" she’s an Oklahoma gal who wants to have a beer with you."
Baloney. She got out of Oklahoma as fast as she could and never went back. She's a wannabe elitist who was a Republican, became a Democrat when she ran for Senate in 2012, and took over Sanders' ideas for her own.
She's a phony.
22
Shame on you, Nick. You shouldn't have needed the Boston Globe to help you figure out that Warren earned every single job she had by being way out front the Best.
Didn't the fact that she was the only law professor at Harvard who wasn't an Ivy Leaguer ring any bell for you?
Her career was extraordinary and powered purely by her intellect. Even Harvard had to give way in front of it.
And you bought Republican lies ... shame on you.
47
It's nice you admit your colossal mistake, but it would be a lot nicer if you knew what you were writing about the first time.
21
Why were you so quick to judge in the first place? Perhaps spend some time analyzing that.
24
Who in the great state of oklahoma does not claim some fraction of indian blood, based on family lore. Get over it, folks. Its meaningless.
38
Imagine. A woman with detailed policies. Running for President.
Don’t worry, I’m sure there’ll be other, funner things to cover. Maybe some emails,or pizza parlour sex rings, or pantsuits....
25
I've come to like her a lot as well. I even like Kristoff better for being able to change his mind. We all make mistakes and are better people for being able to acknowkedge them.
25
You can just hear the sarcasm dripping from her mouth when she says "You built a factory out there? Good for you!... You built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea? God bless! Keep a big hunk of it."
It's like she couldn't care less whether you built a successful business or not, it's just about how many tax dollars she can squeeze out of you. And yes she's right, the successful company is taking advantage of taxpayer-funded education for their employees. At the same time, without successful businesses, there wouldn't be much of a future for the education system to prepare people for.
10
What Nicolas Kristof leaves out: Warren has the only intelligent Democratic position on the Immigration issue: the so-called 'Border Problem' is not a border problem, it's a 'Central America' problem - Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador are driving their populations to escape their countries due to uncontrolled crime and intolerable economic conditions.
Trump, with his idiotic cutoff of aid for law enforcement in Central America, is only making things worse, and increasing the flow of asylum seekers.
The Democratic Party is out to lunch on this issue, and playing into Trump's hands. Only Elizabeth Warren has the solution.
25
Nicholas Kristof, women don't need you to tell us who you think has the best ideas or is most electable. Rein it in, and let's all see how this plays out.
1
i say if you made it here then pay your fair share. ms. warren is saying much the same
8
As always I learned something from your column thanks for your work.
5
Mea culpa I am an old white man. . .
Really we still care if she is a woman or not?
Europe has plenty of women leaders, some have been great and some have not.
There is no monopoly on capability by either gender, nor should there be prejudice.
Jeepers it’s time too look beyond the color of skin as we did two times with Obama.
So the “George W” test was would you like to have a beer with her? - YES
Is Elizabeth smarter than me?
(Surely you want the very best to run our great country) – YES
Do I trust her? – YES
Are her policies workable and smart? – YES
Can she handle the pressure? – YES
Can she handle the vulgar and dirty fight she will be subjected too by Trump? – ?
14
WW of St. Louis MO wrote "But, if she is so smart, why did she claim herself a native American? Am I the only one here who bothered by it?"
To my knowledge, she has never tried to "capitalize" on that claim. Less than a "claim," she has said it has been part of her family lore, that her family has Native American/American Indian heritage. If that is what she grew up believing, then she is like many, many Americans who grew up being told similar family lore. Unless and until she had some reason to research that family lore, she would continue to believe it. It really seems like a very insignificant complaint against her, in the bigger picture of anything.
To keep harping on it, as Trump does, is to follow the same absurd trail as his "where is Obama's birth certificate?" mantra. To call her Pocahontas is, from Trump, hate-filled for yet another minority and hate-filled for women, both Warren and the real Pocahontas. All he does is mock and try to belittle. You can't "belittle" someone who is bigger and superior to you in every way, but for his ill-gotten wealth.
It is Trump's family lies about their own ancestry that is, in FACT, deliberately dishonest: his father and he claimed that they were some Scandinavian family, Swedish, I think, when they were, in FACT, German. They didn't want to lose Jewish business and so denied they were German, but German is what they are and greedy and shameless is what they still are, too.
22
"The Globe found clear evidence, in documents and interviews, that her claim to Native American ethnicity was never considered by the Harvard Law faculty, which voted resoundingly to hire her, or by those who hired her to four prior positions at other law schools,” the newspaper concluded.".
Are you THAT "naïve" ?
Do you really think that Harvard would put down on paper that : "Oh ! Yes ! we're going to give preferences to hiring minorities" ?
Giving preferences to the "right" minority is what they DO but not what they SAY.
Everyone who has been involved in "higher academics" knows that this is going on.
Why, otherwise, would Harvard advertise, as soon as she was hired , that "Harvard now has the only Female Amerindian on our faculty" ?
And by doing so she stole the position that a REAL Amerindian could have aspired to. So much for her defense of minorities !
And when "the Harvard Law faculty..voted resoundingly to hire her". Do you really believe that none of those so brilliant faculty members asked themselves the following question : "She claims to be Indian, does she LOOK anything like Indian to you" ? And the fact that they ALL lied to themselves about it proves my point !
6
I imagine most of us who have had our DNA analyzed got some surprises. Prior to their results we could only trust what family told us, who trusted was their family told them, who trusted... She likely believed it, as my husband believed he had Cherokee in his bloodline. Only, he has absolutely none; instead this white and very Southern and very racist family has African-American heritage (from Senegal - Western Africa). Not many will hold the American Indian claim against her.
14
All of those things can be true. She appears to be a principled, intelligent candidate.
But claiming Native ancestry, even if it didn't help her, is a no-go. Sloppily claiming another ethnicity in some cases, and then forgoing in others, suggests some kind of flaw I can't quite put my finger on.
I like her; she talks about important things, and proposes reasonable solutions. But she will not win in an election against Trump.
4
I'm so heartened to read about the real deal - Elizabeth Warren. She is smart, realistic with workable ideas without rocking the boat too much. And most important, her gender is most unimportant.
6
In 2016 I really wished Warren had run because I liked her better than any of the candidates on either side. She has a proven track record of standing up to Wall St., fighting income inequality, standing up for the poor and middle-class.
We don't need another President, Democratic or Republican, who is cozy with Wall Street, wealthy donors and corporations.
Go, Elizabeth!
11
It's a well functioning economy that pays for the social programs that help the poor and middle class maintain their standard of living.
The Republican way is to take your money and give it to the rich because the rich finance their political careers. The corporate tax cuts go to shareholder dividends and executive bonuses. Not employee wage hikes.
Republicans keep bragging about a booming economy while the deficit is increasing. That should never happen. If we ran our budgets that way the banks would foreclose on us.
Don't vote Republican. The rich don't need your money.
18
When Democratic candidates echo these old tired issues defined by Republicans, they are called electable moderates.
When Democratic candidates come up with original proposals, they are called unelectable socialists.
I have been a fan of Senator Warren since her creation of the Consumer Protection Bureau. As a senator, I have applauded that finally someone was taking banking executives to task.
Running for president, she has published policy papers that are actively showing actual proposals, as opposed to other candidates who, just by identifying issues, want you to believe they actually have a plan (The best ever, you will see). Have any other candidates committed themselves to particular positions and solutions this early in the electoral season? No worry about her taking a u-turn in the general election.
This triviality of having American Indian lineage seems to come from the same place as the consipiracy that Obama was not born in the U.S. We all have family understandings that may or may not be true. But is there also a stigma for buying your way into Yale? I think she has accomplished enough, without the cash to buy it, to show that she has earned her way.
She could be a great candidate as the first woman president of the U.S. Not because she is a woman, but because of her intelligence and preparation and proposals.
25
Sure would be nice if we could vote ranked-choice so we could show support for all those we liked.
4
It’s worth noting how wrong the political media class often is about the subject they cover. Warren was declared DOA by the vast majority of the punditocracy months ago. Beto O’Rourke was someone to be taken seriously. In the last cycle, Bernie Sanders was simply a fringe candidate.
You guys are so wedded to narratives of your own creation, and are simply unable to break out of them. Kudos for admitting how wrong you were, but at this point, I’m not sure why anyone would believe the analysis of the mainstream media.
11
"I was wrong..." is something I wish we heard more from opinion makers, politicians and even friends. Thank you to Mr. Kristof for raising our standard of discourse.
12
It's a mistake to label MFA as "abolishing private insurance." What MFA does is remove profit as the primary motivation that determines the extent of your treatment when you get sick. And everybody gets sick eventually.
It doesn't happen overnight. It's gradual process that takes time. And gets tweaked and refined as time goes on. It started with Obamacare.
Don't worry about the insurance companies. They're big boys. They can take care of themselves.
14
I too was a bit leery of Warren because of the Native America business and the impression she gave as a dilettante but the more I see of her on the hustings, the more I think she is concise and cogent on policy and she really cuts through when engaged in public debate. Early days yet but I agree with the author, Warren seems to be on the up and up.
10
“She persisted.” I want us to do so too. For our nation. Our kids. Our future.
17
Hopefully Warren will be our nominee ; she's smart , articulate , has proposals and plans on how to fix things , and knows how to fight back without getting in the weeds . Trump says he's itching to take her on; he thinks he's dealing with Hillary who actually ignored him but whose ploy did not work because he managed to besmear her with lies and mostly allegations . Calling Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas nor hovering behind her will not work( the debate news people who ran the questions allowed this deplorable behavior during his debate with Hillary and hopefully will be in what is allowed or not allowed ) she will make mincemeat out of him and ... people are tired of his boorish and shameful behavior and his reality show of nastiness .
11
I think this would be an opportune time for Mr. Kristof to reflect on his huge 180 on Sen. Warren. This article say way more about the personal biases and shortcomings of Mr. Kristof, than Sen. Warren.
No hate. Just saying.
7
Warren's domestic policies are good. She is second only to Bernie Sanders in understanding what this country needs in domestic policy.
But Warren's stance on foreign policy is unknown. Is she committed to continuing American economic and military global domination, thus continuing our endless wars? Will she turn a blind eye to everything the Israelis do to the Palestinians, like centrist Democrats do? Those questions need answers. The debate yesterday didn't provide any.
2
Have you examined your own privilege?
I voted for Bernie in 2016. Warren is my first choice now. She consistently demonstrates a smart, tough and compassionate approach to domestic policy. The Native American claim is much ado about nothing. Even if she lacks foreign policy experience I don't see her involving the United States in any foreign adventures like the invasion of Iraq.
10
I would love Warren to be my president, but for me, the question is can she fire up the people who stay home on election day enough to come out and vote. Those people (and not Romney type Republicans disenchanted with Trump) have the power to make or break the next democratic candidate. I worry that misogyny will work heavily in Trump's favor. On the surface she might be regarded as being too much like Hillary.
2
I think the author is just plain wrong and logically inconsistent on his first point.
The question is not whether Warren obtained an advantage by claiming minority status on applications.
The question is whether she was trying to gain advantage. That is a question of character. She did not do this once but multiple times in multiple states.
The Globe article provides no information whatsoever about her intent, but I can guarantee you that large numbers of voters will look at what she did and conclude she was trying to get an advantage she was not entitled to, and hence deprive another candidate. That should matter, especially in a party where identity politics are rampant.
She is not being attacked on this issue by the other Democratic candidates and probably will not be. Should she win the nomination, she will be relentlessly attacked on it.
Mr. Kristof, your first instinct was correct. Her actions regarding claiming Native American status indicate a character flaw and it will be a problem for her. Do you really think this is less of an hindrance than Hilary Clinton's e-mail issue? Look how that impacted the last election.
I admire her policy proposals greatly, but she is going to have a serious handicap if she is matched up against Trump, but of course he has his own.
3
I came around to her about 6 months ago. Seems if the most embarrassing thing about her is that she thought that she was part Native American while growing up in Oklahoma, then, I like her chances against the moral calamity currently occupying the White House. Plus, I like the trend, Dems nominate brilliant law professors, GOP nominates less-than-brilliant daddy-propped business men. If these are the battle lines of our nations's culture war, let's go to war with our best fighter. And she is it.
9
Many republicans aren’t upset with taxes as much as what we get back from them. This government is not the “let’s build it” government of post WW2. This government is a “let’s tax the wealthy to buy votes” government of an entitled population.
For Warren and the like - I’d love to invest in schools, please raise my taxes...but first make the teachers accountable, as opposed to buying their votes. I’d love to invest in infrastructure, please raise my taxes...but first ensure the money doesn’t go to unsustainable pensions that buy votes. I’d love to invest in science, please tax me more...but first ensure gov’t money for research isn’t wasted on ridiculous subjects...that buy votes.
The list goes on and on. As someone in my thirties, my experience with government has been incompetence, bloat, Robin Hooding, failed wars, crumbling infrastructure, failing schools (where teachers don’t get fired and get automatic raises), moronic politicians, and worse. Now we want our healthcare run by the same incompetent hands that run the DMV, with no alternative? Maybe if the hands of our grandparents had first delivered us a working model. Can you imagine us building the interstate system now?
We might as well burn money as willingly as we give it to the government. At least then we get some heat in return.
4
@Tim Mosk
I've had individual private health insurance, corporate group insurance, and medicare. Individual private was the worst and medicare was/is the best. It's mostly about power. An unaffiliated individual has no chance up against billion dollar insurance companies (after all, the insurance companies are the ones lobbying State legislatures while insurance regulations are being written, IF the regulations are not written by the insurance companies to begin with). Until ObamaCare Insurance companies would just drop people who got too sick.
9
Nick if you want to be really offended and think that huge numbers of voters should be repelled please read Charles Blow's column today. Now that is something to get enraged about.
2
I’m proud to say I’ve supported her since Day One. You want a job done right? Ask a woman.
7
I am a professional musician and have given hundreds of educational concerts in the Chicago public schools. In my experience, if you talk to people in a way that assumes they are intelligent, they will rise to your expectations. If you dumb it down, your audience will dumb down as well. Senator Warren seems to be making the same calculation, and I'll bet it pays off for her.
8
When it comes to actual accomplishments, intelligence, passion, articulation and someone who seems like they are being their own self (yes the heritage thing is an outlier here) she easily is the best choice. Even if Bernie wins can you see him able to do anything if he does not have 67 Dems in the Senate?
2
But, if she is so smart, why did she claim herself a native American? Am I the only one here who bothered by it?
61
@WW no, I think it was either a weirdly wacky thing to do for a mid thirties person -- or it was done to boost her professional career. I think it was the second, as her astounding run from a midtier school (Houston) to a full professorship at Harvard in under a decade is simply unprecedented. And it was done with not much of a publication record from what I can tell.
Either answer is disqualifying IMO.
10
@WW What is the correlation between intelligence and being a Native American or claiming oneself as such? Maybe she's just proud of a part of her heritage!? Others can use that information as they want, but it certainly shouldn't detract from what she has done or stands for, regardless of whether they agree or not.
108
@Ralphie Vote for Trump because obviously his 24/7 honesty impresses you and you want to share in his outstanding job as president. Trump conned millions of people and it's like that's what makes him great. To me Trump is a danger and Warren is the antidote. Intelligent truth 24/7. She's got my vote.
154
It doesn’t matter that the Harvard Law School or any other institution did not use her claim to Native American ancestry in their application processes. What matters is that she made the claim in those applications, and in other venues as well.
The intent was there.
6
I have plenty of people I want to have a beer with. I would be proud to have my next President acting like a stern Harvard professor who acts like an adult and respects the people of the United States.
12
Nick, well done, keep going on this track!
1
Harry Truman. Elizabeth Warren reminds me of Harry Truman.
2
With you on the sea change. I thought Warren was too much of a policy-wonk (read too much like HRC) to win either the nomination or the election. She is a policy wonk, but one who clearly relates to just about everyone. I do fear that her willingness last night to throw private insurance overboard might lead to blowback. But she's right. Private insurance companies have caused many, if not most financial problems for individuals and families in America. Plus they are enraging to deal with. Virtually everyone, regardless of political leanings, has this in common.
4
Listened to Ms Warren years ago on Bill Moyers. She appeared sincere and quite intelligent as a force possibly to be reckoned with in the political realm. Have to agree with following observations especially with that of "Jim Allen."
As DT has said, "What have you got to loose?" The answer regrettably is perhaps everything!
1
Thank you for your thoughtful reconsideration of your position on Elizabeth Warren. I don't know yet which Democrat I will support, but your column was an excellent example of how we should all be taking in new information and drawing new conclusions if warranted.
8
My top ticket choice from last night would be Elizabeth Warren / Corey Booker.
I've been impressed since she took on the credit card companies as a law professor.
12
A woman getting elected to statewide office in MA is a daunting task. Contrary to assumptions from afar, the state has a strong, white ethnic bent (Italian and Irish) with an historical antipathy for "uppity" women. In short, the sexism of that electorate is real and surely makes it harder for women to win statewide. The flip side of course is that Warren has had to tackle that sexism head on and is a much better candidate for it. Those skills will serve her well running for president.
8
Warren may not have used her claim of being an American Indian to help her with getting a job. But the simple fact is that claiming to be something you are not, especially as an adult, is wacky. If one of the white male candidates were found to have falsely listed themselves as a Hispanic or Asian they would be run out of the race promptly and with good reason. Trump will continue to use this and other things to drag her down to his polling level quickly if she were nominated. And her delivery is like a boring school lecture. People vote for a person, not a plan.
7
@Crawford Long Agree. The best you can say about Warren's claim of being Native American is that it was a wacky thing to do. The best you can say. If she'd done it at 18 when at college or something, hey it was the 60's. But she made this claim in her mid thirties. You have to wonder what her motivation was. The only plausible explanation (other than being wacky) was she figured that claiming to be NA would give her an edge, combined with being female.
From everything I can find, her publication record at the time she started her essentially unprecedented and quick run from midtier Houston Law to full pro at Harvard (all in under a decade) was pretty thin.
Being a good teacher isn't what gets you a full prof gig at Harvard. It's all about publications. We need to see her publication record before she got her full prof gig at Harvard -- and compare it to that of full profs at Harvard and other big time schools.
4
Thank goodness that Ms. Warren persisted despite Mr. McConnell's rudeness. If practice makes perfect, she will be one of the best politicians and presidents we ever have.
Meanwhile, I applaud Mr. Kristof for publicly explaining why he was wrong about her.
7
1. It is much more profitable to pick a destination, draw a map, and plan a route to get there,
than it is to wander aimlessly, testing the direction of the wind at every fork in the road.
2. When you fight for your beliefs, even if you lose your ideas live on.
When you fight just to win, a victory is as empty as a loss.
For these and other reasons, I support Elizabeth Warren.
9
Nicholas, thank you for the article. I also have myself paying more attention to Elizabeth Warren. She is coming out with some great policies. I like the fact that she really makes sure she understands the problem and the possible solutions before she speaks. I like the way her mind works. She's quick and energetic. And, does she ever have plans!!
7
Barack Obama suckered me in with his moving speeches, Yes We Can, and then we didn't. We gave him control of all three branches, but he ignored his base and reversed his position on the public option, renewing the assault rifle ban, and supporting unions. And a vote for Joe Biden would unfortunately mean a return to the Obama presidency where nothing structurally actually changed.
In 2016 I voted for Bernie then Hillary even though I knew she was corporate controlled, corrupt, and a war monger.
In 2020 Elizabeth is my preferred candidate. I have faith in her knowledge, wisdom, and backbone. I absolutely love her passion, guts, intellect, and a plan to keep the base engaged after the election. I believe she will continue her town halls after the election because unlike Obama, she realizes that she can't get her agenda passed without the base. She is ready to lead and fight, and she's not taking prisoners!
9
I've always liked Warren, since before she became a senator: I think I first encountered her when she was talking about her work with bank regulation on The Daily Show, and I was immediately impressed by the fact that (a) she was clearly on the right side of the issue and wanted to get the banks under control, and (b) she had walked into a room of comedians and college kids and gotten us all excited about bank regulation.
And that's why she's such a great choice: The bad stuff about America usually isn't the big obvious things like caged kids separated from their parents, a lot of it is in those quiet regulatory changes and laws passed with little fuss or reporting. For example, when you weren't looking, the Supreme Court made it so that most major companies don't have to follow consumer and labor laws anymore, because they've made it impossible to sue those companies when they break the laws.
12
If we should be so fortunate to wind up with Elizabeth Warren as our 46th President, it would be gratifying beyond words to hear her quote Mitch McConnell words to him, when he basically told her to sit down and shut up during the Sessions AG nomination, which she refused to do until forced.
“She was warned,” Mr. McConnell said of Ms. Warren. “She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
Persist on Elizabeth!!!!!
494
Yes - and Thank you ! I don't think I have ever felt a greater sense of integrity from a U.S. senator as Elizabeth Warren. She is honest, knowledgeable, experienced, and dedicated. What more could we ask for from a presidential candidate.
11
"What more could we ask for?" Someone who hasn't shown terrible judgement by falsely claiming to be a minority to advance her career, for which she will be (rightfully) hammered on should she become the nominee and quite possibly enable another term for this nightmare administration, for one thing. Look forward to that "First minority tenured professor" Harvard newspaper excerpt to be splattered everywhere.
Given today's gerrymandering decision, does it matter what the voters think? About Warren or anything else?
4
I have often thought that one of the biggest problems with the Democratic messages on policy are that no one out there speaking for, or on behalf of, the party is educating the public. I have come to see that Senator Warren is, and has been, well before she jumped into the race. Everybody in America should know the reasons why alliances are good, how pregressive taxation evens the field of income, the benefits of child care, how we as a nation can prosper from universal health care, etc. etc. Please keep at it Senator Warren.
8
However "offensive" parlaying ancestry into an academic job is - Trump regularly offends, disgusts, perturbs, and fills me with bile by his words, actions, inactions, and character.
As an Independent, he has made the GOP too toxic to ever consider voting for for dog catcher, let alone national government.
The good news for others is he has set the bar so low, claiming Native American ancestry is barely a tuppence in Scrooge McDuck's vault.
5
I want Senator Warren to be president, but I'm afraid she can't when she is so passionate about absolving all student loans. That idea is repugnant to everyone but it beneficiaries who will have won the generational lottery.
5
I’ve never had a student loan and her idea is far from repugnant to me. I confident I’m not the only one.
11
It’s not repugnant to me...
8
@Kevin Vlack
Please, no purity tests this time. You’re not going to like EVERYTHING about any candidate.
7
You have changed your mind. Good to see what your conscious mind has identified as the reasons for the change. From you, I expect more: what about the unconscious mind? What can you make conscious that then was unconscious? Did you ask yourself what the picture would be, all other things being equal, if she were a man?
Also, you say you have changed your mind and so have many others. Are you claiming leadership? Why not say, Elizabeth Warren’s trajectory has been on the upswing. Why so judgy — *me* and *my* opinion? Are you a thought leader here or a follower? A bit more to address what is going on under it all would be better than this fuzzy causality/agency.
3
Elizabeth Warren is just great. She has every positive trait that I like and would vote for. If possible I will vote for her. She gets things done. Good things. Also she is the only one I know of who fights for those who have less instead of the usual giving to the rich. Go Elizabeth. She really is different. And importantly she is so good at explaining her plans and how she will DO them.
12
@BKC
Things...like the consumer protection agency. Done before she was an elected official and since obliterated.
Oh, and a questionable hearing aid bill.
Anything else gotten done...?
She's such a doer and has so many plans, yet....?
1
With all due respect, if Mr. Kristof believes "her claim to Native American ethnicity was never considered by the Harvard Law faculty, which voted resoundingly to hire her" he is living on la la land. That would be at the top of the list of things considered at most universities, especially one like Harvard, which is trying to diversify its ranks.
7
universal child care -- Wouldn't that already have long been in place if men were responsible for child care before they could go to work?
6
God i hope she wins. both the democratic nomination and the presidency to boot. but i dont think she has a chance. the problem is big business, big money, and a self-serving spirit in both of these and ourselves as Americans that landed us with Trump, not to mention the constant fear and hate mongering. unless a whole lot has changed in four years, i think he is going to win again. wake me up when the nightmare of reality is over.
1
Ayuh!
1
You were really not paying attention to being with, Mr. Kristoff, because Warren has the audacity to be a confident woman. Your double standard is most likely sub-conscious. Really? The Native American thing? Given what all the boys get away with-from left to right--really?
She has always been the real deal. And I get to claim her as one of the finest Presidents we have ever had...or as my Senator for four more years. She rocks.
11
Wow, I have never heard anyone give a left handed complement like this one.
GO Elizabeth...we need you desperately. Our USA is so screwed by orange guy. Time to get out of the mess we have now in WH.
And, no excuses for voting for ding dong the dog has my brain.
4
Warren is about as exciting as a dinner of boiled chicken and warm milk. Her proposed policies question her ability to reason and lead.
3
Boiled chicken and warm milk actually sound very comforting and nutritious.
8
Excellent column, Mr. Kristof. But there are a few things I wish you’d added:
• Your article shows that she’s grown and learned during her time as a senator, and while campaigning for President – extremely important personal qualities.
• She’s evidently honest, as particularly demonstrated by the way she retracted her attack on Whitney Tilson.
• She doesn’t seem to show symptoms of the swelled head syndrome that seems to afflict so many national politicians.
7
Agree with all the positive comments. I will add one thing : And, on top of all that, she has a Golden Retriever...’nuf said!
8
And she keeps the dog in the car; not on the car!
2
Thank you, Nicholas, not just for sharing and explaining Warren's path forward, but also for demonstrating an important precondition of it all: being able to recognize and admit when we are wrong.
Our political and economic system somehow reached the stage where never admitting that you were wrong, and blind selfishness, appear as winning strategies. But such situations are familiar from tragedies (Greek, Shakespearean etc). They set the stage for the wrongs to be corrected, and for the villains to be punished.
7
I was wrong about Warren also.
She will no longer be my candidate for the Democratic Party.
Matter of fact Trump is starting to look really good as President and Commander in Chief.
He'll now get my vote!
2
This helps! Thanks. We really need to collect a fair tax from corporations and not give tax incentives and land below market value or free and the other things costing taxpayers. If many corporations are cash-rich and buying up their own stock, they certainly can contribute more to the general welfare. Only truly entrepreneurial small (ish) businesses should get public help for their start ups. Republican's howling about Warren will ring hollow, having elected the know-nothing Trump.
