grimes in KY... joeybee12 Jul 2014 #27
I agree! Spazito Jul 2014 #28
There is a great motivation of some in DU sadoldgirl Jul 2014 #30
Well I think the motivation is the Hillary inviability factor. zeemike Jul 2014 #32
Markos "DailyKos" Moulitsas is a former Republican and George W. Bush supporter, right? blkmusclmachine Jul 2014 #31
Former Republican, yes. George W. Bush supporter, NO MohRokTah Jul 2014 #34
Hillary is running and that's not a good thing. raindaddy Jul 2014 #37
I doubt any serious candidate will emerge to challenge her in 2016. MohRokTah Jul 2014 #38
You're probably right... raindaddy Jul 2014 #44
I hope no Democratic Senator runs. We need every single one of them. n/t pnwmom Jul 2014 #40
Head of the Treasury Department would be nice. PADemD Jul 2014 #41
Markos' predictions are usually wrong. Dawgs Jul 2014 #42
I didn't see any predictions in his diary. eom MohRokTah Jul 2014 #43
k&r for Elizabeth Warren. n/t Laelth Jul 2014 #45
Markos has obviously been reading DU - ". . . yet people continue to cling . . ." DrDan Jul 2014 #46
She has started an important dialogue loyalsister Jul 2014 #47
This has been my position all along drmeow Jul 2014 #48
I don't think Warren could win with Hillary in the field.... NCTraveler Jul 2014 #49

misterhighwasted

(9,148 posts)
1. There are far better places where her bright mind & remarkable skills are better served.
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 02:34 PM
Jul 2014

She is superior.
I do agree with this post.

RKP5637

(67,032 posts)
2. I agree with this ... sometimes being president doesn't always wield the most
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 02:36 PM
Jul 2014

power in the big Long term picture.

tularetom

(23,664 posts)
3. I don't think she is either and I agree that it's for the best
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 02:43 PM
Jul 2014

She's way too smart to get stuck in a no win job like that. She can accomplish more as an influential senator than she ever could in what has sort of devolved into a ceremonial office over the past 25 years or so.

I voted for Obama because he was smart. I was wrong. If he had really been smart he would seen that he was going to get blamed for all the fuckups of his predecessor.

A smart person would never want that job. Let Hillary Clinton have it. She can spout platitudes for four years while we concentrate on getting good democrats into congress.

misterhighwasted

(9,148 posts)
14. This^ Precisley.
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:05 PM
Jul 2014

I see what has happened to Pres Obama. How hobbled his policies have become.
What legacy he may have wished to leave this Nation has been sidelined, blocked or taken apart piece by piece until what was left was nothing like his original intent.
Whatever position Senator Warren chooses to accept in the next term, I only pray that it is one in which she is given full latitude to change what this Nation has become into what it could become.
She has the smarts & kajones to carry this out.

Hillary can be the figurehead.
Warren is the machine that will turn the wheels forward

MADem

(135,425 posts)
4. She's not being coy when she stands next to the new Mayor of Boston and tells the people of the
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 02:45 PM
Jul 2014

Commonwealth that she "pledges" to finish her term.

That's what the Warren cheerleaders do not understand. They see her from a national perspective. They have this idea that she waltzed into the Senate race, buffed her nails, and kicked Scott Brown to the curb with a hand tied behind her back. They don't realize that it was touch and go for a long while, there, and that if not for some serious GOTV and a LOT of smiling/dialing, driving around, fund raising, rallying, talking up and exhorting, Scott Brown might have kept that seat. It got VERY ugly for a bit-it was not a shoo-in by any means. And this was in LIBERAL Massachusetts. The shit that was flung at her in that race (the Native American thing, especially...and they didn't even touch her first marriage, but they were ready to roll on that score, I'm sure) was distracting and it would be brand new to the nation at large. She was painted as a liar, someone who took advantage of the system, who got favors that were undeserved, you name it. It was hideous. And Markos is right--she would get crushed.

I've been saying for months this same thing--she's got clout in the Senate. Why give it up on a roll of the dice? I don't think she can win--she is a strong personality, but I have seen her stumble, and it won't play well on the national stage, where forgiveness is not easily obtained.

Good discussion at that Orange site--too bad the place is unnavigable/unreadable Just not user friendly, IMO.

 

Cali_Democrat

(30,439 posts)
5. Many of the people who want her to run against her wishes are GOPers
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 02:49 PM
Jul 2014

Remember the recent Robert Costa article in which that GOP hack praises Warren and says she's a threat to Hillary? He was obviously trying to use her to divide Dems.

