Why doesn't Elizabeth Warren run for President?

She still has plenty of time to declare her candidacy for 2020, and a lot of people expect her to do exactly that. Keep in mind that Clinton and Obama both said they weren’t going to run for president while they were still senators, so Warren saying she’s not planning to run isn’t really useful data.

But if she does decide to stay out of it, the simplest explanation is that maybe she just doesn’t want to be president. She wouldn’t be the first politician with presidential potential to refuse a shot at the office, and I can see a lot of reasons to prefer the Senate to the White House.

Thanks @SavoirFaire ,I just get excited because I think she could destroy Trump without half trying.

@SQUEEKY2 i agree with you; I think she’s amazing and would be a great President. But I also think she knows she would be attacked and would be very polarizing – she already is. She has said she won’t run but we’ll see. I would definitely back her – she has smarts and passion.

She wouldn’t win. And if the democrats need done thing, it is someone who can win.

I like her, and you know I lean right usually, excepting a few votes here and there. Not only an impressive career, but a childhood of actual struggles in the Midwest- so she may ‘get it’. Plus this quote:

Warren voted as a Republican for many years, saying, “I was a Republican because I thought that those were the people who best supported markets”.[25] According to Warren, she began to vote Democratic in 1995 because she no longer believed that to be true, but she states that she has voted for both parties because she believed that neither party should dominate.[

I agree she would be a great pick, and the proof for me is that she is eminently qualified yet wants nothing to do with it. I believe Warren is all too aware of what is required to be considered for nomination under the current 2 party system, and consumer protection or looking out for the guy on the ground- these things are NOT among them despite the necessary and incessant promises to the contrary. She says that she is currently in a position where she can be most effective, and she may well be right, particularly if she has faith in the Democratic party.

Hopefully she’s planning on being Bernie’s VP.

@stanleybmanly Or conversely, no faith in the Democratic Party?

My dream team is Elizabeth Warren Pres. and Joe Kennedy, III for VP but that won’t happen for many reasons.

I also still could see a Biden run and that might be successful. Aside from anything else, he’s got a good personal story and ethics. And I doubt if his verbal missteps could be counted against him at this point in history.

Personally, I think Bernie should stay out of it at this point.

@janbb “Personally, I think Bernie should stay out of it at this point.”

I know right, the most popular politician in the country shouldn’t get involved. Better to go with another fake progressive similar to Clinton… That will really turn out the voters.

@janbb – Biden and Kennedy would have trouble motivating anyone left of center to vote for them. They’d have to do the Clinton “I’m not Trump” thing.

I do think Sanders is too old, and I’d be surprised if he’d take another run at it. He would have won last time, and he would definitely win, but shouldn’t the Democrats be able to find someone who isn’t horrible?

@gorillapaws That’s not what I’m saying but I won’t get into the Bernie arguments any more. I consider myself a progressive who isn’t crazy about Bernie and don’t think he would have won but I would have voted for him.

@tom_g I think you do Kennedy a disservice by labeling him. Do you listen to his speeches?

I am fighting against the Dem machine in my district for a progressive candidate for Congress.

And this is why I try to stay away from politics here.

But Warren professes GREAT faith in her party Birdie, and walks that impossible tightrope of not stirring things up. Under the current setup, her loud and strident voice serves to corral her Democratic colleagues from lucrative endeavors common to their Republican counterparts. Bernie is out there and I want his big mouth running til he’s red in the face. The threat of him running is probably the only chance for any meaningful platform from the left.

@stanleybmanly I don’t disagree; was being slightly tongue in cheek there.

@janbb: ”@tom_g I think you do Kennedy a disservice by labeling him. Do you listen to his speeches?”

I’ve very familiar with Kennedy. He’s terrible. Really. His marijuana/policing position alone should disqualify him. He’s also one of the anti-medicare-for-all holdouts, along with Biden.

@janbb: “And this is why I try to stay away from politics here.”

Why? Because I disagreed with you? Fluther is quite conservative, and there might be a couple of us here who are left-of-center. The occasional disagreement should be fine.

@thisismyusername So you believe things will improve HERE if you stay away from politics?

She doesn’t energize the youth. Did anyone see how Bernie was greeted by students during the walk out this Wednesday? The Democrats need someone like him if they hope to win against Trump.

I’m a lifelong democrat and I wouldn’t vote for Bernie on a bet.

He’s way too far left. I don’t agree with half of his stances, which are doctrinaire left wing.

Give me a good moderate.

@elbanditoroso So if you had the choice of Bernie or Trump, you’d not vote for Bernie?

@elbanditoroso you surprise me.

@Aethelwine point and set!

@janbb That’s fine if you don’t want to get into a debate, but your opinion that ”[you] don’t think [Bernie] would have won” really goes against all evidence to the contrary. It’s pretty universally accepted that Bernie would have demolished Trump.