3
Great read, Nick. Thank you for writing this. I too am really becoming a big fan of Elizabeth Warren's. She was the big target at last night's debate, and nobody had anything to use on her. That's a credit both to her and the field as a whole. I'm hopeful.
11
There are two planes of debate here. One, what policies and programs should be represented by the Democratic Party? Let's face reality, the Democratic Party is a center/left coalition that leans heavily on the left or progressive spectrum for energy and thinking forward, while most of those in the center are single issue folks or just sitting back for the ride. So, Warren and others close to her politically win the debate on that plane. The second plane has to do with politics and power. People outside political professionals don't want talk or think about that so much, but it has to do with things like the most recent Supreme Court ruling that gives Republicans free rein to gerrymander, and gave Republican donors free rein to try to overwhelm the speech of citizens with big dollars. On this second plan we need a cut-throat leader with principles, and my money is not on Warren in that debate. We need someone electable who will win the Presidency, and if Democrats also win the Senate, to be prepared to back-burner all social programs and 1) end filibusters in the Senate, 2) expand the Supreme Court to 11, 3) appoint new progressive members, 4) outlaw gerrymandering and large campaign contributions in any form. Once that happens, we will have something more resembling a democracy where the majority has a chance to rule, and we will then have a chance to make change.
4
@Pete
I gave this a recommend because I couldn't agree more with the issues you outlined. But why do you think Warren could not hack the political side of the equation? Do you think Biden is going to be able to make those electoral reforms? He seems to think Republicans will magically become consensus driven compromisers and will stop making every effort to cheat and steal elections when he is elected? I don't hear anyone else in the race being much more direct about fixing those imbalances with the possible exception of Butteigeig. Warren/Butteigeig 2020. That's my dream ticket of the century.
4
@Mark
Mark, I'm not a Biden supporter. He is way less likely than Warren to do the work needed. I don't even think he is electable. I'm concerned about the Obama factor. Obama was electable, but was an appeaser of right wing conservatives, and when he had the chance shrunk from the fight - along with Chuck Schumer. Folks were drawn to Obama's message of change and hope, which did not empower him to practice change with fierceness. And he wasn't inclined to anyway, so he pursued a policy of politically expedient reform of health care, which has been subsequently beaten half to death by the inevitable reaction - a reaction based on a minority of voters. That is the power equation we need to change, and with Warren's focus on programs of reform, I fear she does not understand the terms of engagement here.
2
When I heard Elizabeth Warren's opening salvo, I couldn't help thinking of lyrics from the poems of Kate Tempest, the brilliant British poet/hip hop artist. Here are some lines from "People's Faces"
There is too much pretense here
Too much depends on the fragile wages
And extortionate rents here
We’re working every dread day that is given us
Feeling like the person people meet really isn’t us
Like we’re gonna buckle underneath the trouble
Like any minute now, the struggle’s going to finish us
And then we smile at all our friends
It’s hard, we got our heads down and our hackles up
Our backs against the wall, I can feel you aching
None of this was written in stone
There is nothing we’re forbidden to know
And I can feel things changing
3
Elizabeth Warren is the one candidate Trump greatly fears.
She has proposals, plans and policies with details on how to pay for them.
Senator Warren will wipe out gibberish-speaking Donald Trump in one single debate.
9
@JM
Do really believe the average voter is interested in "delving" into policy specifics?
The Democrats have been losing the message war for years, because they are unable to promote their agenda with simple "Black and White" messages with large popular appeal.
One of my favorites, that even the Left has brought into is the wording for a woman's right to an abortion, where even the Left has adopted the "Pro-Life" or "Pro-Choice" mantra.
4
Why you were wrong about Elizabeth Warren? Therein lies the problem, if you had a problem with her, do you really believe the average voter will see the light, especially when the well funded vitriolic Right Wing Propaganda Machine(RWPM) goes into full swing.
Let's face it, Professor Krugman described her as a "policy wonk," and if she is the "D" nominee, the RWPM will conflate a Wonk with a Socialist, and their base will buy it hook, line, and sinker.
1
Trying to win over the Republican base is a losing strategy.
6
@June
You are correct, I should have been clearer, in that I meant the majority of average voters who are not interested or informed on specific policy proposals.
2
Whatever one's take on any of the candidates, I was a breath of fresh air to hear politicians debating programs and policies that will benefit ALL Americans.
6
I disagree with Senator Warren’s tendency to generalize the “wealthy” as anyone not living paycheck to paycheck. The majority of “self made” individuals who make up the higher end of the middle class got there not only through hard work but through saving and reinvesting capital for the good of the economy. As far as taking advantage of public resources - they pay the bulk of the taxes that support them. The hallmark of our democracy, our economy and our culture is upward mobility. The Senator’s message seems to be that in order for the “poor” to move up into a solidly middle class lifestyle, the “wealthy” need to move down. Rather than the unifying message of leadership, that sounds like a rallying call for greater divide.
4
@FLN
The people you describe are NOT the people she’s talking about. She’s talking about the people rich enough to buy our politicians.
6
Sure, allow the .01 percent and corporations to continue to suck up most of the annual national income and improve the lot of the tens-of-millions barely scratching by and shoring up our crumbling infrastructure by, what, massive deficit spending?? Beyond the horrendous levels the current White House occupant has already created???
1
One note Sally? Talk about reducing a more-than-capable, experienced, creative, policy-oriented person down to what? Literally her womanhood. I admire you, Mr. Kristof, but you have to do better than this...
3
OK, I finally got the link to the Boston Globe article to work. Sure, plausible deniability. The pro Warren Globe laps it up. But all they cite are the recollections of people who were part of the hiring committees and would their motivation be -- particularly at Harvard these days, to say her ethnicity played a role? I suppose would think that article rigorous.
It doesn't address her publication record. When she moved to UT she didn't have much. Highly unusual -- and nothing I can find shows her publishing much until she reached Penn/Harvard, and submitting an article as a full Harvard professor probably helped the acceptance process.
It's of course possible that Warren made it based on her ability -- but to make the kind of career moves she made without a phenomenal publication record is unheard of. Look at the Harvard Law Faculty directory. Where did the all go to law school. Hint, it wasn't Rutgers or any similarly ranked school. To make her move on merit, she would have to have been viewed as a nationally recognized top of her field individual. Was she?
Maybe it was because she was female & law schools needed female faculty. But you don't move up the academic ladder based on teaching. You have to have publications. The only way to assess if Warren got special treatment is to compare her publication record to other full professors at major law schools BEFORE they were hired or promoted to full professor. Everything else is simply talk.
2
Bravo for Nick Kristof for taking time to change his position regarding Elizabeth Warren and explaining why he did. And, to Elizabeth Warren for being brave enough to run for the office of president. God knows that we need someone of her caliber in that office which has been decimated by Trump and the Republicans.
I would be quite happy with Warren or Kamela Harris. It's time we had a female president to rectify the wrongs of the present administration.
5
Senator Waren has already stated that she will go after big money contributors once again, once she secures the Democratic nomination. Her adopting of Bernie Sander's tactic, of refusing corporate donations, is as temporary as her imitation of Bernie Sander's politics. When a politician tells you she is a Capitalist, you should believe her.
2
I watched the debate not knowing much about any of them. I really liked Warren. If the primary were today, I would vote for her and feel very comfortable.
7
You know what was once the ultra-millionaire tax? The income Tax! Every tax starts on the super wealthy but they always move the qualifications to the rest of us.
I am not buying “free universal childcare” paid for by the other guys... taxes do not stay where they start.
3
Instead of just apologizing she orders a DNA test? Seriously ?
4
Nobody cares.
4
Warren for president. She was ready 4 years ago but Clinton got her entitlement. Will Biden get his now?
4
Clinton plowed that territory for Warren and Klobuchar, the other equally whip smart qualified candidate. As did Geraldine Ferraro and many other women this nation has lost out on in the upper realms of the political sphere.
It is always fun to watch men become "woke". Sort of.
1
@Maggie
Klobuchar is far, far from Ferraro.
Honestly, this skepticism around Warren and the doubt in her abilities and “shoot from the hip” (read: she’s too rash!) or “intense law professor” personality —is pretty representative of women being hyper-analyzed on personality and appearance. I’m glad Kristof realizes now that she actually knows something, but truly the tone of this was patronizing.
8
Last night, at my all-female, very liberal book club, the consensus on Warren was "nails on the chalkboard" with less cross-over potential, appeal to Obama-then-Trump voters, than Hillary. No one, however, is a NYTimes subscriber.
9
@Mary York
You are a 100% correct. Completely agree with the "nails on the chalkboard" comment and the lack of crossover appeal.
She may be a slam dunk for NYT readers but nobody else.
She better improve her style since elections are decided on that than actual substance.
3
Well, I hope your book club friends are at least smart enough to vote for her if she gets the nomination,
3
Warren self destructed last night with her call to decriminalize illegal immigration. Get ready for four more years. Such appalling ineptitude by the Democrats.
7
Trump beaten by a woman.
Hope 2020
7
So you were wrong because you hadn’t done your homework on her.
5
Hillary was the gold standard and she failed. Warren will, too. America lacks the maturity to elect a woman president. Sad. But true. What America is able to elect much in its own self image is an ignorant bum like Trump. Like Barnum said, there's a sucker born every minute. Voters will always believe a lie before they believe the truth.
2
No. The biggest difference between Clinton and Warren is that Clinton had been the continuous target of a 30-year smear campaign by Republicans that was so successful even people who should have known better bought.
Unfortunately for them, they were so focused on destroying Clinton, they completely overlooked Warren- another wicked smart, hard-working, civic-minded woman.
4
It was a pleasure watching and listening to a debate that spoke about real issues and real solutions. Warren is a marvelous change from the idiot currently in the Oval Office.
5
Good analysis of Warren. There are plenty of positives to consider.
However, the Native American claim may not have helped her but her reason for doing it is the crucial part and raises questions about her integrity.
Nevertheless we're all human and none of us is perfect. Voters have ignored far more serious lapses in other candidates!
2
And this, Mr. Kristof, is why I never read your pieces. How you could have thought any of the things you thought betrays a thoughtless and frankly, not very intelligent mind.
1
Never?
Couldn't get through more than the first few paragraphs of your blatant sexism and prejudgments. Even you. Now that's discouraging.
3
As someone who used to identify with GOP tenets and wonders where the better part of them have gone, I am just looking for anyone who can get the current idiot in chief out of there. But Warren is too shrill and self-righteous, and her views are too far left to garner the vast middle needed to win. Coming from academia is no great feature either in my book. Hoping for anyone in that group other than Warren and Sanders to survive the scrum and rout Trump.
2
@Paul Annnnd there it is: "Shrill." An adjective reserved exclusively for women.
1
I thought back in 2016 it would be wonderful were Elizabeth Warren to be our first female president. She got my attention with her “Nobody got rich on his own” speech, that Nicholas Kristof cited. So simply obvious, it was like the tip of an iceberg with much experience and thought underneath it.
In spite of my feelings about Sen Warren, like Mr Kristof, most of my friends and relatives have thought she was unelectable - mostly on account of style. It’s a tribute to Mr Kristof that he was able to change his mind based on empirical evidence. After last evening’s debate, I hope more people will come to appreciate what she would bring to the presidency by way of authenticity - her life story - accomplishments - Harvard Law Professor, creator of the Consumer Protection Board , US Senator.
No one comes fully equipped by way of experience to meet the broad span of demands the office presents. But her brains, reliance on empirical data and empathy indicate she could take on whatever comes her way.
As for beating Trump, she won’t get in the schoolyard with him. She can demolish him by doing what she did last evening: a Laser bean focused, succinct forceful orientation of her plans.
4
This column should be called "How I Was Wrong..." not "Why I Was Wrong." You never get into the whys of your wrongness. Why were you wrong?
1
You can always count on Mr. Kristof to follow whatever the latest fad is. Wait until tomorrow, when he tell us that he was also wrong about _____ (that is, whomever the pundit class decides did better than expected in tonight's debate). Kristof reminds me of that annoying kid who was always supporting some popular new cause in high school, and thought he was being original for doing so.
3
Warren, Warren, Warren.
Today’s NYT is full of praises for Warren, people praising her and even this piece saying he was wrong not to believe in Warren.
You are doing the same hack job as you did when it was Hillary, Hillary, Hillary.
You can trumpet her all you want, she’s still not going to win. She might be popular in the ivory towers of the NYTG, but here in Reality, she is just so not.
So keep chanting Warren, Warren, Warren, you just sound like the same broken record in 2016, and we know how well that turned out.
6
Warren's ideas and work until now are impressive beyond a doubt. The issue is going to be the broad brush that Fox has painted her with as someone rabidly attacking wall street and capitalism and the American dream!
I think she is a marvelous candidate and, if we want the moderate republicans this time around, a Biden/Warren ticket could just do it.
5
Look, Nick, half the faculty at Harvard Law School graduated from....Harvard Law School! The other half all graduated from other law schools in the top ten nationally.
Elizabeth Warren graduated from Rutgers Law School, which is not even in the top fifty. Why do you suppose Harvard Law School hired her? They may not have left a paper trail for researchers, but what happened is pretty obvious.
I won't even go into why her policy proposals could not possibly work, and will make everything much worse than it is now.....
5
@jim allen - Ditto on that ... I'm a 75 year old white male and I too was impressed with Elizabeth Warren in last night's debate. I will get her book "This Fight is Our Fight" either from the library or will buy it. Last election I actually contributed to Bernie but ended up voting for Trump (it's my right to vote how ever I want!) because Hillary was just the same old DC thing and too PC for me. I abhor Political Correctness and Trump won me with that (except for the name calling) and, as an outsider, I felt he would "give-em hell" in DC because they all deserve it. I can clearly see the damage the 1% is doing to our people and it has only gotten worse for we-the-people under Trump. We've been abandoned by big business, Wall Street and the local, state and federal governments. Warren's ideas, energy and resolve work for me. She appears to be a person who will fight tooth and nail to get something done. I'll read her book and watch the debates to see if she can keep delivering to win the nomination. Fingers crossed.
200
@BR
I'm heartened to see that you are able to re-examine your previous vote in 2016 and can consider candidates other than the current office-holder. I wish more of us voters could do as you. Thanks!
63
@BR
So how did it feel when Trump got to D.C. and filled it with more swamp creatures from before?
The turtles and newts and salamanders and swamp things flock to him. He's the darling of the 1% by doling out tax cuts...
18
@BR
I commend you on your willingness to cross party lines. I have trouble with that as a liberal. I do question why a man of your age and intelligence didn't look to Trump's past. He is who he is, as appalling as ever his whole adult life. He has consistently failed at business. I think perhaps a lot of people really didn't know who he was. He was mostly gossip fodder for the NYC rags and no one took him seriously. Clearly it didn't translate to the rest of the country though and they were sold down the river.
33
I'm sharing my description which I posted elsewhere last night.
She has the wonkiness of Hillary, with Bill’s genius for explaining the most complex ideas so that everyone gets it. But then she has the genuineness of a true believer that neither one of them has. She has the folksy “real folk” speech of a Bush 43, without the utter cluelessness. And the energy… OMG she’s is the antithesis of Trump’s bizarre belief that people have a finite amount of energy. She is a perpetual motion machine. She is an avowed capitalist going after the 1% and she manages to be a better Bernie than Bernie.
And to that original description I'll add, the CFPB proves she can get practical solutions implemented.
8
I don't Warren is electable. Moreover, I have grave concerns about someone who in their mid thirties suddenly decided to self identify as a native american based on no genealogical evidence. That's something some hippie might have done back in the 60's...but a mid thirties professional.
Of course, I suppose it's OK since she is a dem.
But not only does she have this inexplicable personal baggage -- she's pushing a leftist agenda like the rest of the AOC wannabes on stage last night and tonight. It won't sell to the middle.
3
I have no doubt EW is the one that will whip Trump! Smart, tenacious, likable, great policies and such a workhorse, she is unpretentious and seemingly modest but I wouldn't pick a fight with her on most issues because the girl does her homework!
4
Nicholas Kristof, mea culpa noted. I have respect for people who can open up their mind to look at facts and evidence and change their views.
Kristof's op-eds are sometimes biased. Often his good intentions cloud his judgement of reality, his idealism dampens need for pragmatism.
I still think western democracy based on universal suffrage is a fool's errand to find qualified and experienced people to run a country. It's merely a popularity contest of name recognition, not much to do with merit and insight. No need to look further than election of Donald Trump in USA, and the cast of fools in UK that led to the Brexit mess.
I admire Elizabeth Warren for her thoughtfulness, as befit a Harvard professor. IMHO she is wasted on Americans, what a shame.
3
I applaud the fact that you're mature enough to be able to admit you were in error on this count, Mr. Kristof. We need more grown-ups like you in our political discourse!
1
She is the best and the brightest with a rousing personality.
Nobody will remember her policies. Just so she doesn't go too far socialist, something for nothing.
2
She has, I believe, the best chance of beating Trump.
Smart, articulate and understandable by all voters.
Give her money.
I did.
6
Thank you - better late than never. Warren has always been smart and in the US that is her weakness. Even when she's being mellow and down home, her intelligence shows through.
Many Americans don't vote for smart and being a woman makes it even harder.
Glad to see you are on board.
5
A wise improvement is supporting a public insurance option for low wage earners and those in worse circumstances. Decreasing deductibles for private insurance without starting another system is safer for those of us already insured. After 30 years professional nursing, I'm dubious about the federal government providing a national policy that fits over 300,000,000 citizens.
2
If Elizabeth Warren wins the nomination, it will be because people voted for the right reasons. If she subsequently wins the presidency, it will be because people voted for the right reasons. That a person elected for the right reasons would happen to also be our first female president would be...well...great!
8
Agreed.
I’m not voting for her because she’d be the first woman in office, but because she genuinely understands the problems afflicting the average families today.
And she isn’t shy about fighting for us.
6
I have not been worried about Warren's involvement in politics as a politician because she has policy chops. For all that she was elected to office for the first time in 2012, she was instrumental in getting consumer financial protection signed into law. Most citizens don't manage to get a new law passed by Congress, no matter how skilled they are. She got an entire new agency created.
My biggest concern for my senior senator was the occasional verbal misstep. I know how vicious certain right-wingers get, excusing the more egregious lies of their current leader while declaring even the most minor verbal flub as a deliberate lie that exposes them as frauds. She's running against a cult of personality that actively aims to short-circuit reason with strongly biased very emotional appeals.
Thankfully she has gotten a lot better there too.
While I am concerned about how the office would wear on her, as it is an enormous responsibility, I believe she'd be a very good president--and the first actually liberal president of my lifetime. If the Democrats can retake the Senate and keep it, hold the House for at least one whole presidential term, and get Elizabeth Warren into the White House, I very much like our chances of reversing the damage done the past 40-odd years.
5
yes, in policy debate nobody can beat her. but is it good enough for the current loud mouth, lying and fake news environment? i wish she can counter all areas of bad judgement by the current administration to show a better way to move forward. Sanders runs on instinct but warrent runs on logics and data. both may be left oriented but warren does not sound socialist.
1
"Warren has become the gold standard for a policy-driven candidate, and whether or not she wins the Democratic nomination, she’s performing a public service by helping frame the debate."
Excellent change of heart.
7
For the country's sake, the President should surround him/herself with expert advisers.
I am confident Warren will do this. This is what academics do. She didn't write these policy proposals by herself.
Trump only agrees with the ones who have his ear. His research comes from Fox news. And last I knew, doesn't even read his daily briefings. Sad.
4
For the country's sake, the President should surround him/herself with expert advisers.
I am confident Warren will do this. This is what academics do. She didn't write these policy proposals by herself.
Trump only agrees with the ones who have his ear. His research comes from Fox news. And last I knew, doesn't even read his daily briefings. Sad.
1
Thanks, Mr. Kristof, for endorsing a candidate who is brilliant, compassionate, well informed, and who doesn't appear to pul punches.
I think she has the maxi to take on Trump and his perpetual insults, as well as the diplomacy to heal some of the international havoc Trump is creating with his alienating threats and bullying tactics.
Most importantly, she admits, unlike some of the other candidates, that we cannot stop global warming, but she has a plan to confront it and adapt to it. In short, she has done her homework and I feel confident, she will do the same thing in office.
5
I am seeing that Elizabeth Warren can indeed be a good, even great, candidate.
What was really encouraging about the debate last night was the many voices explaining the plight We the People find ourselves in and the many ideas to help dig out of that plight.
And we get 10 more voices tonight!
Let the People hear these messages, let it sink in that their ideas are not from Karl Marx but from Lincoln and Roosevelt and Kennedy. Let the People hear that a form of universal health coverage is not as scary as the pharma/insurance industrial complex would have US believe.
If American voters cannot see the difference between any one of these Democrats and t rump and his crime family/administration then our future is dark indeed.
Because the saving of our Nation is not just up to the Democratic Party; it is up to We the People.
Vote like you life and lives of your children depend on it. Because they do.
7
Great job Nicholas for recanting your skepticism! You are absolutely right about Elizabeth Warren, and I have been her fan from day one, because she has plans that are workable and reasonable and she tells it like it is without insulting anybody, unlike the present occupant of the White House.
Good example you are for apologizing when you are wrong.Thanks!
8
I can support Warren if she winds up being the Democrat nominee; but I still have concerns. Just a wealth tax isn't going to pay for all the programs she is pushing, and she should own up to that. The rant against Tilson can be explained as a "sleep deprived moment" unless you recognize that wars can be started because of a sleep deprived moment.
Elizabeth Warren speaks a language that Trump and his base can't seem to comprehend, but one in which the rest of us are gaining fluency, straight talk common sense.
Elizabeth's grasp of the important issues facing the United States' citizens and her policies to correct them are stunning.
These important middle-class issues have been willfully ignored by the Republican party for the past 40 years in favor of red-meat social and religious issues used to bait their base voters.
6
She's incredibly intelligent and inspiring, and I like her wealth tax idea. But ideally, we would vote on policy, and her student loan bailout idea, support for single payer health care, and support for breaking up tech companies lost me. For example, why break up tech companies now and not the big banks? What about those of us who took on debt responsibly and paid it off? The incentive is backwards, and we lose under her policy. What about those of us who have excellent private health care (e.g., Kaiser in California)? Will you seriously nationalize it? Some of these positions make me deeply uncomfortable for the Democratic party's platform. Policy-wise, I much prefer Beto's and similarly Biden's time-tested incremental/robust approach to effective change (i.e., the Obama method).
2
A Warren/Buttigieg ticket is looking pretty good to me. Progressive, but not too pie-in-the-sky to scare centrists (if such people even exist anymore), and Mayor Pete would be well-poised to take the reins in 8 years. Yes, they're both white, but a female president and a gay VP still is a step forward. Anyone who wouldn't vote for them probably wouldn't vote for any of the 20+ candidates out there, many of whom would help make excellent cabinet members for this dream team.
6
You were on the right path until this:
"Yes, they're both white, but a female president and a gay VP still is a step forward."
Choosing the leader of the world based on their sex or sexual orientation is misguided. That same sort of identity politics is what got the Dems into trouble in 2016.
1
I would have been skeptical about a female/gay ticket in terms of electability, but Hillary Clinton chose a run-of-the-mill white male politician for that exact reason and we saw how that turned out.
@Father of One
Nobody is saying they would base their votes on a candidate’s gender or sexual orientation. If that were the case, then we’d have supported Palin.
Warren and Butigieg are both outstanding candidates. The fact that they are members of under-represented groups would be a sign of progress- a wonderful bonus.
1
I believe people are too quick to overlook her use of Native Ancestry in her career. In the scheme of things it may not have been significant but still the issue is here. In the bubble of her supporters they object to any reference to it, but at some point she will likely need to confront the issue for the general electorate. It’s not fair given the transgressions of the current president but it will likely be used successfully against her.
5
@Christian Trump claim to be of Swedish ancestry for decades. That claim was started by Trump's father who felt his German origins were a liability in 20th century America. Where is the outrage? Where are the birth certificates?
3
In many ways Elizabeth Warren is the Barack Obama of the coming election. Hard-working and smart, she is gaining energy and reaching people on many levels. She inspires confidence. It can happen.
4
Advocating Medicare for all is a losing position. Period. Sorry, Elizabeth. Back to the Senate.
Medicare works well because most of the country is still on privately-operated health care. Competition in the private sector produces ALL the great innovations in medical science and technology, and Medicare benefits from those innovations. These advances will grind to a halt if all health care is operated solely by the government. Period. There must be private-sector competition in the heath-care industry.
Capitalism must be reined in, no question about it, and Senator Warren's proposal to break up the large technology companies is right right on the money. But there's a difference between reining in capitalism and converting to socialism, which is what Medicare for all would be.
1
@RJB
Sorry but I disagree. Case in point... I just took care of a woman who is a healthy 65, delayed signing up for Medicare because she has what she felt was an excellent insurance from the job she just retired from( cobra), she fractured her hip falling off a bike in a freak accident, and now is facing her $5000 copay and other costs that Medicare would have picked up.
The current private health insurance system is just ridiculous. Medicare only has 2% bureaucratic overhead, the private insurance industry has 18% overhead.
Of course, getting costs to come down will take more than putting everyone on Medicare, but the bureaucracy of the private insurers is much more onerous than you seem to be aware of.
4
@RJB
Sorry but I disagree. Case in point... I just took care of a woman who is a healthy 65, delayed signing up for Medicare because she has what she felt was an excellent insurance from the job she just retired from( cobra), she fractured her hip falling off a bike in a freak accident, and now is facing her $5000 copay and other costs that Medicare would have picked up.
The current private health insurance system is just ridiculous. Medicare only has 2% bureaucratic overhead, the private insurance industry has 18% overhead.
Of course, getting costs to come down will take more than putting everyone on Medicare, but the bureaucracy of the private insurers is much more onerous than you seem to be aware of.
Also, if we regard health care as a right, then it should not be part of the capitalist system. Hospitals do not have the right to say “no” to treating that woman’s hip fracture, so it is not right to treat health care as a commodity service like we treat say a plumbing or electrician service .