That's the goal of people like him. Use Warren to divide Dems.

Divide and conquer.

onehandle

(51,122 posts)
6. She's been perfectly clear about this. If she went back on this, she'd be just another politician.
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 02:51 PM
Jul 2014

Losing credibility instantly.

I think she's better than that.

whatchamacallit

(15,558 posts)
7. Yes, she'll be sooo effective moving the party left with another
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 02:51 PM
Jul 2014

centrist / corporate / neocon president at the helm.

 

Dawgs

(14,755 posts)
9. Don't you get it? EW is so popular that no one will ever talk about the next president.
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 02:55 PM
Jul 2014

I mean in 15/16 all of the talk in the media will be about Warren.. not the 12 or so pols that are actually running.

indeed.

bigtree

(85,917 posts)
8. I'll say this
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 02:55 PM
Jul 2014

. . . it will be a great loss if she doesn't run.

I think this statement of hers plays into the schemes of those who want to direct the focus of our presidential field back to establishment candidates, more than it does some good.

As far as 'people being coy' is concerned, I think the wishes of those looking to draft Warren reflect a growing desire for our party to move beyond the status quo, establishment politics that candidates like Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden, for example, represent.

Recognizing that, I wonder at the urgency of some folks in discouraging or ridiculing such a hope.

 

Armstead

(47,803 posts)
35. Yes... They want her to be Paul Wellstone
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 04:25 PM
Jul 2014

A "conscience" of the Democratic Party, saying and doing the things the WHOLE FUCKING PARTY should be standing for and fighting for -- but won't because the "Centrists" are too corrupt and/or timid to actually support.

Therefore, she becomes like the valve on the top of a steam kettle, easing the pressure but not stopping the water from boiling. That way the Corporate Centrists still get to call the shots, while "placating" liberals and progressives.

I should add two points:
1)If Warren really doesn't want to run, she shouldn't.
2)I loved Paul Wellstone. The above remarks are not intended to be critical of him in any way.





LWolf

(46,179 posts)
11. I'm fine with that.
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:00 PM
Jul 2014

Run or not...I'm fine with that either way. I look forward to actual candidates actually declaring, AFTER the mid-terms.

Warren not running does NOT, however, make HRC more palatable.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
12. I suspect that's correct.
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:04 PM
Jul 2014

Being a U.S. Senator is a pretty good gig, really. You have a good deal of power, but without the extreme pressure of the Presidency. You can influence the course of affairs without being attacked on a daily basis or worrying about a hidden assassin around every corner. It's the second most powerful political position there is, really.

The question is: Why on Earth would anyone run for the presidency?

I think it's pretty certain that Elizabeth Warren isn't going to run. Why should she? She'll be able to get re-elected to her Senate seat easily and continue doing what she's been doing. It's a great, powerful position.

 

ChisolmTrailDem

(9,463 posts)
13. If it wasn't for Warren's steadfast refusal to say "I am not and will not run for 2016", then...
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:05 PM
Jul 2014

...I would be 100% on board with kos's analysis. It is hard to disregard her refusal to put it to rest once and for all. Myself and others like me who say ""She spoke in the present tense, which means she's open to changing her mind in the future!" are not doing so because we're naive or stupid. We're doing it because we know what the meaning of "is" is.

When she says that outright, Markos will have my complete and undivided agreement.

Also, let's not forget that Hillary is also not running for 2016. If she doesn't announce, or has a huge mis-step, then Warren has to know that the party will need a leader. I don't hate Hillary. I will support her if she is our nominee. And, I agree that Warren is optimally positioned to leave her mark on history. I am being selfish in a way though. The first time I saw EW was on Charlie Rose and at the end of that interview I was saying "Wow! Presidential material right there!" I fell in love with her. Other than the fact that she's human, I've found no reason to feel otherwise ever since. If she doesn't want it, fine. Until, though, she makes a definitive statement that she's never running (or at least not in 2016), then I will hold out hope. Until then, I'll be happy watching her move us back home where we belong.

 

ChisolmTrailDem

(9,463 posts)
17. Condsidering the polling, we as a party want to move to the right. Which, to me...
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:09 PM
Jul 2014

is kinda creepy and a little scary.

 

MissDeeds

(7,499 posts)
36. I often wonder who they are polling
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 04:30 PM
Jul 2014

Is it a broad sampling over a wide demographic, or targeted to "prove" a desired outcome? I live in the reddest part of the country and don't know a single Democrat who wants the party to move to the right. My friends in blue states are also seeing a resistance for a move to the right. Polling is very subjective and often skewed. I really don't put much stock in it, but that's just me.

