Discussion for article #230122
Hmm a few months ago I wouldn’t have thought this, but you don’t suppose the Democrats are moving her up to increase her visibility and national stature in preparation for a '16 run. Or is it placate the left wing of the party so that they get behind Hillary?
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Why not make her the Senate Minority Leader…
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Wonder BFD, if the rest of the Democratic leadership is actually serious about this. If they intend this to be for show only, though, they’d better get out of the way of the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.
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Waste of her talents. She’d have to spend too much time on the floor, and less traveling and speaking to real Democrats across the land.
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Hold on a second, Claire McCaskill just became the first Senate Dem to oppose Sen. Warren’s new job.
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While I like the idea of her as minority leader in the abstract, I think it would interfere with her running for President in 2016.
On the other hand, if there is no possibility of organizing the Democrats in the Senate to obstruct the Republicans as well as the Republicans obstructed the Democrats, maybe she would have time to be minority leader and run for President.
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Why not where she really belongs, on the Senate Banking Committee? Was this new position created for her in order to redirect attention away from the Banking Committee?
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the democrats just want her constituent friendly face out front. nothing else will change. bait and switch.
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Replace Harry Reid with Warren. He needs to go as Minority leaders.
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Lets see: she could spend her time in the Senate with little power in the minority, or she could run against Hillary to, at least, force Hillary to campaign to her base a little.
Its now or never, Elizabeth. Do you have the guts to do what Obama did in 2007-2008?
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Warren has said repeatedly that she’s not going to run—and that’s a good thing, because she can’t win in '16.
She’s much more valuable as a clear and easily understood voice in the Senate—and as a very good fund-raiser, which she has shown herself to be.
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Being a minority member of the Banking committee would be a terrible waste of her time and talents.
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Elizabeth Warren is the most important Senator in the chamber. Putting her in any role less than Minority leader is a waste. She’s the beacon to lead the timid Democrats into shining light in the abyss the GOP promises to march us into.
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It’s recognition Senator Warren has a following and is popular. It’s also recognition Senator Warren has leadership capabilities that would benefit the Senate and Party.
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She lacks the experience and the connections to win an election as Minority Leader.
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The only thing that will interfere with Senator Warren running for President in 2016 is Elizabeth Warren; she doesn’t want it and has said numerous times she wasn’t running.
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Respectfully, I disagree. Speaking to “real Democrats” would be an utter waste of her time in the coming year. They already agree with her and love her. That would just be her going to an echo chamber of believers. If real Democrats want her to ever have a real chance at being President, then this new leadership role gives her a platform to A) further enhance her credentials as a legislator (she hasn’t even been in office 2 years, yet) and B) shape the Democratic legislative agenda in a way that would be useful should she ever run for President. The latter is key, even though nothing Democrats want is going to get enacted in the next 2 years. She will get to better know Democratic Senators who don’t agree with her on everything but who could be useful allies in a future Presidential run.
Frankly, I have long feared the consequences of the fact that, whether one likes it or not, Hillary has essentially sucked all of the air out of the room in terms of the Democratic nomination for 2016. That has left me thinking: Okay, what if something happened to Hillary? Right now, we have no one who could step up and be a strong nominee. That requires more than just be loved by party and issue activists. It requires a network of national connections. I love Warren, but I don’t let my admiration for her keep me from seeing that outside of Democratic circles (a much, much smaller circle than “registered Democrats”) she is mostly unknown.
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The truth is she is not the face of the Democratic Party, we would like her to be, but she is just a bone thrown to the dogs.
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Does this position to which she has been elevated happen to have a name, AP? And, if so, could we trouble you to share it with us?
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