1
Warren is policy driven like so many of the candidates. She sounds like she thinks big business is not paying taxes. Last year Microsoft paid 9.8 billion on federal Taxes on 49% of their income. That doesn't include state and local taxes. That doesn't count taxes employees pay. They have to pay for gasoline to get their product to market. Don't they pay taxes on fuel? We've been hearing about the need to help the Palestinians for decades. This is what Jared has been working on and recently put forth economic plan. But for that to be implemented there will have to be some will by politicians there and here. We can’t speak from a single voice here and over there are whole bunch of voices punctuated by bullets, bombs and rockets. We can't impose our will over theirs. That includes Warren's. Listen to all the frees they promoted last night. Free this, free that but nothing is free and the end result is the government gains more control of or lives. Buy American is exactly what Trump has been working on. Whoever is their candidate will promote working for his/her policies. Trump will turn to those listening to him and say, I working to promote you. He will have the unemployment rate, new factories and expanding wages to support his purpose. It turns out Americans would rather get a pay check instead of an unemployment check.
1
@Ron
Last we heard, Trump’s merchandise was still being made in China. He says one thing and does another. I hope that you can begin to see through his hypocrisy soon.
2
Of the bunch last night, de Blasio surprised me: on the money for me, issues wise.
I’m glad someone knee-capped O’Rourke - who pointedly evaded a couple of questions - and was please at how sharp Castro was at going about it.
The clear winner was Warren. Razor sharp mind. Thought-through policy proposals (mostly: the college thing I agree with on principle, but I don’t want handouts to rich kids who borrowed irresponsibly). Personal history people can relate to, told with heart.
And she is most likely the candidate to chew up The Donald and spit him out. Her deep reservoir of knowledge is what will make it hard for anyone to knock her off balance.
I like Warren / Castro or Booker, with Inslee at EPA.
Tulsi is good too. She needs to lighten up a little, as does de Blasio.
3
The quote about "paying it forward" needs to be repeated often and loudly. I've done OK in my life - but I owe a lot of it to Public Schools, State Universities and strong community values - all under attack from the "conservative elites" The "I've got mine - to heck with you" attitude will be our ultimate undoing.
Societal values and communities exist for a reason. And places where they don't exist are places most of us would not want to live.
10
this is stupid but i just dont like her
Thanks for acknowledging that. Actually. You presented a level of maturity and humility not often displayed on the internet.
But could you vote for her?
You’re right. It is stupid. Nobody who is somebody is liked by everybody.
1
Elizabeth Warren is so right about everything and she is bubbling over with bright ideas and genuine enthusiasm. She is the antithesis of the incompetence, petty malice and gross dishonesty Trump and the GOP. I hope enough thoughtful Americans are paying attention to elect her. She could be the breath of fresh air we need to clear away the stench.
6
its Ok, Nick, we were really starting to wonder about you too. All the journalistic do-goodiness tends to dissipate like so much t.p. in the septic when contrasted with the standard, constantly repeated, take on America, the real America, not that fake America on the coasts, but the real America, the post-citizens united one where we got ours, too bad about grandma's copays, if you all had just worked a little harder we'd have that money too. Oh, and i think the chateaubriand is superb, don't you Maggie? have some more popovers and these potatoes are divine (twitches with hatred realizing pathetic foreigner waiter is serving from the right)... pours wine for himself and David B., scrumptious really
1
I've always felt people have made way too big a deal about Ms. Warren's claim to native American heritage. A lot of my fellow white people claim to be "part Cherokee" or something. For most white people whose family has been in this country for generations our heritage really just comes down to family lore. If you grow up being told that your great grandmother was one quarter Navajo you tend to believe it just as you believe you are part Irish, Italian, etc. Unless you take a DNA test you just never really know. You just believe cheat you were told by your elders. People really need to get over this. It's a big deal about nothing. I recently took a DNA test via Ancestry dot.com. It pretty much confirmed what I already knew but there were surprises. Should I be crucified for repeating what my elders have told me my whole life about my heritage if it proves inaccurate? If it's such a big deal than maybe scholarships that are granted based on heritage need to shut up and simply require a DNA test as their only application requirement. If they did I'd bet you'd find a heck of a lot of white people who'd be surprised by their real heritage.
5
@Blackcat66
I understand and agree with your point about Ms. Warren in particular-- as the author points out, there's no evidence she even benefited professionally from her hearsay claim.
But as an anthropologist I see the problem with the ubiquitous "Cherokee princess" claim among settler descendants as more of a clash with indigenous worldviews. Being from populations who were decimated by disease, and then systematically displaced and ethnically cleansed, many indigenous people feel (understandably, I'd say) defensive about their identity, and they do not necessarily measure it in chromosomes. It's deeply offensive for many of them to see the dominant culture tokenizing their identity and tossing it around as political currency. Gene sequences obviously have very little to do with the "native experience".
But yes, it was a misunderstanding that Trump aggravated and Warren played into. Let's get over it.
4
we like it that she has some Native American blood, plus being very smart and feisty
1
Me too.
I admire your integrity in admitting your mistake re Elizabeth Warren. This quality of admitting when you have been wrong makes you what you're, one of the finest journalists in America. One cannot say the same in reference to all well-known journalists, including a few on the Times' staff.
1
Elizabeth Warren has too many views on too many subjects. She needs to widdle down some and stick to the critical few that are important to the voters.
3
Nick, you write about HOW you were wrong about Warren, not WHY.
The latter would be more interesting.
4
The reason you, and all the supporters of democrats, are all wrong is never addressing the one giant flaw in the platform of the entire group.
They believe elevating elitism and coddling the tyrants and miscreants is OK as long as they, the elites, and their opulent lifestyles are not affected. Drug lords, religious zealots, criminals, socialist/communist/fascist politicians are fine and can run and rule foreign countries and export their social and economic problems to the promised land, The United States.
2
Hear, hear!
Pick apart democratic party candidates. Okay. Sleep better scrutinizing who you vote for, I get it.
I was wrong about republicans, and here's why.
It is obvious they've been playing the long game. While democrats scrutinized labor unions and their mob affiliations and accusations of radicals in their midst it appears the John Birch Society and the Southern Strategy bore strange fruit that we stand gaping at. How did the mob and confederate Jim Crow plantation secessionists finally find their way into the White House with all our scrutiny? Especially after the assassinations of JFK, MLK and Bobby?
2
So it seems that you had objects based on "feelings" and not facts. Can this be true?
Regards
2
I googled the expression “shoot from the hip” and found contradicting definitions: one positive, “to speak in a very direct and honest way”; the other negative, “to react quickly, without thinking carefully about something.”
Of the twenty-odd Democratic hopefuls I find Elizabeth Warren the most presidential — whatever that means — and the only one who seems to stand a chance against Trump. But she has to “think carefully” about abortion and LGBT issues that are dividing Americans and decide “to speak in a very direct and honest way” — based on hard science, not dubious philosophy — about them.
Compassion and honesty can conquer the voided center of American politics. So, Elizabeth Warren, keep shooting from the hip, that’s how Truman won, against all odds. As a bystander, I am looking forward to a presidential campaign that will choose the best candidate, not the lesser of the two evils.
2
We can stand by and let others frame our candidates' messages and abilities, and then keep wringing our hands, or we can jump in and change those negative narratives ourselves, grassroots-style.
It's premature to nit-pick. And I don't believe that the best person for the job and the best person to beat Trump are mutually exclusive. But that dichotomy is possible if we, not the Republicans, let it happen.
3
Please, please Democrats, don't be seduced by a good speaker who espouses wonderful ideas. Great ideas are easy to come up with. The hard part is to implement them & even harder, to pay for them.
Sen. Warren has even less management experience than did Obama. Hey, being President is a huge managerial job! Warren has never had a single executive job; no experience as an elected executive official. Her only elected job is as a Senator & we all know how much they get done.
Then there's the imperative of sending Trump packing. He would make mince meat out our her.
3
She conceived and structured a federal agency and managed her law practice as well as major research project for decades. Oh, she also manages her robust Senate staff. Managing things is also the heart of working mother’s lives. Please don’t be seduced by the idea that managing is solely about being a ceo or head of a govt. branch. Professors manage massive grants and support staff every day. She’s been a manager in all aspects of her professional life. And that Obama guy worked out ok.
2
@Amy Sorry Amy, that's not even remotely equivalent to the managerial challenges of being President of the US.
And about Obama, just what transformative measures did he implement?
2
Nick,
Were you also wrong about Senator Bernie Sanders?
Please elaborate.
2
Elizabeth and Pete in 2020
3
It is refreshing top see someone with concrete ideas as our present POTUS lurches along propelled by his mouth, thumbs and ego.
3
The world that actually exists is getting worse with each Trump tweet. The country has lost its moral compass. Corporate greed rules. Warren's takedown of the Wells Fargo CEO for his willful incompetence regarding the bank's move to create bogus consumer accounts underscored much of what stinks in corporate America. She's had my attention ever since.
4
"Warren is also brilliant at shaping the narrative" Except that the repugnant right are masters at perversely destroying and maliciously misrepresenting any narrative replacing it with falsehoods that the gullible poorly educated base accept on faith against their own interests.
I fear Warren will be Hillaried and pilloried by the repulsive right. She has all the qualities the right hates - intelligence, decency and she's a woman. Indeed, Republicans resemble the Taliban in their hatred and desire for absolute control over women as non-citizens, let alone second class citizens. Even the Handmaid's Tale outfits that symbolize the current attack on women by the right are merely westernized burqas.
I've been a Warren fan since back in the day she broke down the real reason families go broke and overextended themselves on their credit cards - health care. The credit card industry denigrated their own customer's by claiming they overindulged in their spending on credit.
How is acknowledging even trace amounts of an ancestry wrong? Should those who pay for DNA kits to trace their own ancestry be condemned? What is evil are the supremacists who found a home in the religious right Republican party that vilifies anyone who isn't pure white. Look how Obama, half black and half white was horribly treated by these people. Now they're going after Warren because she's proud to have even trace amounts of Native American in her.
We need to overwhelm those who try to hijack her message.
3
Now all you have to do is apologize to Woody Allen for furthering Mia's delusional accusations- that have harmed her children, NIcholas, and we'll call it even.
1
I will not stop saying this...as a somewhat stereotypical urban-overeducated-elitist-jewish-openminded-eastcoaster it nearly matters zero what I think.
We will change our current course when the candidates connect with the normies in the the middle states (midwest) and the hate states (south).
So of course Warren is a winner, and anyone who dismissed her clearly hasn't been listening for years. But if there is one thing we've seen the smartest person doesn't win - from Bush II to the current one.
5
Elizabeth for VP. And aging Biden will need her. But after the way Hillary suffered with "trash mouth Trump" , I am not ready for another woman to be scorned by uneducated, white males. This is all about winning over blue collar workers in PA, OH, MI, WI, and maybe a few old people in Florida. My vote doesn't count, I live in South Carolina. Even my district is gerrymandered.
2
About claiming Native American heritage, I think it was an honest mistake. She said what her parents told her. We usually trust the stories our parents tell us about who we are.
You can apply it to any person living in America today. Someone could tell a child he’s Irish all his life when he’s really Polish or Italian. You can tell a child with Kenyan roots that he is from Ghana. How would we know, really?
1
@R
It was not a mistake, she has some Native American DNA.
She never tried to take advantage of it.
Whereas... why does Trump get a pass for lying about where his parents came from? Said he was Swedish, he is not. Then said his father was born in Germany, but his father was born in NYC .
Why is Trump not held accountable for his lies?
Is it sexism? Stupidity? Bad journalism? Racism ?
1
Trump will call her policies socialism
Only Biden can beat Trump
2
Every so often a person comes along that actually cares about somebody besides themselves. That is Elizabeth Warren.
I have no doubt in my mind that she will run circles around Trump in any debate. She will ignore his base insults and keep her eye on the ball.
She will show Trump up to be the shady, corrupt, unpatriotic, misogynist that he is. And hopefully she will just refer to Trump by the title "my opponent". Imagine him not having his name spoken by a female? It will drive him bonkers.
2
Who does she choose for Veep? Castro? Booker?
The "rule" says not two women, not two white people and not two socialists.
Of course, Hillary didn't pick Castro or Booker, and it cost her the election.
2
Giving Kristof the benefit of the doubt, it's hard to believe that his doubts 1,2 and 3 are sincere. All 3 are all right wing propaganda hits. Surely Kristof always knew better than that.
If the Democrats run another angry, white, female policy wonk against Trump again, they will lose.
3
Shameful that she has to give us lessons in civics ("You built a factory- good for you!"....) when we all should have learned that in middle school but they don't teach civics in schools anymore or maybe everyone just forgot what our taxes are for.
4
Hey Warren my white-privileged ill-gotten intergenerational real-estate wealth consists of an empty lot on the near east side of Detroit with an assessed value of $102.
I attended a majority African-American public high school in Detroit as well as a public university.
My family received the same level of police protection as our Black neighbors. We paid the same levels of homeowners' insurance.
We watched as our neighborhood descended into becoming a war zone before we finally moved out. Around that time I looked around and I wondered who would be blamed for the level of violence and destruction that descended upon our modest lower-middle class neighborhood.
As we moved out I could almost hear liberals from far-away safe environs shouting "Look! White flight - that's the cause of your problems and source of your oppression!". And from the neighborhood we were leaving you could almost hear: "Hey, you owe me!"
If white liberals want to make up for their sins - real or imagined then go ahead and do so. But the guilt accounts of my family and many of our former neighbors were closed long ago.
And there's no dog whistle or Southern Strategy to it.
4
What does anything that you wrote have to do with anything that Warren?
I'd prefer Warren. That said, Anybody But Trump. So whoever the Dem candidate is, even if it's Bernie, then I'm holding my nose and voting for him over the Liar In Chief.
1
Too cowardly to support Bernie, on whose 2016 platform Warren is running.
1
If all US voters were grown-ups, Warren would probably be a shoo-in.
1
Apparently Mr. Kristol did not read the Boston Herald's May 23, 2019 piece on Warren before concluding that people are starting to support her. Nothing could be further from the truth.
NYT Sunday Magazine told me a great biography of Elizabeth Warren and tonight she confirmed us all that she is best candidate and we need to back her fully. Her entire life is in the open. She has the guts.
Go, Ms.Warren-beat the liar.
P--Warren.
VP--Hickenlooper.
East--West
Woman--Man
Smart--Down home
Policy wonk--Business wonk
Wine and Beer...
...both really really understand and will really address the issues faced by those 68 million who voted for Trump (excepting those who chose Trump for racist, sexist, bigoted reasons) and for the other 68(+-) million middle and poor who have the same issues as those Trump supporters but chose to vote for someone else.
Warren/Hickenlooper can win. And, after a very long time, we might actually get some favorable winds behind us.
1
How about Hickenlooper/Warren
Why open a pro Warren piece with two paragraphs of negatives? Your 3rd paragraph should have been your first. She is showing she can run this country with well thought out plans. And that she would be an excellent fool for Trump. We're trying to win this thing. Help us out.
1
I tried following the ny times comments mostly ok I don't think someone saying so and so said this to get funds or some popular position just to say so. The Epstein guy just seems there for republican criticism he actually said E Warren is all over the place because he interviewed her in 2017 and she was all single payer, hey dude things change it isn't exactly a good thing when people are rigid in solutions to difficult situations. Back to watching thanks for trying NY times
You deserve a lot of credit for admitting how wrong you were on all points.
Mr Kristof needs to get out more. Elizabeth Warren has been talking policy since she was on PBS and with Jon Stewart. She has always been smart with excellent policy positions that are supported by facts. Mr Kristof doesn't seem to know that Ms Warren has talking to people for years about her policies
3
I first heard her on Fresh Air on NPR. It was many years ago, but she left an impression with me. It was a few years later that I heard her again, a second time again on radio, but I remembered her.
I generally have a bad memory.
Love Warren. Booker, Castro and Inslee were good. DeBlasio is annoying and Klobuchar is not a good person.
I want someone, anyone to acknowledge the tremendous harm being inflicted on people in chronic pain in America and separate us from the needle addicts.
I fear very much the new research on drugs for pain will do irreparable harm to our bodies.
The DEA should not be allowed to take away a doctor's assets and license without due process, and the Supreme Court has decided this in a case already.
The DEA is out of control again and attacking the low lying fruit instead of going after Fentanyl-laced heroin.
The only other thing that matters to me is regulation of corporations and the climate. I think Warren can do both of these things.
I don't trust Biden, He is a Neo liberal like Obama was.
Trust women for once and let's get off this patriarchal high horse.
But I'll vote for the Dem ticket straight no matter who.
Let's get that other ogre, Mitch McConnell out of the senate too.
Let democracy back into our lives instead of lying down before "illegitimate authority" and propaganda.
That's what's at stake here: the whole world
I believe you also discounted Warren because she is a woman.
Just saying . . .
1
She is smart and thoughtful but even people who are desperate to change administrations won't tolerate wasting time on a wealth tax that is a non-starter or eliminating the health insurance industry which isn't going to happen. If she can't move to the center, even if she gets the nomination, she'll be George McGovern.
1
Trump will squash her like a bug in an election. She might have emerged as front runner is current pack of misfits but she doesn’t have charisma of Trump or mass appeal. If she emerges as presidential hopeful for democrats its game over. It’s too bad Shultz won’t run as a Democrat. He would be someone who could beat Trump in presidential election. Democrats need to win on policy not the hate trump platform that failed in 2016.
1
One thing I like about Warren is that her nearly constant proposing of new policies ("I have a plan for that") shows a faith in the actual levers of American democracy. Her campaign is not about being likable or finding ways to get her "brand" out there or playing one segment of the population off another--it's about showing what she would (try to) do if elected president. I think that's called vision, and I don't see anyone else with it except for in relation to one, maybe two pet issues. In fact, I don't think I've seen it in my lifetime--Obama had the hope and change rhetoric down, sure, but he was never the geyser of feasible ideas that Warren appears to be.
1
Warren's campaign now brings to mind a limerick I wrote back during her senatorial run against Scott Brown:
Scott Brown’s prognosis is rough
so he’ll campaign all in the buff;
Liz Warren’s a dame
with a keen sense of shame,
and considers good speeches enough.
2
I we really do have two America's and two sets of bars with which we measure a candidates qualifications.
The democratic side was and still may be ready to disqualify Ms. Warren on her Native American gaffe while the republicans are certainly OK with their candidate being a miasma of unsavory behavior and questionable intelligence.
I have changed to a more positive view of her too. My only concern is how she will hold up on the stage against trump. Too soon to tell????
Warren is fantastic. She would be an excellent POTUS.
1
Why not wait until you hear the rest of the candidates, Mr. Kristof, since what they have to say may, again, change your mind?
1
She isn’t afraid, and she’s fearless without being reckless. She’s won me over, too.
1
Ms Warren appeals to thinking
people. Unfortunately they are not
in the majority.
1
I am so happy that people are taking a "whip-smart" woman seriously and not labeling her with the "b" word. I too hope to see a woman as president of the US in my lifetime.
1
Many voters are put off by strong intelligent women, even women. Many were put off by a strong intelligent woman in 2016, although Comey, Stein and Bernie cultists each made enough of a difference to throw the election to trump (even without considering all the people who were fooled by fake articles written by Russians and circulated on social media). Who knows how a majority of people will vote if they are choosing between another strong intelligent woman and trump.
Maybe someday when he considers the mountains of exonerating evidence, Kristof will come to the conclusion he was wrong about Woody Allen, too.
I'm also a bit of a latecomer to Warren but so very impressed by her smarts, passion and knowledge. First time I am excited about this election and happy to feel I can vote with both head and heart, rather than "just" head alone (or focus on that odd construct of electability). I believe we just unseat the president but it would be wonderful to do so with a candidate we truly believe can be a leader and visionary for the entire country.
3
Anybody who is annoyed by Warren's claim of Native American heritage has probably not lived in Oklahoma, which has a unique history. Before statehood in 1907, it was all or partially "Indian Territory", with plenty of opportunity for intermingling of Native Americans with other races. The leader of the "mixed bloods", during the Civil War, was John Ross, who was only 1/8 Native American, and supported the Union. The leader supporting the Confederacy was General Stand Watie -- 3/4 Cherokee
I went to high school with Warren -- Northwest Classen HS in Oklahoma City -- noted for its academic excellence and progressive teaching methods. I didn't know her --it was a huge school.
However, virtually every student with Oklahoma roots proudly claimed Native American heritage, even if he/she had blonde hair and blue eyes. This was the environment Warren grew up in. Therefore, I am not at all bothered by her claims of ancestry, and think they are probably true.
15
The only mild criticism of this column is the absence of any mention of Warren’s proposals for Climate Change, this despite her naming this our greatest threat. It has been disheartening to persons like me to have Climate Change being largely ignored by political leaders and pundits. And, if raised, the favorite idea is too often to “right price” carbon by adkding a tax. Warren is at her eloquent best when talking about the vast wealth to be created by and for those meeting our energy needs.
Climate Change is a byproduct of meeting our energy need from fossil fuels; the solution to Climate Change will be as a byproduct of meeting our energy need from renewable sources.
5
Elizabeth Warren is brilliant but I fear that the same reason why mainly men, and a subset of women, wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton will doom her as well.
5
You know, I really didn't like her in 2016 -- thought she was too much of a firebrand (I generally don't like it when politicians rely on anger to make policy arguments). But I'm so angry now. Angry at Trump, angry at McConnell, angry at the rest of the GOP, angry at the millions of Americans who prefer to scream into the wind, no matter the harm it does us all, than to advance this country's progress.
To be honest, I'd take just about anyone, but the idea of a fighter is really appealing to me at the moment.
15
Any woman who comes forward as a serious Democratic candidate will be demonised and accused of being socialist by the right wing propaganda machine. We just have to fight against these accusations that are of course totally false and support the candidate.
In addition to what Warren has already done I would like her to come forward and declare that she or her campaign will not, repeat not make a deal with the Wall Street conglomerate that in return for their money and support in she will promise to protect the banking sector from radical reforms that are needed. If s h e makes such a commitment we should believe her.
2
Elizabeth Warren's policy ideas on taxing the super-wealthy are actually not radical. People forget that back in the 1950s and 60s (the time republicans claim that America was great) the high tax rate was 80%. It was 70% under Nixon.
10
Liz is smart - Liz is an idealist - Liz is honest - Liz is not corrupted by Big Money.
The one item that I would emphasize, were I in charge of her campaign, is that Pres. Obama picked her out of Harvard to establish the Financial Protection Bureau. She was so feared by Wall Street that they paid extra to Mitch McC and the other GOP lackeys to keep her from running the very bureau that she created.
Liz is a warrior who is on the side of We The People!
And yet she persisted, indeed!
21
I was wrong about her too. I thought she was too canned. She turns out to be the least canned. She is blunt, direct, and genuine.
As we'll have to hear from the next president on a daily basis for 4 years, of all the candidates, she's the one I most want to listen to. She has energy, drive, intellect, and a smile on her face. She exudes decency and smarts. She is the obverse of Trump.
Elizabeth + Cory?
+ Pete?
14
Liz and Pete, that’s MY ticket. It also makes good sense going forward to have a broader TEAM at our helm, not simply two, but four. A new way to govern representively, and much more effective. I propose TEAM Liz, Pete, Kamala and Julian. AOC needs to stay right where she is, till she matures into a future contender. She will rise. Now, there is a great filth to sweep away.
1
For those unwilling to cede that Eliz. Warren (the girl with the scholarship to GW who ended up following a spouse to TX two yrs into her undergrad degree) had an actual track record in research, publication, etc http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/ewarren/Warren%20CV%20062508.pdf
"My first objection was that she appeared to have parlayed possible Native American heritage to gain academic jobs..."
Really? I thought that that was a right wing talking point. Harvard denies it. She was recruited from UT Law school.
6
@Davis
Apologies, Mr. Kristof. I immediately responded before reading the article. In my defense, I never, ever thought that she used the Native American claim to gain academic jobs.
4
@Davis Always read first and write later! Kudos for your correction.
This election is going to be the opportunity to gut the Republican party . . . a party built on a foundation of fear and hate for the 'other.' To think there's any chance of winning over any converts is completely unrealistic. Think about what has happened in this country since Newt Gingrich. None of those people are ever going to change so we need to focus on removing them from public life from the school board to the Oval Office.
That being the case, what we need is a warrior as our candidate. Elizabeth Warren fits the bill better than the rest of that pack of wimps . . .
10
Elizabeth Warren is a success story. She elevated herself from modest beginnings, gets hired by Harvard to teach law, and is a U.S. Senator. That makes her very smart. And she exudes a high level of genuineness. Now look at our current POTUS...He lies on an hourly basis. Grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, gifted millions from daddy by adulthood, and kept going back to daddy for financial support. Ran a con "university" that he had to dump before the election. The contrast of these two cannot be more striking. There is no doubt in my mind who has the interest of this great nation at heart.
8
i can just see trump railing against Warren as 'just a bankruptcy lawyer. He would say, 'I know way more about it than she does. She hasn't even filed for bankruptcy even once! But I have, 6 times!!'
5
@Jay (from THE CAROLINAS)
MY BEST SUGGESTION, if you really want the Democrats to win in 2020, is to get Bernie off the ticket ASAP. He is NOT a Democrat, for starters ... and, as I see it, he and his “supporters” blew the election for Hillary in 2016. Elizabeth Warren can run circles around him, is far more intellectual, has far better ideas, has the energy, and has a track record of being for the people ... especially the hard-working middle class. And, besides that ... this time around, he’s looking more like a crumpled old hat.
11
Repeat after me, everybody!
“There’s nothing ‘radical’ about a single-payer healthcare system!”
“There’s nothing ‘radical’ about a single-payer healthcare system!”
“There’s nothing ‘radical’ about a single-payer healthcare system!”
Single-payer has been adopted successfully by many (if not most) developed nations, including our very UNradical neighbors to the north.
What’s radical is an unregulated for-profit healthcare system that leaves millions without the ability to see a doctor or afford life-saving medicine and is the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in the nation.
9
My fear in advocating this is the power i.e., money, of the insurance companies and big pharma plus the many people who will be out of a job. Makes me very nervous.
2
I can't think of a better person to become the first female president of the United States. She would make my suffragette ancestors so, so proud. Go, Warren, go!
5
She is the real deal. And she will choose a winning cabinet. America, wake up.
4
I would love for that one moment at the Warren-Trump debate when she looks at him straight in the eye and asks: “am I your type, Mr. President? Answer now and have the guts or tweet about it when you’re off the stage.”
3
It seems to me your column is wrongly titled. You address what you were wrong about but never why. Why did you have the filters that led you, a perceptive, deep thinking, highly informed, professional analyst, to jump to the wrong conclusions, as it seems you did? You never address that, but I think it is the key to how Warren and the other candidates will do. It's great that you changed your mind, but I still have to ask you, and myself, why am I starting from this position, why was I wrong, or misled, to begin with?