BrotherIvan

(9,126 posts)
20. Oh Yeah!
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:15 PM
Jul 2014

C-Span would become a number #1 rated show. Who needs Fox fiction when you can watch the real deal educating the public on the right way to fix our problems. I want her to have a really, really loud microphone.

 

ChisolmTrailDem

(9,463 posts)
21. I want her to have a presidential microphone. But, if it's not to be, let her roar and
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:21 PM
Jul 2014

and devour her prey!



BrotherIvan

(9,126 posts)
23. Agree
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:28 PM
Jul 2014

And let it be known that if the Party tries to silence her, I will have nothing more to do with them. She speaks for ME.

misterhighwasted

(9,148 posts)
29. Yes. I long for the Statesmen of the past. 'Teddy Kennedy'
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:46 PM
Jul 2014

I see that same principle in Senator Warren.
Something kindly familiar about her.

AND I want nothing more than to see the GOP who did whatever dirty trick they could to destroy President Clinton.
The Bush mofia that was absolutely shocked by the election of Bill Clinton. The way they tried to silence First Lady Hillary. The mocking of their daughter.
I recall that election. Pa Bush thought he had it won all along. Perot entered the race & the media focus played to that duo meanwhile Bill Clinton was busy winning the support of the voters.
I watched from downtown Denver as Clinton spoke. I got there early & watched as the crowd began to amass. people just kept arriving, walking from the downtown area. Young, old, employees from the office towers behind me & the crowd grew to over 30,000 to hear this unknown candidate speak. It was that observation that day, that I knew he would be elected.

I want to see Hilary sit in the Oval office as US President for all the shit they gave this family. I want the Bush family mofia to recoil & writhe with the reality of that moment.
You see, Bill Clinton was the one who interrupted the Pa Bush's grand plan for this Nation. Clinton was not supposed to win the election. So yes, the Bush family mofia legacy had to be postponed for eight years. And of course to insure that no one would again interfere with the Bush plan, Bush boy, George was chosen to represent. And they would see to it that the thing surely would be rigged in their favor. And that is exactly what happened.
Mafia, Oligarchs, Multinational Corporations & Bush pals everyone of them. The demise of the American worker, the great protected Nation of ours was quickly moved on a path tailor made for & by the biggest thieves the country had ever known.

I want Hilary Clinton as our President & the great minds like Elizabeth Warren to enter the arena & reverse the damage done by the corruption of the Bush Family Mofia.
amen.

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
19. You never loved her, MohRokTah!
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:11 PM
Jul 2014


Sadly, this thread will be 'evidence' that you are wholeheartedly against her.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Treat your body like a machine. Your mind like a castle.[/center][/font][hr]
 

MohRokTah

(15,429 posts)
22. I ADORE Elizabeth Warren!
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:22 PM
Jul 2014


It was all the left could do to get her to run for the Senate. Now that she's there, let's keep her there!

GeorgeGist

(25,294 posts)
24. I suppose it depends on how successful she is in helping get Dems elected in 2014.
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:28 PM
Jul 2014

If she's seen as a productive leader on the national stage, the pressure for her to challenge Hillary may become a tsunami.

eta: Personally I'd prefer someone of the next generation in line. I think 3 presidencies by one generation is enough.

 

MohRokTah

(15,429 posts)
25. Did you read Markos' diary?
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:33 PM
Jul 2014
1. She's not narcissistic enough to run

Do you realize what kind of ego you need to think that you're the best person to run the free world? I know Warren well. In fact, she's one of only a handful of politicians I actually consider a genuine friend. And no, she doesn't have that kind of ego. The most we had was her desire to create and run the Consumer Protection Finance Bureau.

2. We had to drag her kicking and screaming into the Senate race

Running for president isn't easy. It's a massive undertaking, with a massive emotional and physical toll. She ran for Senate in a small state ("Not small, compact and efficient!" she once told me), where she could sleep in her bed every night. Some people are cut out for campaign life on the road. Warren isn't.


Markos knows her and considers her a friend. She just isn't egotistical enough to actually want the job.

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
26. I think she'll have more power in the Senate , at least when it comes to regulating the
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:39 PM
Jul 2014

financial industry. ETA: I'm not a fan of Hillary Clinton and would love it if EW runs. It's just that after reading Nomi Prins' All the Presidents Bankers which investigates the influence of the financial sector on public policy in the last century , I'm not sure the Executive Office is the most powerful place she could be.

