Everywhere you look these days, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is sounding the alarm about her party’s prospects in the midterm elections.
“My job right now is to light the fire of urgency,” she told Politico on Tuesday. “We can’t waste a single day.”
That interview came after the Massachusetts Democrat wrote this in a recent New York Times op-ed:
“Despite pandemic relief, infrastructure investments and the historic Supreme Court confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson, we promised more — and voters remember those promises. …
“[I]f we fail to use the months remaining before the elections to deliver on more of our agenda, Democrats are headed toward big losses in the midterms.”
Warren’s point is simple: The only chance Democrats have is to use their current majorities in the House and Senate, as well as their control of the White House, to take action immediately on a series of domestic priorities in hopes that voters reward them for doing so.
Among the legislative and executive actions Warren wants to see happen are: canceling student loan debt, addressing prescription drug costs and banning lawmakers from making stock trades.
She may get some of those things. For example, President Joe Biden is signaling an openness to canceling some student loan debt.
But if history is any guide, the chances of Democrats moving any major (or even major-ish) legislation – like, say, a slimmed-down Build Back Better bill – in the middle of what looks to be a very difficult election year are not high.
Typically, when faced with the sort of headwinds that look to be out there for Democrats, endangered members of Congress want to get out of Washington as soon and as much as possible – in hopes that time spent in their districts and states might keep them from being washed away by a wave election.
If that’s what happens, Warren has put herself in prime position to say, “I told you so,” if Democrats do, as expected, lose control of the House and Senate this November.
And if, say, Biden were to not run again in 2024, Warren would be well-positioned to re-up just the sort of policy-laden campaign she ran in 2020. Just saying …
The Point: Warren remains one of the leading liberal voices in the country. What she says moves progressive voters, who Democrats badly need to turn out to stave off disaster in the midterms.
Source: www.cnn.com