3
As a Mass. resident, I've always liked Warren's ideas, even if I don't agree with all of them. But I felt she was too "shrill," a too stereotypically "emotional woman," high voiced, arms flailing, to be "electable" as President.
Well, if this country can elect a lying, cheating, bullying, racist, ignorant, sex offender to the most powerful job in the world, this country can surely elect a smart, sane, logical, patriotic, energetic, strong, honest, faithful, high-voiced woman to lead this nation back to its core values and mission to provide liberty and opportunity for ALL of its citizens.
So far, Elizabeth Warren is the only candidate among dozens who has already proposed specific paths for how to get there. Flail on, Liz, and keep talking. Yours is the voice of sanity and humanity we are desperate to hear to block out the hateful rants and policies from the shameless, lost Republican "leaders."
7
She is wicked smart and being from Oklahoma and a true populist won’t hurt her either.
5
These are the issues we need to be talking about. Republicans will continue to divide, ridicule, trivialize and distract.
What's that unusual feeling I'm becoming aware of? Could it be hope ???
460
@Adele I was wondering the same thing!
17
@Adele, the "audacity" of such a thought!
20
@Adele. No. Never under-estimate the ability of Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
6
Senator Warren's student loan proposal is out in left field when there is already a mechanism to deal with bad debt called bankruptcy. Student loan creditors should not get a preferred status in bankruptcy. Senator Klobuchar is a more thoughtful centrist candidate who has been a very effective senator.
1
At some point in our history the American people are going to have to face the music—the truth of our circumstances.
The middle class is eroding to the point its lack buying power will even affect the people who are most benefiting from our government doing nothing about the inherent unfairness of capitalism. Labor unions, which brought a good life to millions of workers and their families everywhere are almost extinct in every industry.
We are rapidly becoming a has-been nation. We may have the strongest army in the world but internally are suffering from dry rot. Worse, a huge part of our people refuse to look at it squarely.
We need a renaissance for the common man and woman. We need to clip the wings of those who have literally bought the government they like. We need to take care of each other and our land—and indeed our planet.
Warren is on the right track. It's time for a real change.
7
Full disclosure, I am a Massachusetts resident and am not a “Warren for President” supporter. I appreciate Warren’s policy side and it is appropriate for the Senate. I do not comprehend why people are attracted to her because she speaks endlessly about her policies. If she could wave a magic wand when elected and implement them, then maybe it would be appropriate to spend so much time thinking about them. But, that’s not how it works she would be better off presenting and selling her policies in the Senate, hmmmm, why hasn’t she? Her “I have a plan for that” is too much like “build the wall”, or “I know the answer and I will solve the problem...all by myself”.
3
Asked my four grandkids (ages 6-10) what type of president they wanted and they said:
Smart
Fair
Kind
Fun
Not a bad list and Warren shows signs of all three. She needs to work on the "fun" part a bit more, though.
1
I'm so tired of hearing "coastal elites" Are we determined to be an elite because of where we live?
Sen. Warren earned everything she has achieved, that's more than Donald Trump can claim.
We need to disregard these identifiers that segregate us in different categories and just allow people to stand on their own merits.
4
I think Elizabeth Warren is very capable and intelligent overall. However, her unabashed views -- such as eliminating private health insurance entirely -- calls into question her basic electability and political judgment. Politics is the art of practicality and feasibility. If she is the Democratic nominee, I will support her, but I think she would lose to Trump as her position on private health care insurance, for example, could be exploited to doom her general election candidacy.
4
My only complaint about Warren is that she’s too old. I’m going to vote for someone younger than me. Us baby boomers have had our time to get things right and Trump happened. Time for a new generation. Besides, look at the track record of older Presidents (Reagan and Trump?).
2
Indeed. I am ready for a smart, committed, wire and deep thinking candidate to bring out the best in America and begin to repair the damage done during this administration.
Very Strong!
4
As a Massachusetts resident I have voted for Warren and heard her speak. Besides being bright, focused and an unflagging champion of consumers she is also warm and engaging in person - something that is hard to project on a debate night stage but has obviously resonated with voters who have met her during her campaign.
5
I was at dinner one night last week with three friends and at one point we all admitted that Warren was at the top of our list of candidates at the moment. Each of us expressed surprise because, for each of us, it was a "coming around" process, just as Nicholas Kristoff describes. I think America is hungry to get back to being a serious nation that studies issues and takes stands based on evidence of what works and what's really needed. Senator Warren's priorities are exactly right for America right now.
18
She seems brilliant . Wall Street is as scared of a Warren presidency as they are of a Bernie one. If the US economy is strong moderates are less likely to vote for a democratic socialist even against Trump while they would vote for Biden.
5
I agree. Warren is more and more impressive. She has so clearly worked very hard to get it right -- for noble reasons (not vainglory). I realize this may be too tonal, but Warren used to have a highly excitable, barely contained and nervous sort of presence...it was passion, I'm sure, but it was anxiety-provoking to see. Now, the passion remains, the policy brilliance stands, but her gestalt (sorry...) is stable. I suspect she's worked on that, too. Kudos to her! And watching the debate last night, I'm pretty sure orchid is her lucky color....
5
My choice for my vote so far: Elizabeth Warren on top and Cory Booker for VP. They check all the boxes with their intelligence, experience, intuition, dedication and passion for what WE STAND FOR. Their moral compass will lead us back to a civil society attempting to right the wrongs perpetrated on us by Trump. They are the constant adults in the room. They were standouts in the debates last night. Their life beginnings, education, paths of resistance, experiences as minorities and their vision complement each other. They speak to our better angels. They will be an inspiration to younger people to reach higher and push to make a more just society. Warren can obliterate Trump in any debate. These two Senators will fight Trump’s craziness with facts and force. They have dedicated their lives to make others better. TOGETHER THEY CAN TAKE BACK THE SOUL OF OUR ONCE PROUD NATION.
4
I too was skeptical. I liked her when she continue to read to commemorate Martin Luther King Day and Mitch McConnell shut her down.
but listening to her now, she is easy to understand and she is getting across to average people. Whatever happens, she is a gift to all of us.
4
I've gone on the exact same journey regarding Elizabeth Warren, who I voted for as my senator. I still think her years-long claims of a Native American ethnic identity are questionable, but I now feel enthusiastic about her presidential run.
I got caught in the "electability" trap last time when I voted Hillary over Bernie; I'm not going to make that mistake again. Joe Biden seems to have learned nothing from his time in the Obama administration: the radicalized, un-democratic, un-American Republican Party must simply be defeated, not walked down the primrose path of bi-partisanship. Republicans of good conscience should feel the same way.
Warren and Buttigeig 2020!!!
I see the same things in Warren that you do. I too was a skeptic but now am turning into a true believer. Like her, I was a teacher for many years. Teachers do a lot of analyzing. We analyze our teaching, our students, our place in this country. And we care about our students; we want them to succeed. That concern for the youth of America translates into concern for the country, how we can help, or how we can fix the things we see as broken. I have not contributed funds to any candidate yet, but EW has got me thinking about her.
4
I’ve traveled a similar road. I was unsure about Warren for some of the same reasons. No more. I gave her a hundred dollars last week and will most definitely give her more. She’s the person to beat. I’m backing her to go all the way and be the best president we’ve had in a generation.
(And before anyone accuses me of being a foreign entity illegally meddling in a US election, I’m an American citizen and voter.)
5
As someone who also wasn't initially impressed by Elizabeth Warren's candidacy, thank you for writing this piece. Her willingness to mix it up in the political field deserves a look beyond my first impression.
3
If you are serious about derailing the GOP machine, get out and vote in your house and senate elections. The President is not a king even though aspirants run as if s/he would be. This country hasn’t had a president who understood that since LBJ.
5
Warren is the best hope the middle class has. She has spent a lifetime caring and working for us.
5
6/27/19
Renowned N.Y. Times columnist,Nicholas Kristof yesterday wrote "Why I Was Wrong About Elizabeth Warren". He had favored other presidential candidates but changed to favor Warren.
Warren continues to center on her underprivileged background in Oklahoma, saying "I just want to be a school teacher". She did, (Becoming a special education teacher in a New Jersey elementary school).
Senator Warren continues to the top just as she did as a child, to become the best at whatever she undertakes.
She was a top student, first on her high school debate team,
highly rated as a teacher, then professor(Harvard) and now senator from Massachusetts (Running for president of the United States)
Kristof has been surprised by Elizabeth Warren who is often referred to as ".The engine that could".
She did well last evening, the first night of the coming debates. It will be a difficult climb.
It's much like Elizabeth Warren has always been ,"The engine that could" and her engine is again working its way to the top. The President-elect of the United States--Year 2020.
5
I think that Warren is brilliant, has concrete plans for the policies she wants to enact, is able to stand up to the bullying of Trump, is honest, is very likable, and would be a great President if you supported her vision and policies. But for me she is too extreme, although not as far as Bernie Sanders, and so I cannot vote for her.
1
What part of her policy platform is too extreme? None of her proposals go beyond what has been successful in other countries around the world.
11
@DC
If our country was run by a King or absolute dictator I think you could be worried that a candidate is too extreme. But in a normal presidency, the president may have ideas or things they want to accomplish, but that is what Congress is there for. I know it’s been a long time, but the president NORMALLY goes to a congress to convince them to vote for whatever it is that he wants to accomplish. We’ve seen Donald at his desk signing so many executive orders we’ve kind of forgotten that..
@DC I guess, then, you're happy with the present situation in our country?
1
Absolutely agree, 100%, with everything Mr Kristoff says about Elizabeth Warren's candidacy and her policy proposals.
Question: Do you have a plan to deal with Mitch McConnell?
Warren's answer: I do.
Beyond that what we got was "how democracy is supposed to work" and "the will of the people matters."
Agreed. However, Mitch McConnell sees this differently. For him, what matters if what Mitch McConnell wants, and what he wants is to guarantee that every progressive Democratic policy proposal and legislative foray is DOA in the Senate. No amount of wishful thinking or marshaling of the force of "the will of the people" is going to change this.
Step One: Defeat Donald Trump
Step Two: Inundate the Republican-held Senate with proposal after proposal that forces McConnell to reveal himself as the obstructionist he is, that forces him to refuse over and over to even consider laws that would help move our country forward.
Step Three: Regain the Senate by throwing the Senate Republican majority into the street, where they belong.
Again, absolutely agree 100% with everything Mr Kristoff says. The question is not how do you deal with Mitch McConnell; the question is how do you defeat Donald Trump? Because if you don't answer that question, the McConnell question is moot.
4
Warren provides a long list of ideas, all of which are extremely expensive, and she does not provide a way of paying for them. We have to make choices. We want a candidate who is reasoned and can make these difficult choices and prioritize. There is only so much a president can do with executive orders. The legislation which she proposes would never make it through a Senate with 60 votes required. Medicare for all, taking private insurance away from people who like it, is a nonstarter. I think that Joe Biden, with a history of working across the aisle, is the best person to heal this nation and I hope he does not make any gaffes tonight.
1
I disagree that she hasn’t figured out how to pay for the things he proposes. Her idea to add a small added tax to those earning 50 mil or higher seems to strike a balance between expecting everyone to pitch in and running up even higher deficits. It is a question of priorities and hers seem well thought out. As for the comment about how much can be done through executive order, our current President (and his toadies) have clearly blown down any barriers in that arena. That dems now realize if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em, I think the game is now different and it’s fair game.
3
Nicholas Kristof is impressed by this statement: “You built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea? God bless! Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay it forward for the next kid who comes along.” Two issues with it: first, such statements are inflammatory and confiscatory in tone. Warren and others assume that the wealthy don't already pay taxes nor do they donate to private charity. She also assumes that the government knows how much to exact from the wealthy, precisely how to spend it, and that there's no corruption in the government system. If the government is so good and spending is so essential, why has the Great Society produced so little for so few?
4
You refer to Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, which Republicans fought against tooth and nail. It has been largely dismantled by now, and at a particularly rapid pace ever since Reagan came onto the national scene with his "government is the problem" rhetoric. You can't blame a model that never received enough support to actually be implemented in full, and which has not played a significant part in American governance for forty years. What we have now is not the result of anything even remotely connected to Johnson's Great Society. The massive wealth inequality and the imbalance of political power in favor of a thin crust of rich people over the majority of Americans are the result of fifty years of conservative backlash against the Great Society. Republican policies have been in place for decades, and they have brought the working and middle classes to their knees. This is America, and everyone is entitled to an opinion, so by all means, go ahead and root for feudalism. But unless you're part of that thin crust of wealthy people who benefit from Republican and conservative Democratic policies, then you're shooting yourself in your own foot by railing against a better, more equitable model of society.
8
@Bob, stating that wealth is not created in a bubble is not inflammatory and confiscatory in tone unless you are a snowflake living in a bubble.
You don’t think government is great?
Go live in chad for six months and tell me how you feel then. No doubt you will have built up a personal fortune away from the terrible constraints of government.
As for government corruption, most corruption results from a corrupt private sector constantly trying to buy off our representatives. The private sector and personal greed is pretty much where all corruption starts. How about we stop that?
2
@Allison Your reply is long on rhetoric but lacking in facts.
In the last election, Warren turned her back on Sanders and buddied up to Hillary. It was such a slick political move coming from someone who up til then I hadn't thought of as being slick that I wrote her off.
I'm still a Bernie fan and support his campaign, but time has tempered my distrust of her, and I certainly don't disagree with her platform.
1
@T SB
Parties have platforms, not individuals.
In the event the electorate is fool enough not to elect Sen. Warren, I believe she's so smart and good at explaining complicated issues that she should be hired by the NFL to rewrite the pass-interference rules and by MLB to explain the infield fly rule.
3
Again, I praise Warren... but the long and the short of it is that here in the Midwest, here in the land of less high-tech industries and more rusting factories, and in states where there are still deeply entrenched pockets of people seeing Trump as their savior, E Warren would have less success than H Clinton did. Unless a massive recession takes manufacturing down the tubes in 2019-2020, E Warren would lose the manufacturing states here in the Midwest just as surely as H Clinton did.
Personally, I like Liz, a lot... but progressives don't play well out here. Pragmatists do. Someone telling us that corporations are the enemy when a region is dependent on them for jobs is not going to get a lot of votes. Nick should know that.
2
I think we need to lay to rest the Native American issue. Like Warren, I was convinced I had Native American heritage--my grandfather was born on an Indian Reservation--only to discover with genetic testing that I do not. Frankly how that happened I don't know, but the truth is that for many people family histories have secrets, and it would be ridiculous to hold it against Warren that she held mistaken beliefs about her heritage. Many people did and do through no fault of their own.
5
I have always liked her.
The thing is that two Republican friends, who are not Trump supporter so I will listen to them, have this idea that she is some crazy radical. I think that is bizarre, as she is an ivy league professor whose publications in her field are the most cited by the courts, married with kids, etc., and she sounds very smart.
But somehow Fox News, or whatever, has already painted her with a highly negative brush. I truly don't know how.
863
@Ann
Then we need to spread the word that the group, Patriotic Millionaires, and more than a dozen billionaires support taxing the wealthy. Warren is hardly alone on this issue.
181
@Ann The wealth tax. In practice, probably not a bad idea, but it's a huge gift to Trump and Fox News.
27
@Ann
Her ideas are realistic, there is empirical proof of it in Europe where much of it has been practiced for many decades. She has her feet on the ground and knows what she wants and how to get there. She is educating the nation. There is nothing radical, Elisabeth is a realist. She is what the nation needs THE SOONER THE BETTER.
239
Piling on? You bet. She's the candidate I've been looking for. She has a lot of what I liked about Bernie -- but more, with detail and data.
Policy ideas aplenty, the perspective of a mom who bootstrapped her way up the ladder and wants to help others emulate that core tenet of the American dream (hand up, not hand out).
And I love her spine.
Impeach, yes, because it's the right thing to do.
Medicare for all, yes, and she cuts to the chase on "why" -- our current system is a huge profit engine for insurance companies, and a torture rack for the consumer. I'd love to see her let the air out of the fear campaign being waged by hospital execs about widespread closures under Medicare for all. They won't close. They'll just learn to operate efficiently, without the huge profiteering they've come to wallow in.
She shares a broader concern about climate change, and has thought through (yes, she has a plan) for how to engage solutions that shift and boost the economy.
I wish she would connect the dots between climate change solutions and our foreign policy messes (to wit, the cozy support of criminal regimes like Saudi Arabia) because we can't afford to cut off the oil pipe. Replace the pipe with renewables -- and clean jobs -- and kiss the Saudis goodbye.
And expand on the link between immigration solutions and the far worse immigration / refugee / asylum challenge posed by climate change.
Warren is everything Hillary was not. I wrote her a check.
5
I’ve been impressed with Warren ever since I first saw her discuss serious policy with Bill Moyers on PBS back when she was Professor Warren- and with plenty of passion to boot. She is whip smart and amazingly well informed. For the life of me I do not understand why people were so crazy upset over the Native American situation: I guess it could be said that Warren and her detractors fell right into Trump’s trap, which seems pretty stupid to do. Knowing when to ignore Trump is key.
Warren has had the guts to venture deep into red territory, where they actually like her ideas! Her stamina is unbelievable. I would love to witness her take down of Trump if he should attempt to stalk her on a debate stage, the way he did Hillary.
I feel devastated to say that I think America has shown it is way too misogynistic to elect a female president. I would love to be proven wrong.
1747
@Just Curious
About Warren believing that she is part Native American because her mother said she was: I knew a genealogist who was was conduction a workshop on family history and a student wanted to find out if he had 'Indiana blood". She asked where he was born, he said "Oklahoma" and she replied that everybody in Oklahoma thinks that they are part Indian and most of them are right.
86
@Just Curious
I’m also worried about the misogynist attitudes of the electorate. And women who support the male patriarchy even though it might not benefit them to do so. It’s still amazing that Hillary did so well at the debates all while Trump stalked her (so odd that even occurred!), and she still lost. (I know many blamed her for Bill’s past issues, and many felt she wasn’t the “right” female candidate, etc.) Let’s hope folks continue to see Warren’s attributes and that she can be the nominee to blow the orange one out of office.
87
@Just Curious
I agree with what you said up to the statement that "America has shown its way too misogynistic to elect a female president".
Hillary Clinton won three million more popular votes than Trump did. We shouldn't forget that.
93
I am a Democrat in search of a candidate. The only thing that makes me hesitate on Elizabeth Warren is that I’m also a small business owner with under $3m annual gross revenue & EW lumps me in with “small“ businesses with $30 million in gross revenue. More taxes on businesses my size means FEWER mom & pops, more corporatization, exactly what is being railed against.
4
I like Warren more and more. She's strong, she's smart and she's progressive without being Bernie Sanders, "Free everything for everybody all the time starting tomorrow!"
Biden has zero energy, and we need to put this country back on track, not show up at the enemy's door with a cake and a plant.
I'm looking at Warren, Harris and I'd like to find out more about Booker.
2
I realize that emotion excites the electorate but in a complex interconnected society we need thoughtful leadership that balances policy with passion. Of all the candidates Elizabeth Warren seems to be the best at that. This was most evident in last night’s debate on the topic of Gun Violence. She was the only candidate who didn’t come with a canned/predefined answer and acknowledged that we need to apply Science and Public Health expertise to first understanding the issue and then solving the problem.
She may not be able to beat Donald Trump but I would really like to see the contrast between the thinking adult with detailed policy plans versus the fifth grader who has no plan. That contrast would define who we are as Americans.
3
She did exceptionally well yesterday as well.
But the problem is, there was another candidate, George McGovern in 1972, who did very well in the primaries. But in the general election, he won only Massachusetts & DC. And Elizabeth Warren could be beaten, maybe with greater difficulty by Donald Trump next year.
4
I recognize quite a lot of right wing commenters here taking aim at Warren pretending to be liberals. Be aware if you read the comments.
The good news is they see her as a threat. She is highly electable and would laser focus on cleaning up and removing corruption from our government. And that is the most important aspect we need to remove people from authority through the effective branch.
We need someone who can clean house. And she has the policy to add to the discussion and set the stage for congress.
You want to remove the garage on the executive branch effectively that’s Warren and it’s obvious.
8
There should be a debate devoted to Climate Change, the single most important issue facing the country and the world. It would give Jay Inslee an opportunity to shine. I don't think he'll win the nomination, but he could raise awareness, educate the public, and force the other candidates to focus on the issue.
Whoever becomes president should appoint Inslee "Climate Change Czar," with full power to do whatever is necessary to create a long-term plan to mitigate and reverse climate change. Now is the time. It's almost too late.
7
Missing from Mr. Kristof's list: Medicare For All. I believe she made her support for it last night unequivocal.
Let me rewrite this to show accurately what Kristof was thinking:
"I am just utterly terrified of a Sanders presidency, along with the whole elite liberal Martha's Vineyard/Hamptons set, even unto the point of turning 180 degrees on Warren--Warren!--in a desperate move to undermine Sanders.
"My real fear now is that Warren, if she wins, will actually be as difficult to control as Sanders would be, and their policies, while somewhat different, to be sure, are close enough.
"I know Warren is no fool: she knows the dance. We'll use her to destroy Sanders--if we get lucky, we can encourage if not them then their supporters to savage each other so that some more trustworthy, controllable candidate can squeak through. (Yeah, we've all given up on Biden the Timebomb already; Beto flamed out; Pete's on the way out; no one else can get any traction. Who else but Warren?)
"And if she wins the nomination, the picosecond she beats Trump, we'll all turn on her. She knows it; we know it. But we can't let you, the marks, know it.
"We hope she can be bought and controlled; we know, for a pure fact, that Sanders cannot. We also fear, deeply, that Sanders and Warren, longtime allies and even friends, are playing at least a tacit and probably and explicit game: if Warren wins, that's at least 80% of what Sanders would want, anyway, and despite a lot of lies, we know he has almost no ego, for a politician, at least.
"But we simply have to cut our losses, or be ready to."
Love, Nick
1
Warren seemed presidential. Booker’s continual wide-eyed stare at her was one of reverence - ‘can I be your vice?’ She got her tried-and-true campaign lines in early about her progressive economic agenda. Although if you paid attention when she was asked about gun control, there was a glimmer of her often concealed moderate appeal - ‘some responsible gun collector who takes care of their firearms is very different than some lunatic randomly buying a military weapon off the second market’ (I’m paraphrasing but that was her drift).
Warren has the highest percentage out of any current democratic candidate of bipartisan co-signed legislation. Her policies on the surface seem ‘radical’ (and by radical I mean Donald trump will make a fundamentally misguided allusion to Venezuelan socialism if they happen to share the final debate stage) but her words and arguments resonate even with staunch conservatives that supported a good share of her proposed legislation.
Also, there’s a lot more optimism to Elizabeth Warren’s platform than there is in Bernie’s.
7
The danger of any policy-driven candidate ... is that only committed Dems seem influenced by policy-driven campaigns. And they'll already vote Dem. Republican campaigns are heavy on emotion, heavy on heartstrings, light on actionable policy. Not just Trump, but McCain, and Romney, and Bush, and ...
Warren (and ANY Dem) will need to do what Gore and Kerry couldn't - win hearts and trust first, make voters feel in their bones that the candidate is on their side. And then, yes, implement fine and substantial policies. America isn't academic - and mistaking this for a policy contest is the surest way Dems can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
2
Warren and Sanders are the only ones who really recognize that the time for tinkering around the edges is over. Our current system is badly failing most Americans and must be fundamentally changed. Yes, capitalism is great for businesses that are susceptible to the market, but even there, it must, as Adam Smith pointed out, be carefully regulated and controlled. Ours is out of control. Health care, criminal justice and prisons and many other areas simply are not amenable to the operation of the market and they should not be sources of private profit .
5
I know that Warren can take care of herself during a debate, but it's also important for the moderators to be ready to step in. When Trump stalks and looms over her, he should be escorted back to his own podium by security guards. When he interrupts and speaks over her, his mike should be turned off. In 2016 he was allowed to be a bully on the podium. We are better than that.
10
The only mild criticism of this column is the absence of any mention of Warren’s proposals for Climate Change, this despite her naming this our greatest threat. It has been disheartening to persons like me to have Climate Change being largely ignored by political leaders and pundits. And, if raised, the favorite idea is too often to “right price” carbon by adding a tax. Warren is at her eloquent best when talking about the vast wealth to be created by and for those meeting our energy needs.
Climate Change is a byproduct of meeting our energy need from fossil fuels; the solution to Climate Change will be as a byproduct of meeting our energy need from renewable sources.
5
Anyone making a reference to Warren's Native American DNA, also has to bring up the REST of the story.
Trump told her that if she tested her DNA he's write her a million dollar check to her favorite charity.
I'm not sure if he had anything to do with it, but she did get her DNA analyzed.
Yup, she has Native American DNA.
Since then Trump has never mentioned her genetics again.
Nor has he ever mentioned that million dollar check.
Elizabeth Warren has been my choice all along.
It's because of the old-fashioned "blood pressure test".
When he's on tv, it goes up.
When she's on tv, it goes down.
I am so relieved that she is even running that already I'm experiencing a "health benefit"!
We're lucky to have you, Elizabeth!
11
I love Warren’s intellect and ideology.
But don’t insult my intelligence by claiming she’s “an Oklahoma girl who wants to have a beer with you.”
Her entire demeanor says something else entirely — northeastern elite policy wonk among other things.
The gender vibe is very Hilary.... Is this persona the way to the White House with swing voters? I doubt it.
76
@Kate Garretson - I don't get either that she's that Oklahoma girl or that she's an elitist. I see her as someone who is only reluctantly a politician (contrast with Kamela Harris), but has been thrust into that role by the passion of her concern for real people and her belief that the solutions aren't coming from sound bites, but from fact-driven research (like her bankruptcy work). I find some of her proposals scary, but trust that she will work in the best interests of the people.
She may turn off the same people who hated Hillary because those women were the smartest kids in the room, but there's a lot less baggage there.
100
@Kate Garretson
It's a shame that a woman can't be both, the hometown girl and the brilliant mind. Both of which, I think she is.
It's a shame that there has to be a "gender vibe" -- it would be nice if at least women would help her (and others) try to make gender irrelevant.
No one knows the path to the White House. No one.
As for me, I'd like the brilliant mind that connects with people, is unfailingly honest, and cares passionately about helping others. I think that's a change I'd like to see in the White House.
