Elizabeth Warren: ‘Hillary’s nightmare’?

History might be about to repeat itself for Hillary Clinton, said Noam Scheiber in NewRepublic.com. Clinton was denied the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 by a populist insurgent from the Left. Five years ago, that was Barack Obama. In 2016, it could be Elizabeth Warren. The freshman Massachusetts senator has become a “liberal icon” due to her tenacious pursuit of banking reforms and blunt criticism of Wall Street executives. She’s a prodigious grassroots fundraiser, having raised $42 million in her Senate race last year, and videos of her speaking out for the middle class have racked up millions of YouTube views. Polls show Democrats moving away from Clinton-era, Wall Street–friendly centrism and slowly “becoming Elizabeth Warren’s party.” Income inequality is now among the party’s biggest concerns. If Warren decides to run, she could accurately portray Clinton as an establishment crony with deep ties to Wall Street, and “Hillary’s nightmare” might come true.

Clinton shouldn’t lose too much sleep, said Michael Hirsh in NationalJournal.com. Warren may be popular, but she is “basically a one-issue political figure”—and that issue, financial reform, does not win elections. Americans may be angry with Wall Street, but they don’t care about reforming banking practices. “Here’s why: It’s booorrring. And incredibly esoteric.” Building a political platform on a better Dodd-Frank act or a drive to regulate derivatives is a nonstarter. Warren’s other domestic and foreign policy credentials are “to put it gently, modest,” said Hendrik Hertzberg in NewYorker.com. Clinton, meanwhile, has been both a successful senator and a competent secretary of state, with direct experience handling both foreign and domestic crises. “She is as presidential as they come.”

Hillary is hardly inevitable, said George Will in The Washington Post. American voters see politics today as “popular entertainment,” and are looking for bold characters who will shake up the status quo. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is one, and Warren arguably another. Clinton, however, is not. This doyenne of the Democratic establishment will turn 69 in 2016, with nearly 25 years in politics. She will have become “the one thing no successful candidate can be: boring.” Democrats who think Clinton is guaranteed the nomination should ask themselves this: “When was the last time presidential politics was as predictable as they think it has become?”

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