The problem with the current Democratic establishment is that they’ve degenerated into what is effectively Republicans with liberal social policies, or “Republican Lite.” 16 of them just voted to deregulate the banks for christ sakes. Take a look at the political compass. Estabishment Dems are basically very far right wing. When your choices as a voter are a poop sandwich, or a poop sandwich with a side of fries, most don’t bother to turn up. There is nothing inspiring about establishment Dems policies, nothing to motivate people to turn out or get excited. Which is exactly what happened in 2016, and will happen again in 2020 if they try to run a candidate who is against medicare for all as an example.

@elbanditoroso For every “lifelong Democrat” looking for a moderate Dem. You’ll have 2 apathetic people on the left turn out who normally don’t bother to vote/voted for Trump because of his “blue collar” appeal.

To my mind, the fact that the current Democratic party is regarded as representative of the left is disgraceful. When folks like seawulf start puffing that crap about Obama and the Clintons as stalwarts of the radical left, it really frosts my cookies. And as for the Democratic party—-it might pay to remember that BOTH parties achieved their finest moments in the advancement of social justice in those days when there WAS a radical left. Back when the Black Panthers were raising hell and the Weathermen blew shit up.

@stanleybmanly if it were Bernie versus Trump, it would be Bernie. Same as I said about Clinton two years ago. I didn’t love Clinton, but she was better than Trump.

Give me Mike Bloomberg!

@elbanditoroso of course Bloomberg over Trump, Bush over Trump, shit PAUL RYAN or Mitch McConnel, or your Irish setter over Trump.

@elbanditoroso: “He’s way too far left. I don’t agree with half of his stances, which are doctrinaire left wing.”

He’s a new-deal style Democrat (of old). He’s what the Democrats were before they abandoned the working class. Nothing crazy here. He’s way to the right of me and many people, but he was enough of a return to something resembling an alternative to get people excited again.

But older people vote at higher rates. So, when the polls consistently showed that Sanders would beat Trump by far-greater margins than Clinton, or when Clinton showed troubling numbers vs Trump but Sanders would beat him, it didn’t matter. The Democrats decided to take a chance with a “moderate” (technically a right-wing candidate), because it was worth losing to Trump than to allow the party to shift somewhat left.

What if older people had voted for Sanders? Not only would he have won – the next generation of Democrats would have been born. Democrats are a rare thing. Most people when polled don’t even know what the Democratic party stands for. More young people, who have been justifiably apathetic, came out and voted for Bernie than voted for Clinton and Trump combined. This is a positive thing. And a model for how the Dems should move forward: Stand for something. Return to working class roots. Stop embracing Wall Street, banks, and private healthcare.

Anyway, you can hope for more of the same (a “moderate”). But that would just guarantee that Democrats remain irrelevant – and redundant.

EDIT: Fixed link.

@elbanditoroso If it’s another corporate Dem vs. Trump, I’m going to vote Jill Stein again, or whoever is on the Green ticket. In my view, the biggest problem with this country right now is the establishment Dems. Obviously the Republicans are monsters, but I’m not going to vote for someone that’s pretending to be on my side and then vote with the monsters on the big issues, or obstruct the things we want if we ever manage to get a super majority. Look at how pathetic Obamacare turned out to be. That’s the fault of “Moderate” Democrats who are bought by big money. Their role is to sabotage these kinds of projects, that’s why big companies are giving them so much money.

@thisismyusername That’s the best Answer I’ve seen here in a long long time!

That’s the dilemma Dems would be having as given in this Article

Why does anybody not do something crazy?

Because she knows she can’t possibly win, I mean, American voters right?

No, if you want a win, a moderate is the best choice in 2020. You need someone both sides can get behind, Warren could do it.

A vote for Stein may make you feel good, but she has less than zero chance of winning. So it’s a wasted vote.

^It’s not a wasted vote. It shows that a portion of Americans are wanting to go in a direction other than A. or B. Which has been the problem for most of my lifetime. The two party system dominates. It vastly oversimplifies issues that are far more complex than a fork in the road.

Voting for a “winner” only exacerbates the problem.

The idea is/should be, to vote for the best candidate. Otherwise, we’re simply empowering the two party system, and the partisan fighting that hamstrings much of the progress that could move this country in a positive direction.

I think if you write in Mickie Mouse, yes, you’re wasting your vote. But analysts do look at the votes cast for parties outside of red or blue. At least, I would think. On election night, you can see the votes for the top several candidates. At least people at home, can witness and digest the representation that other parties garner…

I do not vote. Many consider that a waste. But I am still represented by statistics. In my case, I’m essentially protesting the election process. In large part because of the two party system. People like @gorillapaws may someday help recruitment of voters like myself, by producing more than two legitimate candidates…

Now. As to Warren, I’ve voiced my support for her before. The person I “think” she is, is vastly superior to most politicians. I also have been intrigued by her, every time I hear her talk. I’m sure there’s something that I could disagree with her about, but with the pickings for decent presidential candidates painfully slim, she stands out. (in a good way.)

She couldn’t win.

Why wouldn’t she?
Too honest?
Too for the people, not really in the corporations pocket?