151
@Ned great point. People hate the smartest woman in the room. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but isn't a policy wonk just someone who's done their homework and knows what they're doing? I'll take it and I'll drink my beer with the town barfly.
64
I agree with Mr. Kristol. (that's a strange thing for me to say). I didn't like EW at first. But, she seems to be taking the actual job of President as a serious enterprise. Looking at issues and proposing reasonable solutions. What a difference from the current seat filler!
I will vote for whomever the Democrats put out as the candidate. The GOP lost me back with Rove and Gingrich and the GOP endorsement of doing anything to win. Lying, especially.
Wake Up America! Warren is the strongest candidate now because she is serious about the work. I like that a lot.
7
I was appalled by the democrats, "debate" I am now even more convinced that Trump will win in a landslide.....
1
Nevertheless, she persisted, Mitch.
5
At the end of the day the Presidential election will boil down to ideas versus popularity.
I too was concerned about Elizabeth Warren for two reasons. One shared with Kristof is what I call School Marmish and what Kristof calls a stern Harvard professor, although I never found many Harvard professors as "stern" rather than pompous.- However Warren is a teacher, that's for sure. And that's a good thing. Can you Imagine someone singling out the President as a "teacher" - more as a schoolboy surrounded by slyer and smarter oafs? The most important thing is that Warren is a woman, and can rant when need be. Her tweet rant was a sucker punch for Trump. She is a lighthouse for other smart women as well as poised and confident. Women are the slight majority in America and that's good for her and all the women running.
I think that Senator Warren is the most intelligent, polished, unafraid "tutor" of American ethics, economic scruples and policy and our almost total lack thereof. If she were much younger she might be as daring as AOC! That's also a good thing. Be daring Liz, and tell Donald to go back to school before he destroys the modern democracy.
5
I too am warming to Warren. As a centrist Democrat, I disagree with some of her policies, such a eliminating private health insurance. But I'm impressed enough by her intellectual clarity and conviction to happily vote for her.
6
Kristof, as a pundit people just assume you're wrong from the get-go. Your trade does not have a great track record on getting it right. Perhaps that's because there is literally no qualification required to be one.
I am fully in agreement about Liz Warren’s evolution. I would normally vote for her in a heartbeat. But sadly she has come out in favor of slavery reparations. Let me be clear. I favor reparations and agree with Tai-Nehisi Coates about them. But they are an electoral loser. I very much doubt most white men would vote for a candidate who favors them. Many of them are just not ready to hear about that. My hope is a Biden-Warren ticket with Joe agreeing to quit after 4 years. Just rid us of Trump, Joe, and then depart gracefully when everyone is on their feet applauding.
1
She makes sense, she is female, is smart, she cares. Enough for me.
FOX and Trump (the name caller) will attack her like never before. They will vilify her, make up nonsense about her and come at her with all the force they can manage. It's a lot to stand up to and I hope she can.
Biden is a mostly well-meaning "nice" old guy who is still treating woman with the social skills of someone from 1955. His time is over and his clumsy behavior should no longer be viable in 2019. I don't think he will change anything and I am suspicious of him since he didn't straight-forwardly apologize to Dr. Anita Hill. Thanks to him we have Clarence Thomas on the SCOTUS and he is just negative, silent and deadly there.
If the left-leaning media doesn't get behind her, they will be making a big mistake. Joe's day is gone. Let a woman FINALLY lead this country and try (and it will be a miracle if it happens) to clean up the mess being made by the spoiled, blind, selfish and possibly demented man and his lackies who occupy the White House now.
7
@Jeanie LoVetri If Fox and turnip (opps I meant trump) try to beat her up as you surmise, we have the choice to circle the wagons to defend our candidate, to outright reject their bullying and oust the bulliers and demand the media treat our candidate with the respect he/she deserves.
We didn't do it for Hillary and look how it ended up; a shameful moment for anyone and everyone who now grits their teeth over every trump tweet or headline.
Come on folks, it's up to us. Don't complain, push back.
2
First of all, enough with the Native American nonsense. The planet is on fire.
If, as I fervently hope, Warren is the nominee, and if, as I greatly fear, Trump is reelected, we'll know everything about this country, and our fate. The Democrat simply must win, and it must be Warren.
5
For the rest of the western world is very very hard to understand why Americans can not afford a medicare for all their people as any European or Canadian or anywhere in the first world enjoys.. oh cone on! you are the first economy ! it looks like a heartless politics to us
3
She is the one! Perhaps it is a strategy, but she needs to start talking about how she plans to pay for all that which she advocated. The word socialism is used too much by the Democrats. Instead she, and many of her competitors need to refer to their economic policies as "Controlled Capitalism".
Controlled Capitalism is what we had in the 1960's and 1970's. It was before Citizens United and Gerrymandering. Further, her background is well suited to be able to represent the "average" American. She did not come from wealth resulting in having a good fitting in main stream America. Her favorite President is Teddy Roosevelt who broke up the cartel controlling the railroad industry. ... https://lstrn.us/2CORkXF
2
Go, Liz, Go! First, to come out for more than justifiable impeachment of current POTUS. Senator Warren brings common sense, kitchen-table style to us! I'm happy POTUS found debate boring...I'm looking forward to a SMART leader that we don't have to watch bring down the country and stir up unbelievable hatred and distrust like no one else has ever done before him. And, nevertheless, she persisted!
4
So in the past Warren tried to make herself out to be someone she wasn't. Write her off? How about a guy who doesn't admit Daddy filled his Christmas stocking with lots of money, made by inflating prices and mistreating people. Or a guy whose Daddy paid Penn lots of dough so the dumb as a rock son could get in. Or a guy who found that podiatrist that would write up a medical report for the proper fee to keep sonny boy out of Vietnam. You mean those kinds of misrepresentations. Warren is bright, makes absolute sense, and does not indulge the fantasy of the voter (Mexico will pay for the wall. The rich will share their tax cut with you). What she needs is Jon Stewart to help coach her. When she debates Trump she needs to be able to shrug her shoulders, shake her head, and point her thumb at Trump and quip : "He is certainly not MY type" and "He wasn't my first choice. More like my last" and chuckle. Lighten up, Elizabeth. You've got what we need. Just need to be a little less of a bookworm. Less Donna Reed as the Bedford Falls Librarian. And more like Donna Reed as Mary Bailey.
4
Elizabeth Warren for President!
Cory Booker for Vice President in 2020 !
An unbeatable combination !
Take our country back from the Wealthy and Big Business !
Ride the Blue Wave !
1
Nobody can become a faculty member at an elite university by claiming some particular heritage. There is no evidence to the contrary. The claim that she did just shows how ignorant her opponents are.
1
I agree with Jim Allen who, unlike Cadet Bone Spurs, served in Da Nang. Warren is by far the best candidate and beats old Joe hands down.
5
Is it another white privilege to claim Native American heritage to gain an advantage?
Why did she ever bring this up will bug me forever. Her character is questionable.
1
@Victor In the 1980s, there was a cultural push to be "ethnic" and many businesses and schools tried to claim they were diverse by looking for diversity within their ranks rather than by changing their hiring practices. Also, many Americans whose ancestors have been here for about 100 years have some "Indian princess" family legend, especially in Oklahoma. Warren's claims weren't unusual for the time and place.
1
@Victor Does it bother you at all that Trump (and his daddy) claimed to be Swedish rather than German to gain an advantage? Their deception went on for decades. Look it up and let us know. Is Trumps character "questionable" to you?
Thank you Nicholas.
1
Frankly, it's becoming a truism to expect the journalists to make a judgment on their first impressions and then hold on to them despite evidence.
Thank you for growing a little bit and admitting your mistake.
1
One event a few years ago convinced me that Warren was electable nationally and could capture a significant number of disaffected, angry Trump voters.
I was driving and had a local am sports talk show on the radio whose demographic,no doubt, reflects a large number of younger non-college educated white males whose anger helped propel Trump.
The host paused during his usual banter and bickering with callers to state he felt the need to comment on something he'd seen on TV where some woman senator had verbally destroyed one of the Wells Fargo executives. He didn't really know her, but this Warren character was one tough cookie and she cut the exec.down to size. He spent a good 10-15 minutes of air time praising her.
This told me that Senator Warren had the fighting instincts and a real ( as opposed to Trump) empathy for the disgruntled white working class. I believe she instinctively connects with this demographic and I believe she can peel substantial numbers of them away from the impostor in the White House.
2
I agree that Senator Warren is a substantive candidate. Her views have merit and really have not wavered over the years. I have listened to interviews from prior to her election to the Senate. My concern with her is how she has taken to the national stage since 2012 and become too far to the left. Still too elitist and too Ivy League. Progressivism and populism is what we need not pseudo socialism. Cut ties with Sanders.
I was ambivalent about Elizabeth Warren. Not her message, but her tone. Last night, I saw and heard a difference.
1
I really am warming to Warren more after her initial stumbles. I especially agree with her ideas on taxing the rich for more of their fair share.
I had a discussion with an anti-big government individual at work that detest taxes and asked him some of the exact same questions mentioned in this article. IE, how did he get to work today? Who paid for that road? Etc.
This controlling the wealthy is going to be really hard if not impossible, but we have to try. Warren may be the one to make it happen.
1
Are you complaining that she falsely claimed Amerindian ancestry (most Americans who are not descended from 20th Century immigrants have some Amerindian ancestry; they blended into the Euro-American population)? Or that Harvard racially discriminated by giving her preferential treatment?
There is no doubt in my view that Warren is the best choice. But, my view is a minority view in the South and "fly-over states." The big problem is here, in many households, on the day of election, we see the following scenario:
Wife or Daughter: "Dad, who are you voting for?"
Dad: "I am not voting for a woman."
Wife or Daughter: "I'll vote for the man too."
Few women hold other women in high regard. Few dare speak their mind. Exceptions, Oprah Winfrey, via years of Americans' worship of Celebrity and [perceived] Wealth-silly factors that TV created and got us our current POTUS- silly factors that TV/Radio/WWW has not bestowed on Warren. Until America [1] reverses Citizens United and [2] breaks up the monopolies of TV, Radio and Internet airways [held by a few] - such sad import placed on silly factors as celebrity and wealth [real & imagined] continue in many minds. To reach the masses, Warren's Election chances are better served [A] by starting her own twice Daily show, i.e., JAIL A BANKER [Big Pharma, or Big Insurance, etc.] and [B] putting on a fake Judge's robe and sentencing CEOs of Big Banks, Pharma, Ins., Hedge Funds, etc. - at lunch and dinner time - when most Americans are fixed to their boob tubes. Then, maybe she will have a chance. Mis-guided Americans want someone to blame for their station in life. Thus, they hate
minorities, etc.-driven by you-know-who. The rate of lynchings rose and fell in direct proportion to the rise and fall of cotton prices.
So glad you have finally seen the light, Nick.
1
Warren has fire in her. I like that.
361
@Doug Lowenthal
Sure, the fire of the extreme true believer with a fever. She doesn't poll well here in a state that went for Trump.
2
...and grit, too.
5
I don't mind Elizabeth Warren claiming Native American heritage from two hundred years ago, based on the DNA evidence, and celebrating that heritage. We should all celebrate the contributions of Native American cultures to the overall culture of our nation. The problem is that Warren's claims have gone far beyond this. She has claimed that she and her family in recent generations have faced discrimination because they are Native American. She has repeatedly claimed to be Native American on official forms. Harvard touted her as a woman of color. Once she had been called out on her fraud, the Boston Globe (who endorsed her) and Harvard (who hired her) joined in an effort to whitewash her dishonesty. All the other accolades you have accorded Warren may or may not be true, but, make no mistake, she committed a fraud in claiming to be an oppressed minority, and she has never owned up to it.
2
I like several of the Democratic candidates but Warren has been my favorite for several months already.
1
I so wish Bernie would get out of her way. She is the younger, funnier breathe of fresh air. Put his numbers together with hers and we have a winner. Please Bernie put your enormous ego aside and do the right thing - help Elizabeth win.
5
As a Massachusetts resident I've admired Warren for a long time. I'm happy that her powerful message and brilliant policy ideas are getting across. I'd be thrilled to have her as President of the United States. In order to get there, however, I hope she'll remember to reach out to blue collar men, the contingent that sank Clinton's efforts in Pa, Wis, Mich. Not only Fox News, but the whole Republican attack machine knows how to use the primitive reluctance of some men to trust a woman or elevate her in any way. Many of them trust Bernie Sanders, whose views are close to Warren's but tainted, alas, by the word"Socialism." They'd make a great team.
2
Glad the public seems satisfied with her amends for the Native American issue.
I think we knew Warren was going to be somebody, when she served as the warm up act to Bill Clinton in the 2012 convention. Finally, one of the most unapologetic Progressives since FDR has a real chance.
4
The ‘experts’ are over it. The public? Well that remains to be seen, doesn’t it? How this plays nationally during an election is unknown. We don’t have that answer. I fear she has unnecessarily wounded herself politically and the consequences would be a full-on distraction tactic, absent truth, by the GOP, et al. Potential big negatives with the OK controversy.
1
“Amends”? What amends?
I've been watching Elizabeth Warren for a long time. She's the real deal. Read her books, folks. I'm a fervent supporter.
4
Thank you, Mr. Kristoff, for an excellent and balanced critique.
8
Did we watch the same debate, Frank? While I have been following Warren for a long time, and while I support her positions, she sounded whiney last night. Do I want to listen to her whine for four years? The candidates who drew my attention were Klobuchar (best answers) and Booker (best ideas). The rest put on a show. I don't want a show.
@barbara
"I don't want a show."
Do you think that Elizabeth Warren would be more of a show than Donald Trump?
@barbara, you support her positions, but last night she sounded 'whiney'? You think she'll be whiney as president? I honestly don't know where this stuff comes from. If you think Ms. Warren is 'showy', I don't know.....
Everyone seems to expect that Democrats need to nominate someone.....who doesn't exist. The 'right' nominee needs to be someone that republicans can't denou
I don't understand the angst about nominating someone who can go 'toe to toe' with trump. That guy is so shallow, so uninformed and so narcissistic, he cannot discuss policy. All Dems need to do is just get trump to debate one on one, and he's finished. There's a reason he NEVER speaks to the public. He can't hold a conversation. All boasting, blustering lies, threats and insults, he thinks "you'll find out later" is an answer.
trump and the republicans only have one agenda; white nationalism, represented by oligarchs. It looks like a mighty river sometimes, but the secret is, it's so shallow it can be easily breached just by telling the truth! The great majority of American people are not impressed by trump; we don't need some mythical hero, just a good candidate! Pulling the curtain back to reveal the little man behind the Wizard's scary visage is not that difficult. Sheesh
1
I've always been impressed by Ms. Warren, but she took it to another level when she came out with a "public lands for the public" plank for her campaign.
Nobody else has touched it (Steve Bullock would have if he'd been allowed on the stage), and to come from someone primarily with a perspective from OK and MA (where there is precious little public land), it was not just surprising, but a statement about the breadth of her knowledge and as pure an expression of a candidate for the public good as we're likely to see for many years.
If there's ever a debate that touches on public lands (maybe the same debate where climate chaos gets more than a token mention), there will be millions of Western voters who warm to her candidacy ... and more than a few of them will be well outside the progressive ranks she primarily appeals to.
6
Warren is great but still in some areas her policies are still infiltrated with Neoliberal values.
The Consumer Protection Bureau win and her support of consumer rights as well as her genuine interest in supporting the lower middle and middle class are authentic.
BUT Warren has neoliberals in her education policy team that want to upend public education and replace it with who knows what. (Teach for America is anti-public school -pro charter organization and her top ed policy person worked for TFA).
I love her quest for decent day care but REALLY want a society where parents can care for kids in their earliest years and are afforded the pay scale, time off and ability to do so. Infants and toddlers need their parents not paid substitutes no matter the "quality."
However, her quest to regulate the financial industry is why I would vote for her.
I would never call her an extreme liberal because though she talks about fundamental change she still working within the confines of our norms of the past 3 decades. Bernie questions the underlying system much more than she does hence he inspires more passion.
2
I am in almost complete agreement with this piece. I also doubted Ms Warren for a long time. But you know, now I can vote for her. (Wish she would stop waving her arms so much though,)
Mr Kristof misses much of the point of the criticism that Senator Warren fabricated her heritage to gain advantage. Although he writes that "her claim to Native American ethnicity was never considered by the Harvard Law faculty, which voted resoundingly to hire her, or by those who hired her to four prior positions at other law schools," the main issue is her longstanding fabrication, not whether she needed to do it or whether it made a difference. Using Mr. Kristof's standard, President Trump's recurring efforts to obstruct justice shouldn't be an issue so long as his efforts were unsuccessful and were unsuccessful. This is primarily an issue of character.
1
As I understand, her belief that she was partly Indigenous was handed down to her as a part of her family lore, not calculated to provide her with an advantage. In fact I would doubt that many American Indigenous people feel that their status as Natives gives them any great status or advantage in any any sphere of American academic, political, economic or social life.
2
She won me when she stood up for principle and the need to impeach the traitor and criminal occupant and usurper of our nation. Elizabeth Warren doesn't have the most winning demeanor, but she has passion for the truth and the morally right. That's sorely needed to correct the course of our nation.
She's got my support. She's thorough, intellectual, and respects the founding documents that formed our nation, and more importantly the principles for which they stand.
13
I've also been deeply impressed by Warren, despite initial misgivings. At this point I'm actually fustrated to see her come into her own in this particular race, because the extenuating circumstances make it a lose/lose situation.
Whether or not she gets the nomination, Warren will not be judged on her merits. The specter of Hillary Clinton looms over this election, and it truly does not matter that she and Warren have fundamentally different records and policy goals. We already know how this dynamic works. Defeating Donald Trump is uniquely challenging; so is overcoming one of the most significant examples of gender discrimination and inequality in this country.
If we show up to this election with another late middle aged, wealthy white woman as our candidate, we'll set ourselves up to fail, justifying it all the while as a matter of principle. Because she's the best one for the job, and now more than ever we must not compromise, etc. Warren won't get to campaign on her own steam; she'll be perceived as part of an attempted do-over of 2016's election. And that's not fair to her, to us, or the people whose lives hang in the balance of this election.
1
Ms. Warren has ideas and grit.
I do worry that — because she can read and write and cite evidence for her proposals — the RNC/Fox hate machine will successfully portray her as an “out of touch elite”.
Never mind the irony of an “elite” growing up poor in Oklahoma versus the “regular guy” who inherited a half billion, imports his trophy wives and lived in a Manhattan tower with his name on it.
14
It is about healthcare silly.
Cannot support her radical position to eliminate private insurance
1
This is the kind of column we need now. Honest writing about the good the writer sees in the candidates, with the focus on policy. No snark needed.
Columnists we trust such as Mr Kristof should be writing about candidates they respect. The NYT has a stable of great writers. Let them use their knowledge and commitment to guide voters to defeat Trump!
Please...keep columns like this coming!
4
I've liked Elizabeth Warren from the start, when many said she should have been the Dems' choice rather than Hillary Clinton. In a sane world, she would be a shoo-in, but we are not living in a sane world.
Any right-thinking American would vote for her, after all, she's for the little guy, which most of us are. So why will she face such an uphill battle? Because the Trump trolls will paint her as another 'socialist' nutjob, looking to increase everyone's taxes and force them to use government medical insurance.
To get a real sense of what's happening in the political sphere, spend some time watching YouTube. That is where the opinions are being formed among the army of Trump trolls. And make no mistake it is any army.
Trump's people will take this intelligent, disciplined, multi-dimensional person and reduce her to a one-note slur: Pocahontas. This is the political reality. I just hope she is training and preparing for that. America and the world desperately needs a person like Elizabeth Warren running things.
But she must be ready, willing and able to fight her better instincts and get down in the mud with Trump and sling it! When they go low, we go high is not going to cut it against these people.
4
“The Globe found clear evidence, in documents and interviews, that her claim to Native American ethnicity was never considered by the Harvard Law faculty, which voted resoundingly to hire her, or by those who hired her to four prior positions at other law schools,” the newspaper concluded.
http://schools.result.pk/
Warren/Bennet
Warren/O’Rourke
I was wrong about Warren too. I like her even less now. Trump 2020!
there's a woman candidate who's better in that she's tougher but maybe not smarter and that's Kamala Harris. I read her book and she's my candidate. Ms. Warren doesn't have the charisma that Harris has, nor is she as "tough." Kamala Harris is the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I would vote for either one at the top of the Dem ticket.
Trump has to go. Biden can beat Trump. I support Biden. PERIOD.
1
“There’s nobody in this country who got rich on his own — nobody,” she said...”
We might recall this as something similar to what former President Obama once said. He was excoriated for it because she said it better.
Dems have to win much as possible of Senate also in order to empower President Warren.
What concretely are Tom Perez & DNC doing on that indispensable front?
1
the claim that sen warrem did not benefit from her chicanery is questonable...anyone who has been in the room where acadeic hires are made knows that the record of deliberations if far from total...the subject certainly came up in discussion of her resume, even if the judgement was that it was irrelevant...if it was so irrelevant, why did sen warren do it...short answer: the benefit, if only by distinguishing her from others, was satisfactory to her.
however, more important to mr kristof's "conversion" is the fact that, whatever the benefit from the lie, it was a lie (on a professional resume, to boot) and sen warren is a liar.
Well, if it comes down to Trump verses Warren I suspect it will be contest of Belief against Reason. And in our country who wins always seems to come down to a coin flip, and what the voter had to eat that morning....
John~
American Net'Zen
Sounds like she wants to make America in Canada's image; that is a good thing.
2
Mr. Kristof,
I'm certainly glad you came around. Can't understand what took you so long. I've been watching her in the wings for (12) years and I'm glad she finally came from behind the curtain because Senator Warren is a Star.
So, I say, " Run, Elizabeth, Run and kick out that wanta be monarch!"
2
I agree. I used to think her main skill was complaining, but now I realise I was wrong.
2
Elizabeth Warren has had much to offer. However after last nights performance that is no longer the case. She has EVERTHING TO OFFER. She knows her stuff, is tough, smart, well versed on all the issues and proved herself to be a winner last night. Trump will do his best to destroy her perhaps even now but I firmly believe she can take it and come out the winner.
Tonight's debate will determine if there is another contender however in my opinion it should be for Warren's running mate. Biden will be no match for Warren, experienced yes, unfortunately his experience is not what our country needs now!
9
Thanks for your concise analysis of Warren, Mr. Kristof. Two or three people will rise to the top shortly and I hope she'll be one. I liked Castro too.
5
Nick, she can talk the talk, but will she walk the talk? I don’t trust her on the principles that all of her proposals address. For example, she’ll cave to the insurance corporations and we’ll end up with Obamacare 2, instead of Medicare for All. Academics are great at offering ivory tower glitter, but once elected, they’re bought and sold like any other commodity. There’s only one candidate running for President who can’t be bought, and he has crazy-looking white hair and speaks with a Brooklyn accent. And he’ll walk the talk, and has for decades. Decades!
1
@Robert M. Koretsky
We elect presidents in this country, not absolute comrade dictators for life nor are we idiotic democracies like the Europeans. We need to compromise to get things done and remain a nation. Bernie doesn't compromise? Then he won't accomplish anything.
Pie in the sky. BURNED is what Dems would get. AGAIN.
#WARREN2020
Hopefully voters will be excited by a candidate with real policy ideas. We need a vigorous debate among candidates who appeal to voters of all stripes as opposed to candidates who rely on Twitter and dumping on our allies.
4
When they were asked if they would give up their great medical insurance packages for Medicare only Warren and De Blasio raised their hands. Voters with similar health insurance plans will not give those benefits up either. Neither will they allow taxes on their retirement plans. Open borders? Might as well be campaigning for the republicans.
I still could vote for warren even if only agree with twenty five percent of the time. The problem is people think there would be a consensus or everything she's for. Shouldn't be the case should it?
1
What Mr. Kristof is saying is that Elizabeth Warren is capable of changing and shaping the narrative. This is how people are persuaded. This is how change takes place. Trump tries to bludgeon people into submission. Ms. Warren explains the policy and offers a way forward. Which would you choose?
10
As a long-time admirer of Elizabeth Warren, I watched with dismay while Barack Obama under-utilized her and on occasion undermined her, such was his miserly approach to politics. Because for a long time she has been the true champion that America's middle class has been crying out for, tenacious, forensic, capable, idealistic and honest as the day is long. I don't think America has seen her like for many a decade and I hope you are fortunate enough to see her rise all the way to where she will be able to do the most good for you all. She has the FDR glow for the common good and the Johnson's ambition for her working neighbor. She needs a tough, no-nonsense, fiercely loyal partner (a la Stacey Abrahams), though and I hope she finds one soon.
7
Warren proved that she has thought about the ills of this country and has proposals to cure or mitigate them. Only candidate who so far that has proposed policy solutions to many of our ills. Not a one issue candidate. If she doesn't make it to the Presidency, she's a national treasure in the Senate.
11
Warren has been my favorite for a long time. I was delighted to see her steady, even presentations. She used to get a bit too agitated, and that did not come off well.
Elizabeth is maturing as a candidate as time goes on, and has great ideas for the substantive, systemic change our country needs. I was particularly heartened when she, and several other candidates, said that the #1 challenge to our security is Climate Change.
5
Like you, I was skeptical and had dismissed Warren. Then saw her interview on the PBS Newshour and was impressed by her backstory and her thoughtful analysis. She also seems fearless--a necessary quality to go against the Trump machine.
6
I don't care what the Boston Globe says. The facts are as follows:
1) She graduated from a mid tier law school (Rutgers)
2) She then taught at a mid tier law school (U of H) as an associate professor of law and associate academic dean.
3) She then moved to a better law school, UT-Austin. It was around this time she self identifies as native American in the law professor registry
4) She then moves to Penn Law school then shortly thereafter to Harvard.
In short, her academic rise is virtually unprecedented and correlates with her self identification as NA. Top tier law schools do not usually hire mid tier grads. That's true throughout academia. There are rare exceptions, but the person has to have done amazingly innovative work first. If you start paging through the Harvard Faculty directory, you'll see most are grads of Harvard Law or other top tier schools. For most faculty, their bio covers academic achievements, for Warren it talks about her being a senator.
It does say she has written/co-authored over 100 articles and 10 books. Although I can'f find her complete publication list, it appears most of her work occurred after she declared she was NA and started moving up the academic food chain.
