Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has announced her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
On Monday morning, Warren, 69, sent an email to her supporters proclaiming her intention to create an exploratory committee; that will permit her to raise funds for her presidential bid and hire staff as well. Warren also released a video introducing her candidacy.
In the video, Warren states, “I’ve spent my career getting to the bottom of why America’s promise works for some families, but others, who work just as hard, slip through the cracks into disaster. And what I’ve found is terrifying: these aren’t cracks families are falling into, they’re traps. America’s middle class is under attack. But this dark path doesn’t have to be our future. We can make our democracy work for all of us. We can make our economy work for all of us.”
The New York Times reports that Warren will visit early-voting states in the near future. The Times admits that Warren’s record as a senator shows that her efforts have largely been futile, writing, “Ms. Warren is not known for shepherding major legislation successfully through Congress, though Democrats were never in control of both chambers during her time there.” Warren also has a jaundiced view of American power; in a foreign policy speech at American University in November, she opined, “Whether our leaders recognize it or not, after years as the world’s lone superpower, the United States is entering a new period of competition. Democracy is running headlong into the ideologies of nationalism, authoritarianism and corruption.”
Possibly to fend off challenges from two black senators who are likely candidates for the 2020 nomination, Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), Warren reached out to non-white voters in her video, stating, “Working families today face a lot tougher path than my family did, and families of color face a path that is steeper and rockier; a path made even harder by the impact of generations of discrimination.”
Warding off challenges by Bernie Sanders and others who utilize class-warfare tactics, Warren resorts to her usual attacks on wealthy Americans in the video, stating, “America’s middle class is under attack. How did we get here? Billionaires and big corporations decided they wanted more of the pie, and they enlisted politicians to cut ‘em a fatter slice. They crippled unions so no one could stop them.” Then the video cuts to President Reagan, saying to cheers, “We’re going to run the bull loose.”
Warren plays the victim card: “I never thought I’d run for office, not in a million years, but when Republican senators tried to sabotage the reforms and run me outta town, I went back to Massachusetts and ran against one of ‘em. And I beat ‘em.”
Warren uses the time-honored technique of labeling conservatives as racists and homophobes after attacking the government as a “tool for the wealthy.” The video shows conservative media figures as Warren continues, “The whole scam is propped up by an echo chamber of fear and hate designed to distract and divide us.” The screen then shows two new Muslim Democratic members of Congress and an ostensibly gay couple at their weeding as she continues, “People who will do or say anything to hang on to power point the finger at anyone who looks, prays, or loves differently than they do.”
Warren’s ambition to be president hit a much-reported snag after Warren underwent a DNA test of her ancestry, revealing that she could have been 1/1024th Native American, coming after her prior claims of Native American ancestry. The New York Times reported this:
But nearly two months after Ms. Warren released the test results and drew hostile reactions from prominent tribal leaders, the lingering cloud over her likely presidential campaign has only darkened. Conservatives have continued to ridicule her. More worrisome to supporters of Ms. Warren’s presidential ambitions, she has yet to allay criticism from grass-roots progressive groups, liberal political operatives and other potential 2020 allies who complain that she put too much emphasis on the controversial field of racial science — and, in doing so, played into Mr. Trump’s hands.
In addition, roughly three weeks ago, a top staffer for Warren, Mindy Myers, took meetings with Congressman Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) who has been gaining ground in polls for the 2020 nomination.
Warren’s video below:
