How Can Warren Win? By Attacking Bloomberg. [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

Her unity message hasn’t done Warren much good, but now she’s facing an ideal foe.
By Jeet Heer YESTERDAY 11:02 AM


Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg. (Jose Luis Magana / AP Photo; Gerald Herbert / AP Photo)

One of the dirty secrets of journalism is that we hardly ever write an obituary after someone dies. Since everyone is mortal, death notices—at least for the newsworthy—are composed well ahead of time. A similar spirit of vulture-like anticipation governs political coverage, where the downward spiral of a political campaign is the perfect opportunity for hand-wringing articles on how it all went wrong. Since her disappointing fourth-place finish in the New Hampshire primary, Elizabeth Warren has had the dubious pleasure of reading eulogies for her presidential hopes.

“Elizabeth Warren’s presidential hopes are looking dim,” argued Jordan Weissmann in Slate. John Judis, writing in Talking Points Memo, agreed: “I suspect that Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign is over.”

These obituaries are premature. It’s too early to write Warren off—although not too early for her campaign to do some stocktaking and revise its battle plan. In the past, Warren’s shown remarkable resilience in recovering from missteps. Her presidential campaign itself began with an epic blunder, the use of a DNA test to answer objections to her claim of Native American ancestry. But she was able to rebound from that mistake and regain her status as a leading candidate.

Pundits have suggested many reasons why Warren faltered in New Hampshire, even though she’s demonstrated her genuine appeal through large rallies and robust fundraising from small donors. Sexism is one major factor. She’s also been hammered on the issue of Medicare for All, where she’s being squeezed from both ends of the spectrum, being too cautious for Bernie Sanders and too radical for Pete Buttigieg.

FULL story: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/warren-bloomberg-attack-democratic/