There are a few speed bumps on the way to Hillary Clinton’s long march to a possible 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, and one of them is the senior senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren.
So concludes the New Republic’s Noam Scheiber in the magazine’s November issue. In Scheiber’s telling, Warren is “Hillary’s nightmare,” a threat from the left wing of the party. She’s an intellectual with enough populist street cred to derail “Clinton Inc.’s” carefully laid plans to recapture the White House.
Warren has a formidable arsenal at her disposal. She has a consistent message-middle-class economic empowerment- that resonates. Both Democratic and Republican voters still seething from the Great Recession find much to like in her warnings that the nation’s financial elites have got to change their mercenary ways.
The senator is unafraid to champion losing battles like student loan reform. Warren was at the center of the Democrats’ battle to prevent country’s monetary decision-making power from falling into the hands of her polarizing former Harvard overlord, Larry Summers.
Scheiber correctly surmises that although all of these attributes make her a force to be reckoned with, they do not necessarily add up to a President Warren. Warren taking on Clinton, he concludes, “would be a suicide mission at best-harmless to Clinton, but career-ending for the challenger.”
However, he leaves the door open wide enough for a Warren candidacy if the senator perceives that Clinton has gone over to the dark side of the party’s moneyed classes. Warren’s recent speech warning that the problems in the banking sector that led to the recession have only gotten worse prompted as much speculation about her presidential aspirations as it did about the remedies she purposes.
Writing for Mother Jones, Kevin Drum sees Warren as a “novelty candidate” akin to “Dennis Kucinich. Or maybe Ron Paul.” The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent raises a more important point. No matter what Warren does, Clinton will have to take the progressive wing of the party seriously.
Both Clinton and Warren would do well to remember what happened the last time the Democratic Party listed too far left. In the 1972 presidential contest, George McGovern, the darling of the Democratic left wing, was trounced by Richard Nixon. He carried just Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. If the 1970s are ancient history for some, then perhaps what the Tea Party has wrought in the GOP offers an equally instructive lesson.
Warren has made requisite good-soldier denials. But focusing on the White House could be just as much a nightmare for her as it would be for Hillary (albeit for different reasons). A presidential run means mastering of binders of other issues – health care, immigration, the Middle East, the NSA, to name a few, where Clinton is light years ahead of Warren and any likely Democratic challengers (save, perhaps, Joe Biden).
President Obama’s plight is also instructive. Being held hostage by the “no” wing of the Republican Party has undercut the president’s ability to move his domestic agenda in other areas like immigration.
Being seen as the true heir to Ted Kennedy means the Massachusetts “People’s Seat” is Warren’s as long as she wants it, which may be a more appealing option than the uncertainties of a presidential quest. Warren could be to banking reform what Ted Kennedy was to health care reform. If reconfiguring the American banking sector is her ultimate goal, she is better placed to craft those measures from her current perch. Elizabeth Warren certainly can’t lay siege to Wall Street if she’s spending all her time hitting briefing books on Syria.
–GABRIELLE GURLEY
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino rejected a request by state Rep. Bruce Ayers of Quincy to temporarily close the dilapidated Long Island Bridge , which is owned by Boston but can only be accessed in Quincy’s Squantum section.
A Braintree town councilor has dropped his request for a review of Town Council pay , specifically for members who serve on committees that meet more frequently.
Amesbury Mayor Thatcher Kezer files for a recount of ballots in an election he lost last week, by two votes.
Fitchburg officials and parents line up opposition to a proposed elementary charter school.
CASINOS
The Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah says it will immediately move forward on opening a temporary gambling facility on Martha’s Vineyard and start construction on a permanent “boutique casino” after getting clearance from federal officials that they have the right to gaming on their land on the island. Meanwhile, lawmakers gave final approval for a compact between the state and the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe for a casino planned in Taunton.
With Suffolk Downs losing an East Boston referendum and gambling prospects at the Plainridge Racecourse uncertain, the Sun Chronicle ponders the future of horse racing in Massachusetts. The Herald reports that the owners of Suffolk Downs have two mixed-use redevelopment alternatives waiting in the wings.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
Alabama agrees to a settlement that guts most of the controversial provisions of its tough anti-immigration law, Governing reports.
Hawaii becomes the 16th state to adopt same-sex marriage, ABC News reports .
Joe Battenfeld and Scott Brown have some advice for Elizabeth Warren .
The Atlantic takes up what it calls the White House’s “dismal record” in putting black judges on the federal bench in the deep South.
ELECTIONS
Charlotte Golar Richie says her mayoral campaign was hamstrung by a lack of money, time, and opportunity to connect with voters.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
A massive, long-stalled mixed-use development project in Westwood is finally getting started, the Globe reports .
John Fish , the CEO of Suffolk Construction, raises concerns on income inequality and warns that the state is becoming the “un-commonwealth,” CommonWealth reports.
American Airlines and US Airways reached a settlement with the Justice Department for their merger to create the world’s largest airline but the agreement will require the new company to give up some gate slots and departures in major airports including Boston’s Logan Airport .
EDUCATION
A new report from MassINC’s Gateway Cities Innovation Institute says early childhood education and a focus on English should be the priorities for schools in those urban centers. The report encapsulates a vision developed with the mayors of the Gateway Cities, Masslive reports. The Telegram & Gazette illustrates the scope of the problem.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino plans to head up a new urban issues program at Boston University after he steps down, WBUR reports. Here is the Globe account of Menino’s BU move.Asked about the move, Menino gives the Herald that thing it craves the most: a bitter quote about the Herald ’s brand of journalism. Menino sits down with Jim Braude on NECN for an interview.
HEALTH CARE
The Globe reports that twice as many Americans could be put on cholesterol-lowering drugs under new treatment recommendations issued by panel of health care experts. The Times account , in contrast, cites experts as saying it’s not clear whether more or fewer people will end up getting cholesterol treatment under the new guidelines.
TRANSPORTATION
State officials award $1.5 million to Revere for a parking lot that is expected to help revitalize Broadway as the city’s main business street, the Item reports.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
The Conservation Law Foundation files an appeal alleging that a state agency improperly approved a gas-fired power plant to replace a Salem coal plant scheduled to shut down in May, the Salem News reports.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
A federal judge has given US Attorney General Eric Holder until January 31 to say whether the government will seek the death penalty in the trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev .
The “ Annie Dookhan defense” backfired for Angel Rodriguez of Lawrence when a judge sentenced him to eight years for cocaine trafficking, several years more than he was saddled with in his initial prosecution, the Eagle-Tribune reports. Rodriguez demanded a new trial after it was learned disgraced chemist Dookhan tested the evidence in his initial trial, but officials were able to retest the lab sample and convict him.
A 71-year-old Somerset man was sentenced to 60 days in jail after pleading guilty to fraudulently issuing inspection stickers to commercial vehicles, including buses and trucks, through his mobile inspection service.
MEDIA
Lawmakers from central Massachusetts write a letter to John Henry asking him about his plans for the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Masslive reports. Henry didn’t mention the paper in a long article on why he bought the Boston Globe .
MinnPost, the nonprofit journalism website in Minneapolis, is raising money for specific beats, the Nieman Journalism Lab reports.
