If you envision Elizabeth Warren running for the Democratic nomination, what kind of campaign would you like to see her run?
Would you want to see her run on the issues that have made her a progressive favorite? Blasting Wall Street influence and pols cozying up to big money? Expanding Social Security? Fighting for a fair chance for working Americans? Expressing some hesitance about the unshaken view that American military might can solve the world's problems (she has not spoken much on this.)
Or would you be excited if a Democratic primary became about Politico issues like DYNASTY! and e-mails?
The presumptive frontrunner has a lot of questions to answer (and maybe she can't answer them adequately anyway.) But, at least for me, DYNASTY! and MoDo psychobabble is not what I want to hear about. YMMV.
Whomever chooses to take on the daunting task of running for president in the Democratic primary will be doing our party and our country a great service, IF they run on issues. But if a candidate decides that running a Politico campaign is the way to go, I have doubts about the benefits of such a run - not just for the Party but for the candidate.
In 2000, Bill Bradley decided to run against Al Gore. Bradley had no issues to run on so he ran a Politico campaign, one that fed every BS negative Media nonsense narrative about Gore.
A few weeks ago I argued that Democrats need a contested primary. Eric Boehlert, among many, pushed back on this idea, asking pointedly if Bill Bradley's challenge in 2000 help Dems and Al Gore? The answer is no, it did not.
But it does not have to go that way. In 2008, in one of the toughest political races you'll ever see, the Democratic candidates talked about issues for months on end. The now disgraced John Edwards, the longest shot of the top tier candidates, pushed the conversation into important issues, like health care, forcing other candidates to think hard and comprehensively on the issues.
While this didn't matter to Politico, it mattered to us I think.
The talk of DYNASTY! and other MoDo type crap was at a minimum from our candidates in 2008. And this during a bruising primary fight.
We can have that again I think. I know folks look back and think 2008 was too rough and tumble, but the reality is the 2008 Democratic primary produced some of the sharpest and best political talk on real issues that we have had.
For me, the model I'd like to follow, whatever the outcome, is the 2008 race, not the 2000 race run by Bill Bradley.
YMMV.