The only way I would believe her declaring herself NA had nothing to do with her meteoric academic rise is if she had produced a stellar publication record before getting to Penn. That's where the proof is -- or isn't.
2
@Ralphie
You seem to be arguing that
1) only someone who went through a straight Ivy League education could be smart enough to achieve so much. ( a bit elitist? Ironic because she's attacked as elitist)
2) every person who ever claimed a minority connection automatically rises so dramatically with no effort or personal ability whatsoever. As Kristof indicates, her checking the Native American box didn't get her where she is.
Interesting that other pols get multiple passes on their behavior, but her single incident of being off base is seized on by opponents to represent her entire life.
5
@cheryl Think. Why would a mid thirties individual suddenly self identify as a Native American, based on no genealogical information in a field desperate to hire minorities?
And I didn't say that only Ivy educated people can achieve. But Ivy schools tend to only hire Ivy or other top tier law grads -- like Stanford, Michigan.
And I didn't say she didn't have some ability. But lots of people have tremendous ability and accomplishments in academia and don't get full professorships at Harvard. At the time she was the only person on Harvard law faculty who graduated from a public university.
You can like Warren if you want, but her claiming to be Native American is very troubling. It wasn't the act of a teenager hippie rebelling but a fully grown adult. The burden of proof is on her to show her academic career took fire because of her work. It's easy to say that she didn't receive any preferences, but to show that she has to display her academic publication record prior to being hired at Penn and then at Harvard as a full prof -- in comparison to others. How often her articles were cited, the quality of the journal, etc. If the bulk of her academic writing occurred after getting to Penn and Harvard, then -- you gotta remember -- if you're from a top tier school you can get your work published. And a lot of her publications she's a co-author. How many was she the lead author on?
2
Notwithstanding the fact that she was told by her parents of her NA ancestry so had no way of knowing if it was false (there was no home DNA kits when she graduated law school), you are making the loosest of correlations between her academic record and the time when she joined the NA organization. Methinks you’re grasping at straws.
1
There's an issue of semantics at play here. The so-called 'Left' is not 'socialist': no one is advocating the nationalization of industries. Democratic Socialism is understood by the educated as Progressive Capitalism: private property and corporations are respected, but their are controls in place to keep unbridled greed in check so that all can prosper, not just the owner-class and the filthy rich. We already have that system in the US, with progressive tax rates and anti-trust laws. The problem is that these controls in their present state are insufficient, and insufficiently enforced. An analogy, and part of a progressive capitalist system, is Medicare: Medicare for all does not mean that physicians will be employed by the government or that the government will ration care. It means that government will ensure that all have access to care and that the cost of care will be negotiated by the government—in the interest of the people. But Democratic Socialism or Progressive Capitalism work only if there is transparency and if the powerful corporate lobbies are held in check. The beauty of Warren's presentation of policy proposals is that she gives substance, not labels. that's Bernie's mistake: he has all the right ideas, but he let the Socialism word out early in his career and stuck with it. He uses the term Democratic Socialism correctly, but the electorate are not political science, history, or economics majors, so all they hear is Soviet Union and the like.
8
I've always liked Elizabeth Warren. She IS a fount of policies benefitting everyday Americans. But that's why she's needed to be Senate Majority Leader, not president. Any president can listen to people and formulate policies; Warren can get them passed in her Senate. Take the Consumer Affairs bureau and legislation. It went nowhere till she took it over. Unpopular with Republicans who scotched it, defeated some of its aims, the bill was enacted finally with her persistence. Then there's the ever present but significant bias against women as president; so she can't/won't be elected over Trump in 2020. If Schumer is immovable atop the Senate then a male presidential candidate can pick her for Vice President. Sorry for this truth from afar, but I've seen Trump decimate opponents, seen McConnell ossify the Senate for anything Democratic and find the gender issue still extant (though it doesn't bother me personally). Let's see what the primary season and debates produce.
2
Warren's biggest problem is that her platform is so pro people she will upset the citizens in the suburban/rural sections of the country who are focused on voting against themselves and for corporate interests instead. The anti Dem voters don't want anybody who doesn't look them getting Any "handouts". No socialistic ideas. Just "give" Them a "job" and of course don't touch their non socialistic Medicare benefits. That is the reason most Dems can't reach the voters they want. You can't reach irrational voters by talking to them rationally. Addressing their concerns about immigration in an emotional manner, for example, would be a solid starting point. Non Dem voters are more concerned with the here and now (immigration) than with the future ( climate change).
2
Her growing popularity suggest that the news media is supporting her. Your own NYT has basically endorsed her while disparaging her competitors.
She would have the ability to disrupt the economy by pursuing antitrust regulation aggressively, but she won’t have the ability to solve the health care problem easily.
This leaves a serious gap in her plan. Many companies that are forcibly restructured lay their employees off en masse. Couple that with the threat of a recession for the next administration and you have the perfect storm for those of us with preexisting conditions.
Democrats need to prioritize reality over ideals.
2
Well -you were willing to reveal your unexamined prejudice against a ( female) candidate, at least enough to appreciate her thinking.
Where you may have had a point about her electability: if someone as well educated and astute as yourself could make the assumption that a woman who has been involved in politics for years didn't have the chops to compete, what about all of those who automatically react negatively to the feminine voice and her insistence on reasoning? The ones that assume she couldn't be tough enough in an international arena? ( Like the Bushes, and Trump? LBJ? JFK? No mistakes there, right?)
And to the negative ads which portray her as a radical socialist?
I should simply cheer this positive column, but - at a moment when Warren made a powerful showing in the 1st debate, it's rather faint praise. It's a reminder of the obstacles women especially run into.
Dig deeper into your reactions, Mr. Kristof: call up your inner therapist. I don't believe that your initial dismissal was solely because of logical reasons. I want to know how she finally got to your gut.
1
Not interested in universal child care. Why should I pay to support other people's choice to reproduce? The world needs fewer people. And yes I have one child.
You pay to educate them from age 5 or so, why not from age zero. Otherwise, you’re paying for food stamps and other assistance to the parent who can’t work because child care is unaffordable.
6
@tundra
For the same reason that we collectively pay for schools. If the "soft"reasons don;t matter to you, there is always "enlightened self interest."
Because we want a educated population.
Because we need workers to supplant those retiring.
And even because those with more education have fewer children.
2
Do you resent having to help to support poor people? Because you are paying all the time to support wealthy people and corporations who don’t need your support but your legislators vote money or tax breaks to them because “one hand washes another”.
Doesn’t that rankle you? It does me.
Remember, it was Obama who said no one has built a business on his own but took advantage of infrastructure and so on that everyone else had put in place. And he was taken to task for saying that. So Warren is quoting him without attribution. I do not mean that as a criticism; they are both correct.
2
Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg are more than just the thinking person's candidates. They are also better than Bill Clinton at explaining stuff. They look you in the eye and do not talk down to you. Although Warren was a college professor, her lecture style is one that draws the listener in. Less preaching than enlisting. And most importantly, she has demonstrated that she is a quick study who has learned as she has campaigned, and because she listens to people, she has manifestly improved her game. Contrast that with Joe Biden who is still living in 1972 and has learned little other than he can't just sidle up to a woman and massage her. Low bar for learning. Excuse the hyperventilation of my mind here, but it occurs to me that a Warren-Buttigieg ticket would bridge the generations and be the alpha and omega of Democratic politics: the leader we need now, and the leader we need next.
6
Kristof is right on target. I too initially dismissed her as shrill and a “one note Sally”. No longer. Possessing a razor sharp mind and the ability to develop and articulate policy on a wide range of topics, I believe that we must have her and those like her leading our country.
7
There's a reason Warren cites Teddy Roosevelt as her political model -- she is the 19th century Progressive reborn in the 21st century. She believes that capitalism can be made better through regulation.
History is on her side. Between the reforms of the early 20th century (thank you TR and Woodrow Wilson) and the New Deal of the 1930s (thank you Franklin Roosevelt), many many more Americans than in the 19th century enjoyed a higher standard of living in the 20th. The poor were extended a safety net and financial reforms tempered the booms and busts that had made life unpredictable for the wealthy. The regulatory changes were a win/win for Americans. Everyone benefited.
Over the past 40 years we have seen what happens to the majority of Americans when you whittle away at the safety net (Social Security, Medicare, occupational safety, food, drugs, etc regulations). Their quality of life has fallen or stayed static at best. All the while the wealthy reap the benefits of a regulated securities and banking system which does not allow for failure on that front.
Just as Wall Street recommends we "rebalance" our investments on an annual basis, it's time to do the same on the political and economic front. Liz Warren is the only candidate who truly understands the history of the financial cycles and has the commitment to the regulatory and legislative process necessary to return us to balance.
11
Indeed Warren has many great ideas, but if a President Warren goes through with her plan for imposing a government only health care her presidency would be mired in a political fight that would end in a stalemate. Compromise on government alternatives but don't take away private insurance for millions of Americans that want a choice.
2
I like Warren too, very much, in fact, but I do feel a need to create a little sun-shower on this parade. The two greatest problems facing not just the middle class, but every living thing on this planet, are the closely intertwined problems of overpopulation and climate change. They are existential, and I didn't hear much about them yesterday.
6
An outstanding essay by Mr. Kristof and an important one because he shows that we can be wrong about first judgments. Mr. Kristof is also correct that it is important for a candidate, win or lose, to drive the narrative in the US. She is the serious policy and evidence-driven candidate that can do that. She will destroy Trump on policy, as well as the minions around him.
5
I think that she win the nomination if Bernie drops out. It seems to me Biden Is at present a stronger candidate to beat Trump but I’d still give her at least an even chance in spite of the fact that Wall Street fears her and will try and scare the heck out of everyone invested there. The safer play seems to be a Biden victory and Warren in a senior role and that beats what we have at present hands down.Still Warren has the momentum going for her and she both excites and scares people in ways uncle Joe never will so seems best to wait and see
As someone who had a brief academic career a long time ago, in an era when a white faculty member might be recommended for tenure at the level of his college but lose out university wide because he didn't help the college expands its diversity, I have no issues with Warren ticking off a box that included Native American. Don't know why she did, but survival in the bizarre world of universities is tricky, so you do what you can. You also add the most unimportant accomplishments to your resume (vitae to the trade).
3
She’s always been for the little guy. She’s always sniffed out corruption. Incorruptible herself. Love her specificity—refreshing, and bold, when it’s so easy to hide behind generalities.
7
Warren is fabulous, and this is why. She brings a whole set of policy proposals that make sense, are progressive, and need serious consideration by this country if we are to move forward in terms of working and middle class voters. "I have a plan for that," she reiterates. These proposals make our country fairer for struggling Americans, and provide opportunities for millions who are working hard and just getting by. It is the caring and compassionate America she will bring to ascendancy again.
4
I have liked her pro-consumer policies for a long time, but there is no way she did not benefit from claiming to be Native American. She was listed in the guide for law professors as Native American at the time Harvard looked at her, and to Harvard especially at that time, that would be just about the ultimate hook. Of course they are not going to say that that influenced their decision, but of course it did.
4
Medicare for All is supported by my personal care physician. To implement that requires an increase for all workers in their Medicare taxes. Will the working class buy it?
But is it really the only answer? Other countries with national health care systems also have private health care systems in place. Can't we have both?
And what about current Medicare recipients who have supplemental or secondary insurance coverage? How does Medicare for All affect the over 65 population? No one has talked about this.
4
What I most admire about Warren at this point is that she feels genuine. She knows what she is talking about and she has no fear of acting on her beliefs.
12
She's the one. Smart, erudite, hardworking, and in it for the right reasons. Her time (and ours) has come.
10
Like Kristof, I wrote Warren off as too shrill and aggressive to win an election much less lead our country. While I can't say she's The One, I now have an open mind and am keeping an eye on her. I hope she continues to impress and above all, convince me that she would be a balanced leader and not turn into a President dismissive of other's opinions. To be clear, I'm wary of those who are too sure of their own opinions. I'm not yet convinced she knows how to play nice with others, particularly if she had power.
Elizabeth Warren is a Pulitzer prize-worthy novel in progress. She might even have made a decent Governor of a medium to large state.
It's a pity she didn't, because she would have learned the difference between campaigning and governing, not to mention the problems of governing with a legislature of the other party, which is actually only slightly more difficult than governing with a legislature dominated by your own party.
As for Mr. Kristof, he still fails to draw the line between campaign promises and what is actually possible - and constitutional - for a President to do. But let's not that get in the way of a genuine and public recantation.
Elizabeth Warren has fought through one upstream battle after another in a kind of brilliant, never-give-up resolve to bring justice, compassion and reason to those around her and ultimately to governance in America. In view of that, I don't believe Mr. Trump has the slightest notion of what he is up against. Over the next year, a loose thought will enter his mind and take up residence: it's over.
12
I have always liked Senator Warren’s acute appreciation of policy and pragmatic solutions to problems. That she comes across as shrill on occasion and even a bit condescending is, frankly, understandable. While I would vote for a rotting turnip against the Orange Excrescence, I think the best person for POTUS, maybe the best in a very long time, would be Senator Warren. He will have my vote to the end, and I had been leaning strongly toward Mayor Pete.
4
Ditto. She is my senator and I voted for her, but unhappily. Thought she was too much the scold. I too have a family story of Native American ancestry: to wit my great grandmother was one. But I never would have listed it on my resume. Worse I know it is used to get though the applicant screen via the affirmative action pile in higher education. Nor did I like her process liberal approach to economic reform. Last night I was impressed with her passion, her ideas, and her command of the stage. She is now my leading candidate.
7
There's lots to like about Elizabeth Warren, but she won't be my first choice as long as she's demanding that everyone drop their private insurance in favor of a government program that has never been tested at this scale. I want control of my health care insurance, and a lot of other Americans do, too.
I'd seriously consider a public option. That was nixed from the ACA because the insurance companies feared that it would be too popular. If they were right, and most people chose it, the public option would become Medicare for All without the need for coercion.
8
@David, I wouldn’t be too concerned about her precise policy prescriptions, because no Congressional bill will make it through the whole process without private insurance options and a public opt-in, at least to start. The larger concern is whether or not she is able to work with Congress to formulate that legislation and her previous efforts to work with her colleagues demonstrates that she can.
1
@AKnow I agree that it can be fixed, but Trump would use this to attack Warren and it would be effective with anyone who doesn't have total faith in government control of health care. Which is a lot of people.
@AKnow I agree that a public option is the most likely compromise. My concern is that a mandate to eliminate private insurance would be used by Trump to paint Warren as an extremist. The Republicans are already trying to make "socialist" a dirty word, without caring what Sanders, Warren and AOC mean by that.
Just to clarify one point: the Globe may not have found any evidence that various law schools used her claimed ethnicity in hiring or promotion decisions (although Harvard did brag about her ethnicity).
That is not the same as saying that they found clear evidence it was never used. Which doesn’t really seem possible.
And it doesn’t mitigate the fact that she falsely claimed Native American heritage. Multiple times in various venues.
5
I would refer to see a candidate who never went to college but had a series of blue collar jobs ,maybe struggled to make a living or sat in an unemployment line. Someone who showers after work and not before work.The children of elite politicians go to Choate, Philips Exeter, Deerfield Academy, well you know - that bunch. Then they transition to the Ivy Leagues, and then to high political office, the Supreme Court, Wall Street, International banking and CEO’s of large multinational corporations. Meanwhile public schools instruct 90% of the country. I guess when we mention some candidates experience we are not talking about a working stiff’s experience ,although it would be a refreshing change from what we usually end up with.While I possess three college degrees ,one graduate and one professional degree, I do have a respect for education.Let’s face it ,what a change it would be to have a president who truly understands the working class because he comes from there.
2
@Joseph marcucilli
I share your sentiment. I think the last President we had who came from a truly working class background and didn’t jump from the Ivy League into politics was Ronald Reagan. Union man too.
2
Oh lord, the irony of referring to Reagan as a "union man." Yes, before he abandoned all of his principles to become a republican, he was a union man. Don't you recall what he did when the air traffic controllers went on strike because of abysmal working conditions and concern about the safety of the flying public? He fired all of the people in that union at once. So much for the union man.
3
Glad someone in the Conservative party considers acting a working class job. Some others would say that growing up in poverty and doing well enough to make it into an Ivey League college is pretty impressive.
2
Elizabeth Warren’s response to the question about guns was to say we need to do research.
That is why we do not need a policy wonk like Warren as President; we need someone who will take quick and decisive action.
That is what Presidents are supposed to do—it’s called leadership.
2
@Mon Ray
That isn’t leadership. That’s a movie.
No we actually DO need a policy wonk. Taking “quick and decisive actions” is what is happening now. And what is leading us quickly down the path to war and self destruction. Leadership is guiding the country on a path to better the lives of all its citizens. And NOT to presume you are the savior.
The NRA lobbyists have seen to it that the CDC cannot study gun violence scientifically using proven research methods. Senator Warren would change that, and not go off “half-cocked” on a crusade without the support of factual evidence as to what will work. Prudent policy in my opinion and one less opening for opponents to attack her on. That’s smart too.
I will support Warren when I hear her contingency plans. None of her many plans (varying from well conceived to fantasy) will become law if we Democrats do not wrest control of the Senate from the Republicans. The only attempt by anyone at the debate to address this fact was a claim that the populous would rise as one to support the policies. Plans are great, but reality is better.
3
I was half listening to all the speakers. Turned off by many of them, de Blasio, Ryan, Delany, Beto, Booker, Castro, even Warren. I thought she was shrill and a wonk. The other women came across as calm, quiet, and yet forceful speakers not shrill.
Inslee waw the first person who caused me to sit up and listen (and he had only 5 minutes).
Inslee number 1, Klobuchar number 2. The others, de Blasio,, Ryan, Delany, Beto, Brooker and Castro should exit.
The rest should exit? That's a little peremptory, no? I actually found almost everyone on your out list more thoughtful, persuasive and noteworthy than I expected. This am I feel cautiously hopeful and more positive politically than I have since 2016. Not a guarantee, but not a bad start. Go Dems.
Funny you say this. I’m experiencing the very same shift in my perception of her. Given my own complete lack of originality or any capacity for independent thought, this must be happening with many other voters too. The race has gotten more interesting.
7
Elizabeth Warren led, and began to form, a coalescence around which I, and I hope, many other responsible Americans can and will unite. Her remarks were defining moments.
12
End result -- 2020 Warren, Booker
Warren is the leader we need. With a supporting congress this nation could regain what is rightly its role in the world.
7
Except that she lived, and took advantage of, a culture appropriating lie during her entire adult life that goes to the core of her integrity. And by making promises to pay off existing student loans, to pay for everyone to go to college (whether they have any business going) and to give free health care to all, she is again not telling the truth because it is unaffordable. In short, she tells us what she knows isn’t true to get what she wants—time for a Trump-like fact/truth check.
1
I agree with all the praise given to Senator Warren here. But what I have not yet heard is how she will overcome what will be the Republican onslaught against her false claim to have significant Native American ancestry. Will a deciding number of Americans forget that? I fear they won't.
1
We have a president who was handed $400 million from his father, has mismanaged businesses all his life, avoids pay taxes, sued hundreds of small businesses to avoid paying, admitted to sexual harassment when he thought no one was listening, told 10,000 lies to the public, advocates lawless behavior among his staff, disrespects the role of the free press, gleefully dismantles environmental protections so that corporations can make profits, insulted war heroes, alienated our allies, enriched himself and his family shamelessly in clear violation of the emoluments clause, accepted and nodded to foreign help to win the election, obstructs justice for self enrichment, is uneducated and uninterested in facts and policy, stirred up racists and white supremacy, stokes anti immigrant fears for his own gain, separated families and is presiding over the inhumane imprisonment of children at our borders, and fails to ethically vet candidates for highest office. Contrast that with a hard working woman from Oklahoma whose family couldn’t afford her college application fee, graduated from a commuter college and then law school (while parenting a toddler), taught law at a top public university and two Ivy Leagues, and was elected to Senate where she has been a consumer advocate for all Americans. She may have overstated her genetic ancestry based on family lore. Get over it. Her successes are hard won and her qualifications beyond reproach. The GOP can take her on at their own risk
1
@CE
You forgot mimics and belittles the handicapped.
Yet for all of Warren's good plans, she seemed... small(?)... compared to Tulsi Gabbard who a few polls have as "winning" the debate.
This matters because folks evaluate candidates not from reading policies papers, but from appearance, speech, and manner. So as someone who was primed to commit to Warren, there was something about her.... that gave me pause- DESPITE liking many of her plans.
Gabbard, on the other hand, even though I'm not as well versed in her plans, earned a few hours of me researching her-- and her stature on that debate stage will influence my decision.
And in considering either against Trump, I fear Warren would be another Clinton, cautious and scared. While Gabbard would jump in, strong and assertive.
2
@profwilliams
“Gave me pause...”
“I”m not well-versed...”
What kind of empty criticism is this, ‘prof’?
Let me understand: Because the government has grown too large and is paying for all sorts of things that it shouldn't, therefore no one deserves credit for their success and should have some of their wealth confiscated to pay for even more free stuff for those who have not earned it?
And, even if one thinks the government is funding some good things, why does that make a case for expanding the giveaway?
3
What give away? We all pay taxes to pay for things our country needs. Is the military budget a giveaway?
17
What you miss in her statement is this nation built the environment for the success. If you don’t have an educated work force, you can not make an innovative technical company. If the interstate and local roads did not exist from the US tax payer, your trucks would not be able to deliver raw materials for manufacturing or finished products to consumers. The Waltons did not build Walmart, their parents did. The Walmart CEO is an employee, not a founder yet is payed over 1,000 times the hourly employee. You as a taxpayer are paying for many employee food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing because they do not earn enough to cover it. So ask yourself, why should there not be a discussion of working wage with respect to those with wealth based on the backs of American workers.?
22
There you go again equating an increase in taxes means you don’t deserve credit or the big boogeymen is gonna take everything away. Taxes go down, taxes go up depending on the needs and priorities of what our elected representatives determine is best for our country. You don’t have to like them. Now, eat your spinach.
2
Health care is perhaps the top issue. Universal coverage must be the goal but if a candidate insists on eliminating the private insurance companies we lose. The majority of people who have employer or union sponsored insurance will not vote to give that up for “Medicare for all”. Look at what other advanced nations do and design a USA system implementing best practices tailored to realities in this country.
The thing with private employer sponsored insurance is that it’s great that you have it till you don’t. What if you want to leave your job and can’t find another right away? Get sick and can’t work? Your hours get cut so you’re no longer full time? Employer sponsored healthcare forces people to stay in jobs they might not like, reduces job mobility and forces people to delay retirement. Uncouple healthcare from employment and the economy will boom as more people are able to start businesses and move around for better opportunities without worrying about continuity in their health insurance coverage
5
Healthcare is not the top issue in this election. It’s immigration. If the Dems misread that they are doomed.
@Marie. You are absolutely correct but those who receive employer sponsored health insurance will believe something is being taken from them and will vote accordingly. Look at where the polls go when they understand something they currently have and probably like is being taken away and taxes increased to pay for a new government run program.
Can we please stop framing child care as a 'women's' issue?
re Warren's plans for universal childcare:
'...and would benefit both working moms and at-risk kids.'
As a (married) working mother of three, I understand the burden typically falls most heavily on the mother, but we have got to stop discussing childcare like it's a perk for women. Not all families come in the 'traditional' mother and father package (hello, PRIDE month), and last time I checked, men are parents, too.
31
@sdl15: My brother and his wife have two young boys and I've been watching them both struggle with the childcare issue for the past decade, while both are working full-time. He has done the lion's share of childcare, because his job is more flexible than hers, so it is just as exhausting for him as it is for her to constantly be on call to meet their children's needs, and it is obvious that affordable, good-quality, reliable childcare would be a godsend to them both. It would improve the quality of their health immeasurably, too. Exhaustion is becoming a major health crisis for many in this country.
1
Elizabeth Warren is the brainchild of the federal consumer protection agency which is now being dismantled by the current administration. She has consistently fought for, and understands, those of us suffering from outrageous increases in rent, medical, food and basic living expenses. She reminds those who don't suffer that our pay checks remain flat. We are barely scraping by, and she GETS IT! Warren is an intelligent and compassionate woman who will be the antidote to the current occupier of the white house that this country needs.
23
@Mare - I would argue that the CFPB is her brainchild, not the other way around :)
5
@TLG DOH! (knocking myself upside the head)
@TLG Would that make EW the brainmother of the CFPB then? :)
1
Elizabeth Warren has thus far been proven to be my candidate. I was very much undecided, still am and open to the next round. Elizabeth knows what is needed to change this all wrong directions we are heading with the GOP. A GOP who has no spine, with the worst President, Vice President and GOP leader McConnell. They are all very much in the pocked of big interest, wall street and greed. I am excited to see many of our readers here feel very much the same. Other candidates had great answers to all questions but Elizabeth knew her stuff and stood out of me.
15
A Warren candidacy would have the advantage of putting in stark relief the Trump campaign. The two could not be more different. Voters would have a very clear choice.
6
She's smart, energetic and loyal to her convictions.
11
I watched Ms. Warren last night in the first Democratic debate. I thought she was terrific.
Actually, I liked ALL the candidates. It's painfully obvious that anyone of them would be 1000%+ better than Trump.
So I was impressed by everyone....for lots of different reasons.
But Ms. Warren was a stand-out in a large group of very talented people.
Now the question for us Dems is; "Who is most able to beat Trump?"
Biden and Klobachar are the obvious, moderate choices that could appeal to all those rust-belt voters in purple areas. So right now, I am leaning towards either of them with hopes of a more secure win.
But I am impressed by Ms. Warren. If she was nominated and won it's clear to me that she would be a truly great president.
9
@Nial McCabe
Hold off until tonight when Kamala Harris will be on the stage.
She's the one.
All presidential candidates are ambitious, and, and have enough , (or too much), self-regard. Senator Warren reminds us that if we want to revive our democracy, that our leaders must be kind and tough-minded, intelligent, and evidence-driven. She knows that politics and economics are inseparable, that if we re-create economic feudalism, we are doomed to re-create governance by warlords. If we the people, want the power to govern ourselves, as our founders did, we have to work at being citizens in our democracy, not just consumers , or spectators of it.
10
You acknowledged publically that you erred in your judgment, publically. So did Sen. Warren. An important characteristic of a policymaker. At whatever level. Being able to "Fail better." A guideline for each of US.
