'I Wasn't Born at Harvard': Elizabeth Warren Meets the Voters

[malaise]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/09/i-wasnt-born-at-harvard-elizabeth-warren-meets-the-voters/245189/
snip>
Few can match Brown's gripping biography, from his upbringing amid alcoholism, poverty and domestic violence, to his education at Tufts and Boston College law school, to his careers in modeling, the military and politics. Yet Warren, a native of Oklahoma, also has a compelling tale that she often telescopes into a few vivid sentences. After her father had a heart attack, she says, her family existed on "the ragged edge" of the middle class. "We lost our car. We almost lost a house," she told one man at The Student Prince. She later told reporters that she was babysitting by age 9, waiting tables at 13, married at 19, a mother and elementary school teacher at 22.

As for Republicans who dismiss her as a liberal academic, "I grew up hanging on to the edge of the middle class by my fingernails," Warren said. "All I can say is I've been there. I've lived this. My family lived one pink slip, one bad diagnosis away from falling off the economic cliff. Yeah, I've got a fancy job at Harvard and I've gotta tell you, I'm proud of that job. I worked hard to get there. I wasn't born at Harvard. I was born to a family that had to work for everything it's got."

Brown cultivated independents and a moderate image en route to his stunning victory in the special election for Ted Kennedy's seat early last year. His voting record is a pastiche that offers ammunition for both parties. On the conservative side of the ledger, he opposed the DREAM Act and the Affordable Care Act and voted against Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and Craig Becker, named to the National Labor Relations Board. On the other hand, he voted against GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's controversial budget cuts, for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street regulation law and for the repeal of the military's don't ask, don't tell policy on gay troops.

Warren is by far the biggest name in the Democratic primary and is already pulling in national money from Democrats determined to oust Brown. By midday Thursday, she was the "busiest recipient" at the ActBlue.com fundraising clearinghouse, with more than $310,000 in contributions. EMILY's List sent out a fundraising email on her behalf headlined "It's on in Massachusetts," asking members to "stop Scott Brown and the Tea Party in their tracks."

[Selatius]

1. If she plays her cards right and doesn't compromise away herself, she could be presidential material

Maybe in a decade or two, we'll see.

[stlsaxman]

2. Bingo! 2016 ain't that far away. n/t

[INdemo]

5. How about 2016?

[midnight]

3. K&R I like this women... She works hard and never gives up.

[chill_wind]

4. K & R. It will be a great race

and truly enjoyable and inspirational to hear so much more from her in the days and months to come.
Hopefully many years to come.

[truedelphi]

6. Here is hoping she wins.

That people turn out and vote for her, that the vote count is honest, and that she kicks some butt once in office.

Go Warren!

[gratuitous]

7. Aren't the Republicans a funny bunch?

They're all agog at regular fella George W. Bush, the kind of guy you want to sit down and have a beer with (except for that raging dry-drunk mean streak he's got), who was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple. But someone who busted her ass all her life to succeed to a high position gets crap from the Republicans as some ivy tower academic.

It's almost like the Republicans don't believe what they say they believe.