Barney Frank thinks Warren will run for president

[MannyGoldstein]

Barney Frank says he thinks Warren will run for president

(NECN) - Former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank thinks Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will make a run for the White House.

"Oh, I think yes," said Frank when asked about it by the State House News Service in Massachusetts. "In the first place, why would you want to get into a profession and have no interest in rising to the top of it? I don't know anybody who has that."

[onehandle]

1. 'Frank made the comments at a Democratic event encouraging Hillary Rodham Clinton to run.'

And the Senator didn't say 2016.

[unblock]

2. well that explains why barney frank himself ran for president every time

oh, wait. he didn't.

[Dawgs]

5. You know he's gay, right?

Unthinkable to win Presidency for someone from his generation.

[unblock]

6. of course, he's also way too liberal to win in this environment.

i'm just saying that by his reasoning for why he thinks warren will run, he should have run himself.

obviously, there are many reasons not to run, the chance of actually winning being prime among them. anyone who isn't running just to make a statement needs to do a sober analysis of the likelihood of winning and respect the results of that analysis.

*wanting* to be president and thinking it's a good idea to actually run for that office are two very different things.

[Scuba]

15. What environment is that?

Most Americans are far to the left of the Democratic Party.

[Dragonfli]

17. The environmental bubble created by Washington and shared

by people that are financially comfortable. A very small Demographic, but the only one that appears to count.

[Auntie Bush]

18. Where did you get that idea?

Did you see a poll or something? Just wondering because I wasn't aware of that.

[Scuba]

19. Right here at DU ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101674947


http://www.democracyjournal.org/arguments/2013/09/politicians-think-american-voters-are-more-conservative-than-they-really-are.php

Americans are more liberal than either Republican or Democratic pols realize



When we compare what legislators believe their constituents want to their constituents’ actual views, we discover that politicians hold remarkably inaccurate perceptions. Pick an American state legislator at random, and chances are that he or she will have massive misperceptions about district views on big-ticket issues, typically missing the mark by 15 percentage points.

What is more, the mistakes legislators make tend to fall in one direction, giving U.S. politics a rightward tilt compared to what most voters say they want. As the following figures show, legislators usually believe their constituents are more conservative than they actually are. Our attitude measurements are most accurate on the questions about same sex marriage and universal health insurance – and in both instances the legislators’ guesses about their constituents’ views were 15-20 percent more conservative, on average, than the true public support for same-sex marriage or universal health care present in their districts.

Our study also found that politicians don’t learn in the normal course of events. After November 2012, we posed the same questions again to some candidates. Even after conducting campaigns and seeing the results, politicians did not arrive at more accurate perceptions of constituent views—not even those who had spent more time talking to voters. Much remains to be learned about why U.S. legislators think constituents are more conservative than they truly are, but researchers have found that politically active citizens tend to be wealthier and more conservative than others. Politicians who want to represent all the people in their districts need to keep this in mind.

Our findings also suggest that progressive groups might be able to use a simple lobbying strategy—just let legislators know the truth about what their constituents think and want! Most of the time, legislators will discover that their constituents are more liberal than they suppose. Would that lead to policy change? It is an open question, but some research suggests that public opinion can influence what politicians do. Perhaps helping representatives perceive their constituents correctly could pave the way for public policies closer to what Americans really want.

[Auntie Bush]

20. Good post, thanks for your answer, but it doesn't say the public is far left of the Dem party.

It says the public is farther left than POLITICIANS think we are. There is a difference.

[Scuba]

21. Yes, a subtle difference. But I interpreted more as the public being left of ....

... what the politicians SAY they think we are. Fact is, we're far to the left of how they govern, and that's the real story. Poll after poll shows support for raising taxes on the rich, expanding Medicare, increasing SS benefits, legalization of pot, etc. The public is way left of our politicians behaviors.

[Auntie Bush]

22. Yes we are! Why don't politicians get it?

[Scuba]

23. The people who bribe, er, I mean, fund their campaigns, don't allow them to "get it".

[dreamnightwind]

31. Well, Scuba certainly gets it, +1

[Reter]

25. Then why don't we hold 75% of both Houses?

So most Americans are to the left of President Obama?

[Scuba]

27. "We" don't hold either the House or the Senate. The oligarchs have them both.

[unblock]

35. the environment wherein big money destroys anyone who tries to represent actual people

don't get me wrong, i loves me some barney frank. not only are his politics usually spot on, but he's got an actual backbone and has delivered more than a few well-deserved zingers. i love hearing him speak, and even more so, argue. he would have made an awesome speaker or even president and it's a damn shame we're not set up to enable someone like that to get there.

but the current power structure is such that people like that are lucky to even have as much power as someone like barney frank, while undeserving idiot *ssholes like rand paul or paul ryan get talked about as presidential material.

that's the "environment" i mean.