There is an issue, in your OP-ED presentation, which merits noting: wat is your sense/view about Sen Warren being markedly different from most policymakers who choose NOT to BE personally accountable for the implications and outcomes of their voiced and written words, and their done-deeds. As well as BEING personally accountable for not saying, or doing, what they were elected to carry out which would enable achieving and sustaining types, levels and qualities of equitable wellbeing for ALL of US in our daily WE-THEY culture which enables violating, by words and deeds, created, selected and targeted "the other."
5
Settings aside the fact that she is the most polarizing figure in the field and that her voice and mannerisms are grating to any normal person (which will in and of itself make her unelectable when she has to move beyond the far left base), the most dangerous thing about her is that her policies are focused on yesterday’s problems. There is literally nothing forward looking in her policy choices. Whether her policies are inherently flawed - and many are - is not the point. There are emerging threats that must be addressed. For example, robotics will displace millions of jobs over the next decade. What is the policy plan?
2
@ Tom Johnson Her voice to me is one of intelligence, knowledge, experience and care. Not sure how that grates.
1
Warren speaks about fairness for all like other politicians do, but unlike them she actually has a strategy for righting the ship.
The greatest worry I've had about her is her tone and style, a high-pitched breathlessness in her delivery, with arms flailing reminds every man in America of his ex-wife. And while that shouldn't matter, it does.
She seems to have moderated that delivery style, lowered her voice a couple of octaves and as a result, presented her views very effectively.
5
I don't doubt her brilliance and agree with Warren's positions, however, I really don't think she has the charisma, that spark that a politician needs. She's too sincere and too bookish for the American public. Sad but true! I would vote for her wholeheartedly, but we need a more forceful personality to win over train wreck Trump. Brains as we saw with Hillary is not everything in politics. I wish it were.
2
She is a force! Google an interview she did with Bill Moyers about 4 or 5 years ago. She was talking about inequality and corporate welfare queens long before anyone else. She has a record of working for the working people and making the government work for the people, not corporations.
I have agreed with her for years!
28
Thank you for your insights in this article. It just about says it all regarding what's been my view of Warren. I'm not sure she can win but she is key to framing the debate. It also seems that she is a candidate that was a level above all of the other candidates on Debate Night 1.
8
Years ago, I saw a clip of Warren talking about one dilemma of modest-income parents: Go for an affordable home, or stretch to get your kid into a good school district?
She's the only politician I've ever heard talk about that—how our schools cannot be trusted below a certain income level, and how that puts financial strain on people who care about education for their kids. It made me sit up and take notice.
She's clearly been where I am.
20
ELIZABETH WARREN Is a highly gifted orator, whose organizational skills and preparedness were manifest in her presentation. About the writer's objections to her "screed" about Trump, I thought she didn't go far enough. No one else did either. But that's OK. There is Trump criticism fatigue. If we are to change the direction of the nation, we must focus on the future and leave the adjudication of Trump's crimes to the Congress and the courts. After Congress is done, he's going to face extremely difficult challenges in New York State, since he can't pardon himself for violations of state statutes. I believe that Warren and Biden will make a formidable team that will, beyond handing Trump a thumping and a landslide victory. They will shape the future of the nation in ways large and small by steering us sharply away from the brink of the abyss into which places us at ever higher risk each day that Trump's madcap juggernaut is a dangerously incompetent substitute for mature, adult, rational policies and conduct.
7
Warren is ready, willing and able to lead this country. But is this country ready, willing and able to be led by her? In what seems to be an eternity of campaigning between now and the election, she must quickly convince a usually conservative nation that her unbridled passion is deeply rooted in noble and achievable solutions to restore and enhance all that we've lost in less than three years. She is smart enough, she is powerful enough to destroy the dark, fearful mode we've all been forced into by replacing it once again with optimism and hope.
Vote.
21
There is much to like and to admire in Senator Warren: her ability to creatively dissect policy and go deeper into what we may need nationally/regionally; her ethical combativeness without, for the most part being preachy or professorial; her profound ability to connect and willingness to jump into the crowd; and her debating skills, which help us to better think, and to more analytically think about what may be the best policy course. We need all that in our increasingly dysfunctional political campaigning and media coverage system!
Can she be elected? I will certainly follow that question, which I believe is far more important in 2020 than “do I like her!”
6
Nice to read a columnist who can distinguish reality from the contents of his own head. Instead of just berating "progressives" and telling us how to think, you're giving us an example to follow. Please pass this on to your conservative colleagues, Brooks, Douthat and Stephens, and suggest they do likewise.
14
Dems should remind voters that the GDP growth under Trump is just a continuation of the Obama trend line.
In his interview with Trump, Chuck Todd showed him a graph of unemployment rates proving that Trump's unemployment is just a continuation of Obama's trend line. Trump was speechless for quite a long moment. Then he blurted, "Well, Obama had it easy!" Yes, he actually said that. His reasoning was that the Fed kept interest rates low for Obama.
Obama had it easy. Truly insane.
22
Watched her in the debates She is terrific. Sorry Joe you might be the safe choice but she is the face of tomorrows Democratic Party. She can fight Trump's insults with well reasoned criticism. The voice of the rational women over the hysterical man.
14
Thanks for this NK. I realised examining my early choices that there is a strong temptation given so many qualified and new-to-me candidates to not investigate and read deeply. In other words its important to not react like a dumb trump voter to headlines and tweets rather than read the policies, look at each candidate as an entire person. To use this horrible experience of Republicans since Reagan to wise up and be a participating decent citizen through the simple act of reading a cross section of material from each candidate, of reading contemporary press of their actions and decisions, taking a good look at documentary video and making a thoughtful choice. We owe it to ourselves to do a decent job this time out.
5
As a Warren constituent and admirer, I was nonetheless uneasy when she announced her bid for the presidency. "Too liberal," they all said, "unelectable." But in the last few months, and on the debate stage last night, she has proved me wrong. Not only do her ideas for change appeal to this unabashed liberal from the Northeast, she makes a very good impression on television, a requirement for electability. If she shows well in the early primaries and caucuses, especially in a place like Iowa, then I'll be all in for her candidacy. President Obama was a breath of fresh air, an astute, intellectual, and thoroughly good person, so starkly distinguished from his Republican predecessors. Elizabeth Warren can likewise restore intelligence and true caring for the entire population to the White House.
13
I still don't buy that Warren didn't benefit greatly from her self-proclaimed Native American background, The Boston Globe's article notwithstanding, and I suspect many other's smell foul too and that this will come back to haunt and maybe even smother her were she to run against Trump!
I well remember the problems Harvard Law School had, around the time Warren was hired, over their paucity of minority faculty. Students protested and occupied the Dean's office.
Meantime, Warren had listed herself as Native American and was counted as a minority in a professional directory used by law schools for recruiting purposes.
It defies logic that Harvard would have been unaware or not influenced by this. No surprise, too, that after hiring Warren, the Law School told the Harvard Crimson that a Native American female was on the law faculty!
Bottom line? I'm tired of lying and fake politicians and, at least on a visceral level, I put Warren in that no-so-minority category.
4
@Concerned American I have to agree with you regarding the Native American issue. While perhaps she did not benefit, that doesn't show that she didn't try to benefit; why else would you intentionally identify yourself as Native American? While she may have some distant relative that was Native American, she knew that she was mostly of European descent but decided to claim Native American heritage when it could be beneficial.
3
@Steve
Great point! Sort of how Trump may not have actually obstructed justice, but he certainly tried. And that's a crime!
1
If she did benefit from her Native American claim, she proved she has the chops by doing her job well. She went to law school, spent time in an academic setting to develop policy around bankruptcy, then started teaching and got recruited by Harvard. It isn’t as if she was a flunky rich kid that used Daddy’s connections.
Her time as a Senator has proved her ability. She worked to develop the CFPB and helped blow the whistle on Wall Street shenanigans.
After Trump, she will have a lot to clean up but she has the devotion and energy to do it.
As for Trump, he just blathers and blames Obama. His name calling and bully tactics are really tiring.
3
Almost all of the Democratic candidates would probably make a decent president, certainly far better than the current incumbent (admittedly, a low bar). But I agree with Jim Allen that Elizabeth Warren impresses as the adult in the room. Her gravitas and her issue-oriented approach to the campaign would expose Trump's childish shallowness in any debate.
As for the native American heritage issue, it remains unclear that her claim did not represent an honest mistake, the result of family mythology. Most native Americans, in any case, will care far more about her genuine concern for marginalized groups than about a flap over her genetic makeup. Pitted against a man whose contempt for most people oozes from his psyche like a toxic aura, Warren's integrity will make most people forget about her mistake.
10
Is there proof that it was all just “her mistake”?
We need someone who contrasts with Trump. Someone who comes across steady. The one person who surprised me in the NYT interviews was one I had never heard of: Bullock. Give him a good hard look.
If we're throwing phrases around, how about Elizabeth Warren is wicked smart and would absolutely level Donald Trump in any debate. The "Eeyore in Chief" wouldn't stand a chance.
12
The fact is that she lied about her heritage, and for decades.
A big lie is a big lie, whether or not it got her to Harvard Law School.
3
in my fantasy land, warren/buttigieg is the ticket, bernie is the senate majority leader (after the dems make a surprise sweep in 2020), and tulsi gabbard is secretary of state and jay inslee is head of the EPA and julian castro the head of immigration.
a girl can dream right? an even bigger dream: mitch mcconnell retires.
21
From your lips to god’s ears...
You were not wrong. All the issues you raised still fully apply. Add to that the financially catastrophic proposals she is putting forward make her a disastrous candidate. She is like Sanders minus the authencity.
1
Mr. Kristof demonstrates the virtue of admitting error by comparing past beliefs to important, relevant facts - behavior sorely needed in these troubled times.
Behavior that should set the minimum bar for high office.
Thank you, Sir
10
Warren is great but do we really have faith this country has it in US to elect a woman? 40% of Americans heard Trump admit he assaults women on the Access Hollywood tape and voted for him anyway. Women STILL don't earn what men earn. Every single day I turn on the news to hear of women in this country being murdered and raped. Republicans fight choice, birth control and healthcare like they are on an episode of the Hands Maids Tale. I would love to think that this country is mature enough to vote for the best candidate regardless of their gender. But every day I see examples of how misogynistic our culture is. But sure America go ahead and prove me wrong. Nothing would make me happier.
5
Your criteria for not liking Elizabeth Warren were absurd to begin with. Glad you changed your mind, but many of us have liked her from the get go and we still do.
Are you actually suggesting that Trump can get away with clear obstruction of justice, cozying up to foreign powers (or worse), and sexually assaulting women, but an (false, of course) assertion that she used her Native American ancestry for personal gain would "repel huge numbers of voters?"
I hope a majority of voters use better and more pressing criteria than what you used before you changed your mind when they vote in 2020.
10
1. Sanders/Warrren
2. Sanders/Gabbard
Either one works for me.
4
ANY Democratic ticket works against the president* as long as we put aside our differences.
1
You were NOT wrong, there’s just too much clutter. She’s a brilliant, compassionate Woman, better than we deserve. If WE can’t elect her over that creature currently occupying the Oval Office, all hope is lost. I am Woman, hear me VOTE.
12
Warren would make a good president but I don't think she can beat Trump.
Hmmm. . one note Sally, shoots from the hip. The subtle and not so subtle misogyny that seems too be ingrained in American politics. A question I ask myself, "Why is Elizabeth Warren so hard to like?" She's smart, articulate, tough but I don't get a sense of her as a person. . . yet.
2
I'm watching the debate. I just sent $25 to Elizabeth Warren. I'm impressed with her clarity.
8
I have moved from the Kamala Harris camp to Elizabeth Warren. Is it to early to hope for a Warren/Harris ticket.
4
Warren would be easily branded as a socialist.
As a lifelong Pennsylvania Democrat, I can say, without the slightest hesitation, she would get crushed in any state wide election in PA.
I like Warren, but her problems are serious enough that I would not contribute to her campaign yet nor vote her. Here is the list:
1) Her Wealth Tax Proposal - She does not answer hard questions about how all types of assets are valued. Many assets cannot be valued correctly and that will result in more improper taxation. Warren needs to explain why she is ignoring a simple solution advocated by many experts - treat Capital Gains same as Wage Income and tax all incomes at the same rate.
2) Her support for eliminating private insurers is wrong; an impediment for free enterprise. Moreover, she has the intellectual arrogance to suggest Gov can get things right and individuals do not have rights to shun Gov. REDUCE COST - that is the core part of our Health Crisis; getting Gov involved more is not the answer.
3) By subsidizing College Fee across the board, she subsidizes College expenses for rich people. That is wrong too.
4) Finally, she opens the debate saying 'we have corruption in Trump Economy' just because the economy benefits rich. That is semantic garbage. Sure Trump is corrupt, but that does not mean the whole of Fed is corrupt. Just avoid the hyperbole and stick to basics - to remove structural issues of our political-economy.
Whenever she aligns with untruthful Bernie, we have a problem. She has a 'plan for that' is all good - but we need those plans solid and not just intellectually shiny objects.
Nick getting all this - I do not have any illusions.
I'd think no one is going to jump the bar your holding. Will you compromise or not vote?
The issue is not only whether Warren's claim of being of Native American heritage influenced her being hired, it is that she allowed her name to be used for Affirmative Action purposes thereby potentially diminishing the employment chances of a qualified Native American.
4
Thank you for saying this. I am constantly surprised that people do not understand this at this very simple level. If she came clean and admitted the error, a lot of people would respect her. Until then, this sticks
Agree. Bravo for putting it out!
1
I predict Trump will not run again if he sees how poor his numbers are.
1
"This would resemble the outstanding child care program operated by the U.S. military..."
If moms want to join the military, they're free to do so, but Elizabeth Warren's plans add up to a Marxist-Leninist style government. She wants government provided healthcare, childcare, and education. She wants to nationalize the banks and break up "big" corporations. What she wants is childcare provided by the government so moms can work for the government.
1
Renowned N.Y. Times columnist Nicholas Kristof today wrote
"Why I Was Wrong About Elizabeth Warren". He had favored other presidential candidates but changed over to Warren.
Warren continues to center on her underprivileged background in Oklahoma saying "I just wanted to be a school teacher". She did. (becoming a special education teacher in a New Jersey elementary school)
She continues to the top just as she did as a child, to become the best at whatever she undertakes.
She was a top student, first on her high school debate team, highly rated as a teacher, then professor (Harvard) and now senator from Massachusetts(running for president of the united states).
Kristof has been surprised by Elizabeth Warren just like
the rest of us.
We are surprised by this "Little engine that could"
"She thinks she can"
She thinks she can"
She knows she can"
It's just like Elizabeth Warren has always been. On her way
to the top of the mountain.
4
Agree, she is outstanding. Have been an early fan and have not been disappointed
10
Warren's plan to combat drug shortages is a bad plan. She has supported Government sponsored pharmaceutical manufacturing to combat drug shortages. This plan losses me because it does not get at the root cause of drug shortages--Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO) and safe harbor legislation that allows rebates that function as kickbacks. Also, the players that support Government sponsored pharmaceutical manufacturing are in fact well connected to GPO's and safe harbor legislators.
Warren is an otherwise exciting candidate who gets it wrong when it comes to drug shortages.
Elizabeth Warren's proposed policies are already impactful & shaped the debate. The candidate who will win back the WH must be accountable, transparent & surrender to their individual realities. Unfortunately, we often lose sight of the expected outcome of our actions allowing our egos to get in the way. Would you refuse a promotion you desire & instead offer it to a more capable team member? The task of objectively seeing yourself can be difficult & often conjure up simplistic notions of injustice. These perceived unfairness add to the challenges of constructive altruism. Before a person can lead others he/she has to lead him/herself through surrender. Surrender is not the same thing as resignation. One can surrender to the reality of a situation and still take steps to create a different path. The concept of “motivation” is very important for a leader and challenges the assumption that acceptance will lead to a lack of motivation. Equality is as undesirable as it is unrealizable. Attempting to achieve equality requires that each of us forego who we are and what we can do in order to create something in which no one ultimately believes - a society everybody is the same or has the same. let us by all means seek to increase opportunities for all. Democrats have to do a better job of reminding voters to increase opportunities for all is likely to favor those better able to take advantage of them and may often first increase inequalities. The US government & the people are one.
None of the candidates stand in such sharp philosophical opposition to Trump as does Warren.
Trump reflects predatory capitalism that thrives by pampering Nietzschean supermen who refuse to respect the ethics and needs of the community.
Warren is a warning that abandoning all standards and ethics will produce tragedy, civil unrest, and economic cannibalism, just as the USA saw at the turn of the last century.
13
I've watched Warren since her first Senate race in Massachusetts and I've been for her since then, even though she was not running for national office.
And I watched her experience teaching Bankruptcy at Harvard, and then I knew that she had something that could help the public.
Undoubtedly, other than her ancestry gaffe, her actions and policies have been on point.
And that includes her work on the CFPB, which Mulvaney and company have been destroying since Trump was elected.
Most of the other candidates are late newcomers, and throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks.
I still feel that at this point, she is the best candidate to take on Trump and the GOP.
If that doesn't work, I hope that she will secure the VP slot, because her endless plans will help our country.
Finally, Trump's and the Kochs' big money and dirty tricks will be used to attempt to destroy her, and I hope that she will prevail.
11
@Quandry Exactly what ancestry gaffe did she commit? She demonstrated that she does, in fact, have a native American ancestor. And further, she has never profited from the association.
Warren/Inslee in 2020! (or Warren/ Buttigieg). Really, Warren and anyone.
1
Warren would be a fabulous President if she gets the chance. The only reason to not support her over the others is optics. For example, where Kamala Harris offers charisma and outward strength, Elizabeth Warren offers smart policies and inner fortitude.
Substance and reality don't win elections. We KNOW this. Elections are won on perceptions and emotion. Trump didn't build a rock solid base of 40% by appealing to people's minds.
I know, I know. Maybe appealing to minds is the best way to throw the rapist racist out of office. Maybe. But keep in mind that Barack Obama made people swoon because of his style and an ephemeral promise of hope.
Warren would be a fantastic VP. Inspiring and commanding like Al Gore. Gore was the best VP in a generation and would have been a great President too. Remember what happened to him.
6
What so infuriates me about the assumption that Senator Warren had used her claim of First People ancestry to get ahead is that the 'assumption' did harm. She NEVER used this family lore for her own advantage. This was well known as soon as the issue was brought up years ago when she ran for the Senate. She was deeply proud of the ancestry she believed in and it helped shape who she was and became. All you have to do to know that family lore of one's ancestry does not necessarily match reality is to watch ancestry.com commercials. The fact that this was ever made an issue to begin with reminds me way to much of the "EMAILS EMAILS EMAILS!" MSM frenzy. I am still waiting for anyone to find one email that was meaningful or damaging aside from the fact that it destroyed a fine woman who would have been a great president.
27
She wrongly cast herself as Native American. Harvard got to check the box. If she did not do this, an actual Native American may have been hired in the worthy name of diversity. Sorry, but this is not a victimless crime
At a New Year's Eve party in 2018, I had a conversation with two female friends about Elizabeth Warren. I thought she was great, they thought she was "unelectable." Their reasons? She's an older woman. They, themselves, are older women, and I'm sure that part of their concern is the invisibility that happens to older women. We could rob a bank tomorrow and probably nobody would be able to identify us except to say that we were "old." I do believe that was the reason many people were holding back from supporting Ms. Warren - that what she said had no grravitas, that she was, somehow, powerless, and that there was something quaint about her running for president. I believe my friends have done a reversal on Ms. Warren and now look at her as a smart woman with great ideas, with high visibility and energy. God, I hope she wins both the nomination and the presidency.
27
Elizabeth Warren is passionate about taking care of all Americans and speaks with a clear intelligent voice. I feel better just listening to her.
I like her. She is a kind, decent human being who can lead us to a much better place.
23
The only thing her and I outright clash on is her views on curbing our top-earning corporate powerhouses. This may be a good idea when we aren't in an all-out tussle with China, but I think it's not good policy at the moment. That said, I am by no means an expert on economics, and my perspective on this is more based on what seems to me common sense.
However, in every other area, I can either agree with her, or at least tolerate her views, and this Agreement/Tolerance far outweighs my stance on President Trump, whose recent interview with Stephanopoulos was the proverbial straw to my ability to stomach him any longer.
If she gets nominated, here's one Republican who will be jumping ship in 2020 to vote Democrat for the first time in his life.
38
Good for you, not necessarily for voting for the other side, but for listening to the issues like an adult and, then, having the guts to stand up for what might not be so popular among your circle. I am a fierce Independent and have been since I joined the Army at 19 years old. I don't believe in political parties, but have always thought of myself as someone who leans right. Until Obama came onto the scene. It was then that I saw how Fox News treated him. I had heard some of the most disgusting and vile things said about a person, come from friends and co-workers about a man whom I had no real qualm with and, as far as I could tell, seemed to be a decent person and pretty good President (probably the hardest job in America and possibly the world). I hard time listening to Fox News criticize and speculate, for hours on end, about a civilian who saluted with a cup of coffee or wasn't wearing an American flag lapel pin. It seemed like our country had more pressing business. As a member, I have loved the militaries customs and traditions. They are something I hold dear, but I had nowhere near the outrage that these talking heads did. Jump forward to Trump and I saw the full hypocrisy of the right wing in American politics. Any Republican that can stand behind this man and defend his every move, has no backbone. While years from now, this may change, I see no way I can support any Republican running for any office and I have zero problems telling my right wing friends why.
13
Regarding corporations and China, it must be pointed out that many of the most profitable corporations have become so because they will do anything the Chinese government requires as a condition of doing business in China and in using Chinese labor and factories to both lower costs and abandon American workers. This includes the cardinal sin of agreeing to technology transfers that send know-how, the acquisition of which, in many cases, was funded either directly by US government funding or by very favorable taxation conditions underwritten by those of us not in the the investor class.
I would vote for either Sen. Warren or Sen. Sanders should they become the Democratic nominee, but I will neither campaign nor caucus for them. America does not need a scold-in-chief.
2
As Democrats, we need to follow the example of our esteemed opposition and vote for Biden, just like the Republicans thoughtfully voted for Jeb! Bush.
Or we could just vote for the person who we actually think would be a good president, Senator Warren.
32
I am more impressed by Warren with each week that goes by. She could prove to be the 21st century Franklin Roosevelt, in terms of what she wants to accomplish and how she plans to do it -- utilizing markets while smartly regulating them, and promoting progressive taxation. No more socialism for the rich!
43
Issues with Warren that people are ignoring: (1) no administrative/executive experience, (2) no demonstrated ability to get her proposals through a Senate that will probably remain in Republican control and thus virulently anti-anything she wants to accomplish, (3) little/no foreign policy experience, and (4) if elected, she'd be 71.5 when she took office.
4
@notrace
1. Most elected presidents did not have this experience either. 2. How can a Democrat get Anything thru a Republican Senate, especially with Mitch refusing to bring anything up for vote he does not like (which is an abuse of his position by the way). 3. What foreign policy experience did any president have since Eisenhower? C'mon, this is the tired argument that is always brought up. I'm 69 and I'd like to be as energetic as she is, not to worry about her age. Anything else?
11
I voted for Bernie in the Michigan primary in 2016-- we were a regular little nest of Bernie Bros here. But I have switched to Warren, though I had to think long and hard about it. We need economic reform, badly, or this predatory vulture capitalism will finish the job and turn us into something unrecognizable, not the land of the free anymore, but shuffling zombies owned and operated by multinational corporations. We need reform. Warren offers the best chance at reform in my adult lifetime (been voting since Carter). I understand her motivations and her sincerity shines through, there are no hidden agendas here-- and we have had enough, in national politics, of hidden agendas. I am dreaming big, and hoping and working for Warren.
40
@Michele Underhill
I like EW well enough but she had the chance to support Bernie in 2016 and chose not to. Her voice will be drowned out by Trump's--literally. Bernie is still the one who can take it to Trump.
2
Why the debate about wealth concentration? Because technology today is as economically transformative as railroads, oil and steel were in the 19th century. Big fortunes have resulted, those left out of the game want some, so they brand success 'unfair' and even destructive of social order,. They propose all sorts of redistributive, even communistic ideas to address the 'problem'. Be patient, the passage of time, divorce, death, multiple heirs, poor investment decisions, emergence of yet newer wealth sources, will cut today's fortunes down to size. The real motivation of the left is not fairness, it's envy and cupidity.
1
John Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie among others amassed huge fortunes resulting in what we call the Gilded Age. It took trustbusting by Teddy Roosevelt to loosen the grip. Our current wealth concentration is not benign and will incur and is incurring a great social cost.
14
I, too, see a lot of maturity in Warren's approach, but she has a disturbing tendency to pile on whenever somebody has a PC complaint to make. In short, she's pandering a bit too much for my taste (which hardly distinguishes her from most of the other Democratic candidates, regrettably).
4
Warren stands out amongst all the Democratic candidates - brilliant, clear, and a fighter. Talent will out.
She should be the nominee, and will beat Trump.
22
She's just got to be President. I've never seen a Presidential candidate truly build teams to make smart realistic policy, and explain how things are paid for. This one is a WINNER!
22
Income inequality boils down to this. When you have a lot of money it is easy to make some more. When you have nothing, it is nearly an impossible challenge in this Trumpian horror show to make some.
Ms Warren is the only one that centers all policy around this important theme. She is not afraid to take on billionaires (they do not need our protection).
I saw a strong woman with her heart at the right place, plans that make sense and a fighting spirit we could use.
42
I really, really want to believe. I'm with her on essentially her entire platform. But tonight she said she wants to replace everyone's private healthcare with government-run - an idea that must poll at, what, 20%? 30%? Remember the opposition to Obama just for seeking a public option, let alone an overhaul of the entire system? Trump/Fox doesn't have to paint her as a radical if she does it herself.
8
She is taking no money from PACs or fund raisers by the rich. Hers is a peoples populist campaign with no obligation to help the rich get richer or special favors. She practices the Golden Rule and treats everybody with respect, honesty, and equality. She has been through hard knocks, but is no "socialist".
She has charisma, as do Beto and Bernie. She is also an articulate, quick, tough, serious, forceful speaker as opposed to Trump, etc.
23
@Andrew Mitchell
Umm, slight correction.
$10 million of her $16 million primary campaign fund, came from her senatorial carry over. Donated by large wealthy donors, corp. and PAC's.
