EDIT: I got schooled by my friends. Not impressed now. Also, healthcare.
Sorry I wrote this. Original article below.
—
I’m really impressed, I have to say.
Yes, I would wish she were less militarist.
The elephant in the room is that the US has blown $6 trillion on warfare in the last twenty years and has nothing to show for it — but it’s more like the emperor’s new clothes than an elephant, I suppose, because when anyone speaks of it, they are immediately derided as “Not Serious” by the media and treated as a weak joke until they come around.
So any non-fringe candidate ends up being complicit in war crimes by the end. (Though I still, almost a decade later, cannot get over Obama’s aggressive militarism, just as inept as Bush’s too. Such a shock to me. I still feel literally sick when I think about Libya and Syria…)
At least Warren is less bad on this issue than some of the other Democratic candidates are. One day most of the candidates will buck the idea of endless war, and it will crumble against the rocks of Common Sense and Six Trillion Dollars Gone For Nothing, but that day does not seem to be today. We still have Bernie and Mike Gravel.
(I have to mention Mike Gravel here, who has run repeatedly on just that issue, and gives me hope for humanity. He gave a speech once when asked, “What is America’s biggest enemy, after Iran?”. I couldn’t find it, but let me paraphrase it — “Iran isn’t our biggest enemy. They aren’t our enemy at all. We don’t have any real enemies. We’re the biggest military force in the world — we have more weapons than the next ten countries put together. What are we so frightened of?”)
Warren’s good on key issues like the looting of the American economy by the 1%, and really strong on the systematic flouting of the law by Wall Street (another issue where Obama was actively bad — as a progressive, I am shamed by the fact that the last President whose Justice Department aggressively punished Wall Street lawbreakers was Ronald Reagan, with Rudy friggen Giuliani as his prosecutor!)
She’s also better than most on climate change, which when it comes down to it is the only issue that matters.
More, she’s extremely practical and detail-oriented. If she really is able to pull off her climate change agenda (and I wish I had someone to pray to here that this happened) then the money would have to come from somewhere, and a lot of it would have to be the military.
—
When it comes to Realpolitik, the brutal facts are that Americans choose their Presidents based on their personalities and their appearance more than their policies.
As I analyze this part below, please understand that I consider all of this deplorable, but one must be realistic in evaluating politics.
America is one of the most sexist of the developed countries, and Warren automatically has five points against her for being non-male, as did Hillary.
But the similarity ends there. Warren’s awkwardness is a big, big asset for her — it’s genuine, or conceivably, she’s learned to fake genuineness really well, it makes no practical difference. As we have seen in every election for the last two million years, Americans really respond to this.
Warren doesn’t smile very much. That’s traditionally a downside — indeed, analysis of historical images has consistently shown that the Presidential candidate who is shown smiling more is significantly more likely to win.
In her case, I feel it is an asset. Let me be blunt — Hillary smiled too much, she smiled inappropriately, and it was unconvincing.
Warren is serious. Sad to say, she has to be serious when the men can be more light-hearted because she is a woman. Luckily, she is naturally a serious person. It makes her appear trustworthy and hard-working. After Trump, people will want these two things.
The Pocahontas nickname is also an asset. Note: “Crooked Hillary” and “Crazy Bernie” but “Pocahontas (movie star) Warren”. The story is now clear to both sides — “a little Indian”. So very American — a real asset to attract people who grew up watching John Wayne, and I’m not joking at all.
And she looks good. She’s striking and memorable — perhaps more “handsome” than “pretty” and that’s good too.
She has an extremely strong profile and looks good in photographs, even with her mouth open while speaking — a classic place where otherwise promising candidates fail.
Petty, I know, crass, I know, but we must be realistic and strategic. Winning really is everything. If the previous candidate had prioritized winning the actual election over winning the meaningless popular vote, we might well not be having this discussion today.
—
Given the above, I am really hopeful for a Warren/Sanders or Sanders/Warren ticket.
I feel also that that pair in either combination are the only ones who will be able to stand up to Trump when he tries to stay in power after losing the election, as only they have the gravitas and the moral stature to tell the nation that he has to leave without starting a civil war.