[Enrique]

8. you have put your finger on his logical flaw

according to his logic, every politician will run for president.

[dsc]

32. He had actually wanted to be Speaker someday but his being gay made that a non starter

[DirkGently]

3. Did he say *when*?

Maybe he's thinking further down the road?

Maybe he's speculating that the Hilary Is Inevitable train might be derailed at some point?


Interesting.

[Cali_Democrat]

4. Warren admits to signing the letter urging Hillary to run

"All all of the women — Democratic women I should say — of the Senate urged Hillary Clinton to run, and I hope she does. Hillary is terrific," Warren said during an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week," noting that she was one of several senators to sign a letter urging Clinton to run in 2016.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/04/27/elizabeth-warren-i-hope-hillary-clinton-runs-for-president/

Remember when a lot of folks were mocking people on DU for referring to that letter?

Good times!!!

[Capt. Obvious]

34. ...

[scheming daemons]

7. Too bad his opinion is outweighed by that of another prominent liberal... Elizabeth Warren

..

[MADem]

9. I love Barney, but he and EW thought Deval would put Barney in John Kerry's seat as a placeholder.

That didn't happen, as former Senator Mo Cowan will attest.

[KoKo]

10. Well...then, maybe I should put "Warren for 2016" back as my Signature Line?

I took it off when she said she definitely wasn't running....but, maybe Barnie his hearing a buzz so I should rethink.

[ProSense]

11. You heard it here first:

Elizabeth Warren is playing stalking horse for Hillary Clinton.

From the OP link:

Frank made the comments at a Democratic event encouraging Hillary Rodham Clinton to run.

[freshwest]

29. Whoa! It's gonna get crowded under the bus! You with me, ProSense? I've got popcorn. n/t

[Dragonfli]

12. I hope she runs, if for nothing else than to move the conversation a bit

from, "How high should we jump when the banker/owners of our party say jump." to should we jump for the banker/owners of the party just because their checks clear?"

With neighbors going hungry and being forced into the streets I know neither narrative will help them to survive in the short run, but at least one will put us back on track towards a path to a party that thinks the way to help the hungry masses is to raise their food stamp allocations to match the rising cost of food rather than sponsor bills to cut food stamps a bit less than the fascists want to or god forbid reopen the factories that had us all working towards a better life rather than off shoring those jobs for pennies more in profit via free trade.

The path to sanity and humanity must begin with someone that is at least sane and humane. Elizabeth appears at least for now to be such an individual.

Then again, I once thought the same thing about candidate Obama, enough so that I destroyed my credibility with my class by encouraging many of them to vote rather than the usual GOTV tactic of appealing only to middle class and yuppwards (I mean upwards) that represents the efforts of most of the party and party faithful.

We know our broke asses have less than zero influence to the cats running, we also know that voting for anyone is a vote for yet more hunger and homelessness. Nevertheless one should consider that my demographic not only dwarfs all others including the middle class combined with the swing voters, but is also (due to 30 years of bi-partisan policy) the fastest growing demographic on the charts.

Perhaps there is a great untapped voting block among said broke ass's to be worth it for some in the party to cater to more than the middle class. FDR got our broke ass vote, Clinton lost it, and Obama cemented that loss.

It is never too late. So yeah, I hope she runs, and I also hope even more progressive candidates run in the future before it is too late for the most of us

[Laelth]

14. Well said.

I am compelled to write letters, though, even if I am not certain that they're being read.

-Laelth

[Dragonfli]

16. I doubt they are being read, possibly quickly scanned by a staffer before

being thrown in the trash.

I do the same, I never was very good at keeping my mouth or my pen shut. If enough of us keep writing those letters, perhaps they will figure out why so many don't vote and what might encourage them to do so rather than expecting lower class political junkies like myself to try to sell my peers the snake oil that is the "Hey, the Democrats won't help you, but at least they won't hate you if you are gay or a woman!" pitch.

When someone is stretching their chicken allotment to try to feed their children protein at least once a day and failing in many cases to do that they tend to have more on their mind than what politicians that won't help them with that think about social issues.

[Laelth]

13. k&r for Elizabeth Warren. n/t

-Laelth

[quinnox]

24. Damn him! Why are all these progressives talking about Warren?

[VanillaRhapsody]

26. He didn't say 2016 though....

[donco]

28. Let us hope so

and with a VP with the initials of BS would be a winning ticket IMO.

[cprise]

30. K&R

[Capt. Obvious]

33. I read on another thread Snowden will be her running mate

DU - where funny goes to die.