She's also publicly stated she'll drop the small donor populous act if she make the general. Then she'll happily take any and every $$$ given. No matter whom.
You can decide if that is a deal breaker or not.
3
Dobbys sock,
She is relying on grassroots donors and that is a clear example of her grassroots support. In the general election she will be up against greedy Donald J. Chaos & Co. I don't think she will accept donations from everybody, you are just making that up. Her approach is smart. As will be her administration. Blue wave 2020 !
8
@joe parrott
Sure, I get that you don't want to acknowledge that the bulk/much more than half of her primary financing came from large wealthy donors and PAC's.
Yes, I agree, that she'll be up against the Republicans. And she's said she'll do what is needed to match them. Again...you will take that to mean what you want to believe. Because she didn't state exactly what and whom. Instead she left herself wiggle room by not stating only small donor or only certain entities.
You state that I'm making it up.
No, I'm basing it upon what she herself has said, what she's done previously and who is her campaign treasurer.
Here, listen and read for yourself...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrMA9Rnmx1w&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2elZBhdnw21Ff-
https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/elizabeth-warren-president-pac-money-treasurer/
As stated to Andrew, you'll decide for yourself if this is a deal breaker on an opening to impropriety. Against every Big Money shtick she utters.
Agree, vote Blue no matter whom.
2
Could 2020 be 1996? Hatred for Bill Clinton was raw and after the Oklahoma City bombing and Hillary Clinton's health care fiasco, most experts assumed that despite his age that Robert Dole could win. He lost and Clinton was re-elected. The Republicans punished him with impeachment. Trump has so much bad baggage but sadly the thought of four years of Elizabeth Warren scolding the country? Will the Democrats punish Trump by impeaching him in 2022? Most people want rid of Trump and just about any Democrat would be better, but, history shows that most presidents, even the dubious ones are re-elected.
@David Fairbanks 'scolding the country'. Sorry, but I don't see it and I don't hear her as a scold. Certainly not of the country. Of the greedy (n.b. the Kochs, the Adelmans and their feloow travellers: perhaps). She tells truth to power and backs it with fact driven policy proposals. She does not, on the other hand, waste her time renaming things to make them more palatable. No Freedom Fuel, no Freedom Fries. Praise be!
10
@D. Yohalem: I do hope you are correct. History has shown Americans generally vote for their own interests. Nixon was re-elected as was G W Bush. Trump will certainly play the race card and the Socialist card and worse, he will Trash Warren with the misogyny card as he trashed Secretary Clinton. I dislike Trump but know that millions like his antics and will no desert him.
Mr. Kristof left out the one major issue which is Sen. Warren's Achilles' heel and that is her foreign policies which are very hawkish.
I have much respect for Mr. Kristof as a journalist and look forward to his analysis of Sen. Warren's foreign policy agenda.
4
@Ask better questions: I was encouraged to see the logic you shared. What is health care costing now? Is it $17 trillion?, I really don’t know and it seems like an important thing to know if we are to decide which would cost more money.
4
Let's be clear about Harvard Law listing Ms. Warren as an Native American. All academic institutions stretch to count as many minorities as they can. Here's a personal example. My son is 1/8 African. When he checked "other" on the race/ethnic question on his undergraduate applications, Berkeley offered him a minority scholarship. When he applied for a NSF graduate school fellowship, he called NSF and asked what he should put down. The response, "African-American". And then the university he attended topped it off with an additional minority scholarship.
Elizabeth Warren is a super intelligent woman. The Native American stuff should not be a distraction.
12
@Thal
Your information is erroneous and out of date.
The Boston Globe did an exhaustive investigation that showed that Warren's claim to have Native American heritage did not help her win academic or any other jobs.
8
Just a thought. If everyone who has said, I like her, just don’t know if she is electable, votes for her, she would win. So how about every one vote for the candidate they actually like, and maybe we will end up with a system we want. But I keep coming back to the same issue. No matter who we elect as president, we need the senate and house as well. Or we will end up with nothing and the same McConnell logjam and fire pit we have had in his tenure. THEY need to go as well.
24
Here's the reality check question you need to address: Are Democrats living in an echo chamber, thanks in large part to the mainstream media, and are they going to get completely walloped in 2020? I'm not saying it's going to happen but it seems to me somebody should be asking the question.
5
Her stance on Medicare for All virtually kills her appeal to me. By any study so far, the program would cost $4T a year, equal to the entire Federal budget and would involve large tax increases on the middle and working class. It would also throw about 3M people out of work. Mr. Thorpe, who did the study for Vermont, concluded that health care for all would mandate a tax increase of 20% there. If the US cannot run our $1T annual military budget without losing a trillion here and there, how can we assume they'll do a better job with a program 4x the size, while Medicare now is already going broke from underfunding? The much more modest Obamacare program got off to a very flawed start. By no means is our current health care system a good one, but Germany, and Switzerland offer very good examples of a public-private partnership. The Swiss system is rated no. 1 in the world, and is about 30-40% less expensive than ours.
3
@Ask Better Questions
I don't know where you get your rating from , but every Swiss I've ever spoke to about their medical says they pay more out of pocket than we French do. This argument that Medicare will cost more is a false one. Americans pay more total price for medical than any European country with a good 'for all' system. Once you go to medicine for all, the cost will go down because, 1: everyone's covered, thus all these ailments Americans pile up will be treated prior to becoming major; Medicare will negotiate much better prices from pharmaceuticals and hospitals; yes medicine company stocks may go down, but who cares unless you own some; in the end everyone will pay into it with payroll deductions, and the insurance companies will sell additional services or luxury treatments, like they do in all European countries with 'social' medicine. Don't take my word on this, please look it up you will be surprised.
9
How can you report on a candidate and not once mention what theirs views are on the oncoming climate catastrophe and the collapse and extinction of wilderness?
9
I have come around to Warren, too. But it is wrong to say that she has gone from being a Harvard professor to an Oklahoma gal. She has turned into the best professor you ever had—someone who can convey the essence of a complex issue in 60 seconds or less. That more than anything else is a gift a politician needs in these noisy times.
35
For me the turning point was the revelation that the only Democrats that Wall Street actually fears are Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. In other words, a vote for either one is the only path forward for the economically stagnant American middle class. The other Democratic candidates are not all centrists, but, as Wall Street sees it, no other economic progressive has a reasonable chance of securing the nomination and winning the election. Consequently, Wall Street will do its best to warn us off Warren and Sanders, as Kristof admittedly was. Thus when the pundits advise us to keep to the political center, it is important to remember 1) they are frequently wrong, and 2) their message consciously or unconsciously echos the will of the 0.01%.
34
I think her heart is in the right place and she has some good ideas. But her, Bernie’s and some other Dem’s talk about things like forgiving student debt and free college are unrealistic and very bad ideas. Finding sensible ways to reduce the burden of student debt (like lower interest rates and partial forgiveness) make sense, but outright forgiveness is a moral hazard and rewards those who made bad or wreckless decisions over those who were more responsible and worked hard to put themselves through college and chose lower cost options like public universities. Also free anything is simply bad economics and results in other negative outcomes.
I think she’s an important voice in the Senate, but making her the Dem’s Presidential candidate would just be a gift to Trump.
Presidential
4
I still find her very cold and still the Harvard professor. Her funding answer to all questions re: her ambitious proposals is that the additional tax for those making more than $50M will pay for them. It will not. And this is especially true if the Senate remains Republican as it will after 2020. I see her remaining at Harvard in an ivory tower. I am a Democrat and I do vote.
6
Elizabeth Warren will make a great presidential candidate. In the last election the US electorate voted for the worst ever presidential candidate. They now going to vote for a great candidate?
10
She succeeds because she is the antithesis of Trump. She reads, thinks, picks the brains of other smart people and gets busy advocating her ideas. We all know Trump doesn't read, doesn't understand much and does not want to get advice from knowledgeable people. My advice for Trump: don't act smart because with you, it is just acting. Have you noticed that how the thoughtful, intelligent people in the Democratic campaigns are getting serious attention, especially Warren and Mayor Pete. I want our next president to know a lot and have solid common sense.
26
There is nothing new or refreshing about her ideas. Her ideas might seem new to young people who have little knowledge of the trappings of communism. In a nutshell, Elizabeth Warren believes that your children are OUR children. That everyone should pay for childcare and college, regardless if you have kids or not or plan to attend college or not. We already give tax breaks to parents with dependent children. We already have federal programs to help low income families pay for college. If you want to hand over your kids to the government, then vote for Elizabeth Warren.
5
@Mark I am childless. By choice. And I do not resent educating the next generations. It's not out of altruism; rather it is they who will pay for our pensions and an educated worker is a more productive worker, paying more in taxes than the present generation.
11
@D. Yohalem
I’m also childless by choice, but I’m not a communist. My mother was a stay at home mom. I’m glad she didn’t drop me off at government daycare. Does it occur to you that some moms and dads will drop their kids off at free daycare and go to jobs that don’t exist?
Great to have this piece from Nicholas Kristof. But he never did get to the "Why" of the title. Why indeed was he wrong about Warren? I wasn't. Many others weren't. He cites three instances of mis-judgement, seemingly locating the mis-judgement in reports of others. But that is inadequate: he did not have to make those wrong judgement calls; they were not called for, and were in of course wrong. I think there is a bigger and more interesting issue as to where all this misjudging Warren came from -- not just with the author, but with very many others. In any case, welcome aboard. Better late than never.
6
With my limited knowledge and zero experience of politics I can say that she would be a strong leader against rising populism all around the world.
2
Warren can’t beat Trump so we need someone that will. Then whoever that is should meet with warren huddle up and if necessary steal some or all of her ideas. The cake and eat it too approach.
1
She's brilliant. Whip smart. I will NOT forget the tort case abilities,
even if I DO get to have a beer. She's funny. Human. She relates to people AND has clear policies. She can relate genuinely to people in a way that Biden simply can't. THAT S why we need a woman - women - in politics. And, OH - that Native American hoopla? I didn't believe it for a nano-second & I'm surprised that it took you a while. Warren immediately cleared it up and it was the press that took a while to really catch on. The policies she and Bernie Sanders have been 'spraining for a while - their time has arrived.
19
@annpatricia23
Your logic here doesn't work: brilliant, whip smart, funny, human, and relates to people ... so that's why we need a woman. What? I'm quite certain there are also men among us who can relate to people and be brilliant, whip smart, funny, and human.
@Robert M Beto O'Rourke. And look at the flak he gets. And Bernie Sanders. Sanders is very good most of the time with ordinary people and when he's not he isn't nasty but testy and abrupt. Castro is also good but he's cooler. I was addressing Warren b/c Kristof was and he gave high praise for her professionally but then wrote of accepting her when she got relatable enough to "have a beer".
I believe Elizabeth Warren would be a soulful, impassioned president. The appropriate, comforting person to preside over a service after a tragedy. After Trump, we will definitely need a healing influence in the White House.
20
Whoever wins in the end, we owe a massive debt of gratitude to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren for transforming America's civil dialog from fighting over the crumbs of what's "politically possible" given "today's realities" to speaking frankly about the future we really want and how to get there. The truth is that anything is politically possible if you speak your mind about the world you want.
17
Sorry....the only thing we owe Sanders is contempt for doing the Right’s dirty work for them and badly damaging Hillary’s chances. I will never forgive him for helping put Trump in office.
4
@Bodyman I agree 100 percent. He ran a toxic sexist campaign and got away with it. He absolutely helped trump win and I too will never forgive him for that.
I was listening recently to an interview with conservative columnist Daniel McCarthy of the Spectator. Though he made clear he didn't agree with many of her views, he spoke very highly of her intellect & willingness to propose serious solutions to problems afflicting America. He saw her not as a radical socialist, like Sanders, but as a proponent of a 'mixed economy' more typical of Scandinavia. Were I an American I'd vote for that.
12
Love Warren EXCEPT for Medicare for All. That's too big a disruption in 20% of the economy to do in one fell swoop, and it will be very easy to attack from the right. If she were to go to a public option, I'd be all-in for her. I have a sinking feeling that if the democratic candidate is proposing eliminating private insurance, we'll have 4 more years of Trump.
5
Why am I hearing nothing about her willingness to work across the aisle! As far as I'm concerned, no matter how shrewd her policies are, if she is not making healing our nation here #1 priority, and she is not willing to work across the aisle, she is not getting my vote!
Why is this so hard for so many Democrats to understand???
8
I don’t see “working across the aisle” as a substantive indicator of anything anymore. McConnell et al. have no interest in bipartisanship. Democratic candidates should leave the empty catch phrases to the MAGA set.
8
Why wouldn't Republicans reach across the aisle to a strong, principled capitalist?
3
Obama tried hard to work across the aisle.it only works if a few people across the aisle are willing. Maybe if Democrats capture both houses, Republicans will start thinking about working across the aisle.
7
I've come around to stronger support for Warren for somewhat different reasons, though a concern remains. I've been hugely impressed by Warren's smart and detailed policy proposals across a wide range of important issues. I'm most impressed by her strong commitment to major structural changes in the US economy, society and political environment. I don't believe minor tweaks will do when we face so many challenges that have simply not been adequately addressed by our congress or executives. Warren seems like one candidate who really means to pursue those major changes at a time when our very democracy is under constant assault by the deranged and corrupt Trump.
My main concern about Warren remains her ability to articulate her vision in clear and compelling ways. She has a somewhat strained and grating voice and weak public speaking skills, though she's become better at it lately. I've worried that she just doesn't have it in her to command and persuade audiences with independent, skeptical listeners and against a bullying demagogue like Trump in live debate. Yet I've gradually developed more affection and enthusiasm for her as a candidate. I believe she's someone who will strive to bring real change that we need, not partial and insufficient adjustments in a failing system. I could see her teaming up with Cory Booker, for example, to both humiliate Trump and remake our ailing democracy.
7
Indeed Elizabeth Warren has been my first choice all along. I put her on the shelf due to my dimming sense of her electability- after Trump won. I had lost faith in the electorate.
That said, she is the most earnest politician I’ve seen in decades. She is smart. Compassion for the working class and the underprivileged appear to motivate her.
At minimum she must be part of any democratic administration either as POTUS, or in any capacity that will shepherd her policies into the lives of average Americans.
22
Given that Elizabeth Warren does not take any kind of PAC money with their attached strings and is dependent on grassroots support, I sent another donation to the Warren campaign. First one I ever donated to. I'm also forgoing meals out and saving less for now to help balance my budget.
Most of her proposed policies don't affect me directly. I have no student debt, drug problems, healthcare insurance problems, housing problems (military or otherwise), incarceration problems, employment problems, or voting problems. I just think she would be an outstanding and thoughtful president and get to actually draining the swamp.
More here on the issues
https://elizabethwarren.com/issues/#latest-announcements
33
Can she win in Wisconsin?? She has to prove that. It's a gamble.
1
What's Warren's policy regarding campaign contributions from PACs? Whose money is she taking so far? Those of you looking to win people over to the Warren camp, I'm listening.
1
Chris,
She is not taking any money from PACs or corporations during the primary.
1
@Chris
10 of her $16 million primary funds came from her senatorial campaign. Where she too PAC'S and large donors et al. She has also publicly stated she'll drop the small donor shtick if she makes it to the general elec.; where she will once again take any and all $$$ offered.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrMA9Rnmx1w&feature
1
I want Warren to run against Trump. The only issue I have with her policies is the "Medicare for all" trope. The public option is where this should go, since there are many people in this country who like their current coverage and don't wish to change, and need to know that they will have a choice. Much as I despise the health insurance industry, it will be difficult to impossible to turn such a huge ship around, putting thousands of people out of work or transitioning to another type of work, and four years is not enough (Bernie's time frame). The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, and the insurance companies and states were given four years to plan accordingly. A long view is needed on this issue.
Warren + Harris: Two women, Caucasian and African-American: It's about time!
10
Maybe rally with “Medicare for All” and compromise with “the Public Option”? I think the public option is the way to go but I’m not put off by a candidate demanding “Medicare for All”. I would gladly vote for any of the candidates in tonight’s debate but Warren is a stand out. Rally the base - go Elizabeth!
4
You were right the first time. The only issue that matters is getting rid of Trump. All of the ideas and issues won't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world if he wins again. To beat him they need a broad coalition, including Republicans who hate Trump. He is praying for Warren or Sanders to win the nomination. If Democrats want an alternative to Biden they should take a closer look at Amy Klobuchar. She's smart, tough and Trump would have a hard time with her. She would have broad appeal. Elizabeth Warren is brilliant but as we saw in 2016 Americans often do not vote for the more intelligent candidate. This election is different than any other we've lived through. Trump winning again would be catastrophic for the country and the world.
11
Kristof should had mentioned one very important item.. Sen Warren is not taking any corporate, big pac or wall street money. That is a big plus in my eyes along with everything else about her. Mainly she wants whats best for the most people.
41
Elizabeth Warren is the polar opposite of Joe Biden when it comes to taking a hard look at the current structure of our economic and political governance. Biden seems comfortable if what you're proposing doesn't truly rock the boat. He may have changed his presentation but his inability to see the need for radical change from the way our country is being governed betrays his his inability to change his fundamental thinking about how desperately we need to pull change our thinking.
Elizabeth Warren goes to the heart of issues, pushing aside the status quo and proposing original ideas that will benefit the whole of society, top to bottom. She knows that superficial window dressing and rearranging deck chairs aren't going to get the country back on track to an enlightened government.
Remember when the world admired us? They don't anymore, and it isn't just Trump's quixotic government by tweet that has damaged our reputation. It's the mossy failure of the Biden style pols to insist on change that recognizes a new century. We're falling backwards into the worst of the 20th Century exploitation of common workers to benefit the obscenely rich.
That has to change.
23
@dutchiris - Biden is sooooo yesterday. Warren is
fresh, has new ideas and is VERY smart.
1
I agree! I’ve really been coming around more to supporting Warren as she continues to impress me with the breadth of her policies and proposals, especially after the debate!
17
There is something very special about Warren and it has nothing to do with her policy proposals. Warren does not care about getting re-elected. In fact she barely cares about getting elected, except seeing it as a way to work on her dreams for America. It's natural that she does not care to appease. It is beneath her. Even Obama did not have that level of detachment. Imagine having a President who does not waste an ounce of energy on populist machinations, towing the party line, but instead directs all her (apparently indefatigable) energy to working hard for the people.
In any other country, she would be elected with a landslide.
92
I feel like Elizabeth Warren would be the best voice for marginalized and voiceless citizens like me. She will make America a better place for my year old daughter. I wish her all the best and my prayers (and vote) is with her.
53
I like her proposals and she has strength in presenting them...from the Senate. That's where she belongs. She is incredibly effective from that perch. A President she is not. At least not from what I've seen over the last few years. She needs to tone down the rhetoric and deliver her message with a more measured urgency. With everything being a "fight", nothing is worth fighting for.
6
PeteG,
This next election is the biggest fight since Lincoln. We need someone who is going to bring the fight to Trump, if he is still in office. Then we need that same fighter to take it to Congress and make the major changes needed. I hope you are not an average voter in these United States, if you are, we are in trouble. Blue wave 2020 !
3
I'm reading J.K. Rowling's magnum opus for the first time this summer. I'm only part way through the second book, but so far, I can't stop thinking about Senator Warren each time Hermione shows up on a page. At first, the boys find her off-putting, a quintessential "try hard," to use the unfortunate language of my middle school students. Soon, though, Ron and Harry are won over by her loyalty, courage, intelligence, and trustworthiness. Because she is competent and selfless, she manages to protect her friends over and over again. Isn't this a familiar pattern? Like so many others have confessed, I initially had concerns about Warren's candidacy, but my respect for her grows each time I hear her speak. After tonight's debate, she is at the top of my list. I would never look to a president as a savior figure, but Warren may be the one to lead us back into a place of sanity and real, needed change. Now when someone tells me they don't think Warren is electable, I bring up Hermione, then respectfully encourage the person to give Senator Warren a second look.
42
Mr. Kristof,
My wife and I watched the 1st debate and we both agreed that Senator Warren distinguished herself. Her impressive feature in my words: "she was number #1 in gravitas", which I feel she will need to address global problems like climate change, trade, economics and global security. She did well on her brief responses to the questions which were put to her, and in my wife's words, "she kept her mouth shut at the right time."
Courtesy of the NYTimes, I have read the Magazine piece and followed links in the NYT's to her "plans". I paid close attention to her plans on the Climate Change issue and was impressed. It is creative and expresses the properly scaled worldview of the enormity of the challenge. She used terms like "Marshall Plan" and "mobilization" and mentioned the Apollo program which assured me that she appreciated the scale.
Being born and raised in Oklahoma, the epicenter of fossil fuels and global warming skepticism about global warming being caused by combustion of fossil fuels may be of help to her as the national campaign matures. Her big challenge will be to persuade the Oklahoma energy folks that she has a plan for transitioning the economy to full employment for the families who work in the fossil fuel industries as we make the global shift. An early test for her will be her address to the UN, the IMF, and the World Bank on the global warming issue.
My wife and I will keep following the primary debates with you and the Times.
44
A top priority for a incoming Democratic president in 2021 will be to restore an effective Federal government. Warren seems to me to have a very good understanding, at a granular level, of how the Federal government ought to work. Not many of the other candidates seem to have such an understanding.
And that's in addition to her many creative and well-thought-out policy ideas.
Personally, I haven't made up my mind yet, and won't until next year. Electability is a big concern for me. But like Kristof I'm more and more impressed by her.
20
During the “08” financial meltdown Elizabeth Warren rose above all the others speaking truth, and challenging Wall Street. She was fearless at a really scary time, she was brilliant at understanding who and what were the causes and how we could fix them. Her very presence allowed me to get some sleep during those dark days. She has my vote.
57
@RVB I have never forgotten her courage and formidable presence during that frightening 2008 meltdown. She has my vote !
13
Nicholas was right about Warren in his earlier skepticism.
The American Indian and DNA issue reveals some very fundamental problems of personal opportunism, racism,
and very poor judgement.
Her proposal to pay off $50,000 of student debt for some students
and leave the rest of us with our mortgages debts to pay, reinforces my feeling of a lack of shared values and poor judgement.
Her rise in the polls reflects her personal aggressiveness and that she is in your face a good bit of the time.
Not necessarily a quality widely appreciated.
5
Speaking as an outsider, I have to say that Elizabeth Warren is by far the most impressive Democratic candidate. Nobody had thought out the right way forward on every issue that matters better and more thoroughly than she has.
Any country would be proud, PROUD, to call her their leader.
71
Warren wants to start a class war on the rich?
Can't happen. Know why?
Because the rich started the class war no later than the Reagan administration. And they haven't let up.
The only thing Warren wants to do is to stop the class war. And no rich person will be left poor as result. Except to the extent that they stole to get rich.
Actual capitalists have nothing to fear from Elizabeth Warren. In fact, Warren's a fan. She just wants everyone to own up to what they owe to America for the privilege of being an American. And that is simply to keep all of America healthy, and democracy functioning. That has a monetary cost, and everyone needs to pay their share.
54
I would like to contest one of the main ideas in these comments: that Trump is a strong candidate. He is not. At minimum, he will not again win Michigan and Pennsylvania. Democrats will never win a significant number of his 2016 voters, but they’ll win enough and those people will join the millions of outraged new voters who will throng to the polls rather than suffer the re-election of a man who wants only to consummate his own narrative of personal grievance and triumph.
16
Tonight was my first real exposure to EW. Very impressed with her bearing and passion. Booker was solid also.
19
I've said it before, but it bears repeating: She'd make a terrific Secretary of the Treasury. In my dream world, Biden, with his experience, would make a terrific President, and he would assign just about every one of the Democratic candidates to a position in his administration. Kamala Harris would get the experience as Vice President to become President in '24. Pete Buttigieg has the smarts and some international experience to make a good Secretary of State. Etc.
4
Finally, people start taking seriously about a woman's ideas and philosophy, where in the past, they just dismiss women outright.
Obama has proved that a minority can be just as good a president, and Donald has shown a white president is not, now is the time for us to give women like Warren an equal treatment as a presidential candidate.
the time has come for U.S. to be a true country of equality...
12
"Finally, people start taking seriously about a woman's ideas and philosophy, where in the past, they just dismiss[ed] women outright."
@paul Speak for yourself. Since my college years, I have always taken the ideas and philosophy of Ayn Rand very seriously. She was a woman.
@David M. Brown
good for you.
I started a lot earlier than that, it was since I was born and am continuing to this day...
Obviously comparisons will be drawn between her and Hillary just because they are women. Where they differ completely is Senator Warren's ability to talk about issues from the perspective of those affected. Her ability to not come across as robotic or smug (in her intelligence) is notable as well because she exudes passion when she speaks.
29
Although I appreciate the detailed policies and solutions that Warren and others offer, I'd like to see her go beyond kitchen table issues and understand what her broad vision is for the U.S. and how she would restore our world leadership when it's needed more than ever. I'd like to hear more about the forest and less about the trees, which seem more appropriate for congressional, state, and local focus.
5
What I saw tonight was this: the other candidates were giving a performance. Warren was in the zone - totally focused.
51
Warren's debate performance won me over to supporting her. She is truly dedicated to bettering the lives of Americans and I believe she'll go to whatever ends necessary to make that happen. Castro and Booker were impressive too but she won my vote.
42
For a long time I've thought that RFK was the last progressive/liberal I'd support for the presidency.
Senator Warren means hope abides...
34
Nick makes the common mistake-voters are logical. All evidence to the contrary else Adlai Stevenson might have been President.
Everyone votes emotionally and justifies it rationally.
Ergo, Trump wins easily in 2020
3
Be careful what you wish for. Warren is the next Hillary. Policy wonks don’t win elections, especially female ones. Professorial types don’t get elected. All the best ideas in the world are not enough to win the presidency, not w/out some kind of charisma that she, like Hillary, lacks.
6
I think Warren has tons of charisma. Warm, funny, sharp. What’s not to ‘like’? That’s she’s a woman?
Remember Lyndon Johnson? Magnificent on domestic but really light on foreign policy. That led to Vietnam which took him down along with much off our country. I see no basis for saying Warren isn't another Johnson.
3
But how many candidates are heavy-weights on foreign policy? We need someone who has a first-class brain and knows what she (or he) doesn't know.
2
I'll be enthusiastic about a Warren candidacy the moment the Republicans nominate a woman as their candidate. Get serious about the sad fact that at least 5 to 10 percent of the voting public will NOT vote for a woman for President.
5