Why Left and Right Need Elizabeth Warren to Run

Challenging Clinton would strengthen both parties: Slate's John Dickerson
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 18, 2014 1:55 PM CDT
Why Left and Right Need Elizabeth Warren to Run
Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks during the state Democratic convention in Worcester, Mass., Friday, June 13, 2014.   (AP Photo/Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Steve Lanava)

No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, you should root for Elizabeth Warren to run for president in 2016, writes John Dickerson at Slate. She can't win, but she can make both parties stronger with a bid against Hillary Clinton, he argues. Start with left: Liberals should encourage her because even though she'd have almost no chance of winning the primary, she might wring some promises out of Clinton. More moderate Democrats should recognize that Warren would make Clinton a better candidate, force her to "draw clear lines about what she believes," and shape her up for the general election.

So why should conservatives want Warren to run? The primary might "expose Democrats for the socialist one-worlders they are," writes Dickerson. But more importantly: A Warren candidacy would ensure that the central debate would be about the middle class, and as she and Clinton duke it out, that would "give conservatives a chance to offer their alternatives" to the same crucial constituency. If Warren "believes in the ideas she says she does, one of which is that the system is rigged in favor of those with money and power, a place to demonstrate her commitment to changing such arrangements would be to announce her candidacy for the highest office in the land," writes Dickerson. Click for his full column. (More Elizabeth Warren stories.)

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