I’m not a fan of Warren and I really don’t want Warren, Bernie or Biden running in 2020 but, I’m really pissed off over this DNA thing and the Talking Heads this weekend.
While I agree she shouldn’t have stooped to acknowledge the Giant Baby Man, the fact that all the talking heads were this destroyed her 2020 chances, she needs to hang it up and not run. I can’t help but roll my eyes at the stupidity (and possibly misogyny) involved, Male candidates (especially GOP) have done so much worse and we’re throwing out a female candidate for this?!
I’m a huge fan of Warren, and I feel that she has done this entire thing exactly wrong.
Giving in will never make them see sense, all it will do is show them further weakness.
Turning it into some post hoc “I was doing it for this noble reason!” is just lamely trying to put lipstick on the pig that just gored you.
Obama failed to learn this lesson after eight years. I was kind of hoping that the rest of the Democrats, particularly the smarter ones like Warren, would have learned from Obama’s failure. Apparently not.
I had been leaning toward supporting her for the nomination in 2020. However, the DNA test was a bonehead political move that played into the hands of the enemy. We need to have someone who thinks through their political actions so that they don’t end up with egg on their faces.
She should stop.
Ultimately, she said, she took a DNA test because she believes one way to rebuild trust in government is by posting her full family history online “so anybody can take a look. … I believe one way that we try to rebuild confidence is through transparency.”
Not a fan of Warren’s right now. I was years ago but the shine has pretty much worn off with this episode. That she seems to be explaining her backfired stunt in the most obscure way is really lame.
Taking advice from consultants is never a good idea. She has really hurt her brand.
I don’t know. You could see the testing—if she’s planning a run—as a calculated move to get this out early and hopefully out of the news cycle. But the idea that—if they consider her claim a lie by any degree—any Trump supporter could complain about lying is ridiculous. Absurd. It’d be like complaining about separating children from their parents and putting them in detention. Of course, we are living in a whole new world of the absurd.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Sunday that she changed her mind recently and took a DNA test proving her heritage because Americans’ trust in government is “at an all-time low” and she wanted to help rebuild it by being transparent.
"and I don’t care whether you think you benefited or not from that claim, it’s the fact that you tried to benefit from that claim that I think bothers a lot of people and it’s something you haven’t been able to put to rest since the 2012 campaign,”
No, she’s been able to put it to rest; it’s the Rethugs who only have racism, resentment and anger to stoke with base with that’s kept this BS alive.
@hulaman: You know, I thought that she was planning a run in 2020 but now I’d say that the odds of that have gone down dramatically. When you’ve got the SoS of the Cherokee Nation asking you to lay off the issue, on video that will be run consonantly in '20, it’s a real uphill battle at this point.
You cannot show membership in a group using a DNA test. She needs now to find a geneologist who knows Native American rules, and use standard techniques for showing descent. This is a common fallacy. Not only did she use a false idea (similarity = identity), but the geneologist (who seems incompetent) did not use a group for comparison which had any Native American members. Native Americans do not trust DNA analysis, ever since the DNA of the Havasupai Tribe was misused for purposes which the samples were not intended. Regaining Native trust on DNA has been very difficult.
When you’re explain’ , you’re losin’ …
So…if a group of people mistrust DNA testing, that means it’s not applicable?
Sounds very bible-thumper to me.
No, she’s been able to put it to rest; it’s the Rethugs who only have racism, resentment and anger to stoke with base with that’s kept this BS alive.
Unfortunately, if we want to have any chance to win the presidency in 2020, we will need a candidate who will know how to deal with this, and Warren has so far proved she can’t. Just getting mad and blaming the Republicans for what they are isn’t going to do it.
True, but they’ve finally reconciled themselves to losing Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and the Dakota’s. Indiana still bothers them, but then again Indiana bothers everyone.
The problem is that it was a calculated move and IMO she decided that she needed to do this weeks before the general election moving the spotlight to herself instead of the election and that was before the whole thing blew up in her face.
I realize her recent comments was because she was asked in a debate and while it isn’t as serious as the Saudi Arabian changing explanations it was lame at best. Warren just needs to stop.
IMO, the excuse is worse that the DNA test itself. All she had to say was that the test was in response to Rump’s incessant racism and harassment. Which would have been true. Bringing up some silliness about rebuilding confidence in government was ridiculous at best.
Yep. Best to find this out now.
ETA: that said, we learned in 2008 that HRC was able to be defeated by someone who was not nearly as experienced and we still nominated her in 2016, so who knows?
No, it means that Indians do not do DNA testing, and will not contribute samples for that purpose.
In the Havasupai case, Indians contributed DNA samples to gain understanding of the reason their tribe had a serious diabetes problem. Those samples were taken and used to make an argument for the origins of the Havasupai tribe, a use that was not part of the Informed Consent documents. This has damaged Indian trust in DNA and research in a fundamental level.
…and in what way does that make someone’s DNA test showing Havasupai ancestry less factual?
It’s too bad they got screwed by a company, but that doesn’t make the data suddenly non-factual.