 

joeybee12

(56,177 posts)
27. Right now, she is able to help those running for Senate, such as Grimes in KY...
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:40 PM
Jul 2014

She's a draw, however, if she announced, the media would treat her very, very differently...now, as simply a senator, she can get her message out...the media would make her the message if she were running for Prez.

Spazito

(49,761 posts)
28. I agree!
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 03:42 PM
Jul 2014

I have high regard for Ms. Warren and would like to see her take a run for President in the future but believe she is very much needed in the Senate for the present. I think she will be a powerhouse Senator with great influence over the coming years.

sadoldgirl

(3,431 posts)
30. There is a great motivation of some in DU
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 04:01 PM
Jul 2014

to say EW does not want to run. It may be true, but the intention behind it has become obvious by now. All of this is so much speculation. HRC has enough ego to run, but she waits carefully for the results of the 2014 election. If House and Senate turn red, she also may say no to that run in 2016. Perhaps it is time to consider what powers are really available to the POTUS under those conditions. While I would detest a red Congress, I see it as a possibility. And should neither of the two women run, who else would try it against Jebbie?

zeemike

(18,998 posts)
32. Well I think the motivation is the Hillary inviability factor.
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 04:17 PM
Jul 2014

They want a corporatist president if the GOP loses the election...if they win it then they have it anyway...she is their insurance...insurance that nothing much will change after 16.

But the problem is that Warren and her rhetoric is popular, and so we need to be convinced that she needs to stay in the Senate in her place where her voice is limited and so is her power.

 

MohRokTah

(15,429 posts)
34. Former Republican, yes. George W. Bush supporter, NO
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 04:24 PM
Jul 2014

He moved from Republican to Democrat about a decade before George W. Bush ran for the presidency.

After graduating from Schaumburg High School in Schaumburg, Illinois, he served in the U.S. Army from 1989 through 1992. He completed training at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma and fulfilled his three-year enlistment as a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Fire Direction Specialist while stationed in Bamberg, Germany. By his own account, he "missed deploying to the Gulf War by a hair." Moulitsas has described the Army as "perhaps the ideal society – we worked hard but the Army took care of us in return."

Prior to enlisting in the Army, Moulitsas was a member of the Republican Party. During the 1988 presidential election, he served as a Republican precinct captain and assisted with the re-election campaign of Illinois Congressman Henry Hyde. However, during his time in the military Moulitsas began a transition in his political philosophy that would lead him to change his party affiliation from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party.


Link

raindaddy

(1,370 posts)
37. Hillary is running and that's not a good thing.
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 04:34 PM
Jul 2014

Hopefully someone from the democrat wing of the Democratic Party will show up and push an alternative vision of what we've been seeing.

 

MohRokTah

(15,429 posts)
38. I doubt any serious candidate will emerge to challenge her in 2016.
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 04:37 PM
Jul 2014

I could be wrong, but Barack Obama's 2008 candidacy was a once in a lifetime occurrence. It was probably the only time Obama could have ever run and actually win. Had he waited, he would ahve been too tainted by his time in the Senate.

raindaddy

(1,370 posts)
44. You're probably right...
Wed Jul 23, 2014, 05:57 PM
Jul 2014

But anything can happen in politics. Robert Kennedy didn't make his decision to run until late in the race in 68..

Consider the contrast in 68 the Democrats had R.F.K., Eugene McCarthy and Humphery to choose from. And if you're right we'll choose between Hillary and Hillary.

loyalsister

(13,390 posts)
47. She has started an important dialogue
Thu Jul 24, 2014, 08:52 AM
Jul 2014

We really need her laser focus on the reality of economics in the US. I can't think of another senator who understands it so thoroughly. EW is to economics what Ted Kennedy was to healthcare. She knows what needs to be done and is committed to doing it right.

AND, she communicates better than most senators and has potential to strengthen consensus among Democrats.

It would be really exciting to see her take on a higher level leadership role in the senate.

drmeow

(4,995 posts)
48. This has been my position all along
Thu Jul 24, 2014, 11:46 AM
Jul 2014

She can do much more good where she is than as President for so many reasons.

 

NCTraveler

(30,481 posts)
49. I don't think Warren could win with Hillary in the field....
Thu Jul 24, 2014, 11:54 AM
Jul 2014

but I sure wish she would run. Warren would get my vote in the primaries. More than that, I want Warren on stage and across the country setting the tone for the debate. The current "leaders" or our party have let right wing verbiage slip into their vocabulary. That pisses me off to no end. Warren, during a Presidential bid, would bring the rhetoric back to where it needs to be when it comes to economic justice and other issues.

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