If stipulated that Warren is Gene McCarthy, Who is our RFK?
Last edited Wed Nov 20, 2013, 07:38 PM - Edit history (1)
Talk about Elizabeth Warren being President is not literally realistic, but I assume folks are not being literal, but rather using Warren as a symbolic entity in order to talk about the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
In a world where Warren could win the nomination there would have to be tons of progressive votes out there, and people would know that. The nomination would instead be won by some better national candidate who took up Warren's issues.
Put another way, if there IS substantial support in the Party for a progressive candidate then progressive candidates will materialize.
So let us stipulate, hypothetically, that Elizabeth Warren (this is hypothetical) attracted a following and made some noise in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The effect of this would be like Gene McCarthy making some noise against LBJ in 1968. Gene McCarthy was never going to be the nominee. In fact, McCarthy didn't even end up the top purist anti-war candidate. McGovern had more delegates at the '68 convention. But McCarthy's efforts and following changed who the nominee would be. LBJ dropped out of the race. Bobby Kennedy entered the race. The war-stance of most candidates shifted toward the McCarthy supporting wing of the Party. (And had Humphrey gotten the McCarthy message before the last week of the general election campaign he might have won.)
Who is the RFK? Who are our plausible progressive/neo-populist national presidential candidates who are gifted natural politicians and highly likable to most people and with some existing non-ideological support and a record such that they could plausibly absorb the enthusiasm for a Warren-esque stance?
Democrats with a real shot to win nominations and become President tend to be preternaturally gifted politicians, or widely nationally known and beloved for some reason.
Who are the plausible RFKs who would get the (hypothetical) Warren wake-up call?
For instance... I know very little about Tom Udall except that he is said to be the most liberal Senator, and will be re-elected easily in 2014. He is from a Democratic dynasty-family. (My parents voted Udall over Carter in the 1976 primaries). I have no idea what skeletons he has, or how likable he is... I am just citing an example.
Could O'Malley chase a Warren-vote hard enough to plausibly be the RFK to Warren McCarthy?
And so on. It's just a discussion question, not a knock on anyone or endorsement of anyone.
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