If you really want to be president, then get serious, Sen. Warren
Like my friends of both political parties, I am obsessing about the No.v 6 election. I have convinced myself that it is the most important midterm election of my life and that, like a team picking a first-round player in the NFL draft, our future well being is ‘on the clock.’
After the Brett Kavanaugh hearings I was paralyzed for days because pollsters seemed to agree that the confirmation process may have energized Republican voters.
That is what I mean by obsession. I have always seen politics as an honorable profession and as a way to serve the greater good. However like most everyone, I am concerned about the rise of certain trends in our political system. I enjoy the nitty-gritty of politics and have come to recognize that there is a role for celebrity, and even silliness. Right now, however, celebrity may count more than a candidate’s policy positions, which can lead to an irritating level of self-absorption.
Wednesday morning was Exhibit A. On the front page of The New York Times was a story about Sen. Elizabeth Warren releasing the results of a DNA test that she says provides proof of her Native-American ancestry. She also created a website that includes documents that prove she did not use her heritage to advance her academic rise at Harvard.
This story of this earth-shattering detail of Warren’s background went on to consume another half page inside the newspaper. The short version is that Warren apparently needed to rebuff President Trump’s ridicule before the 2020 presidential election. She’s contemplating going after the Democratic nomination. We all know how Trump refers to Warren as “Pochantas,” but here she is, playing right into his hands. At a rally in Montana in July, Trump said that, if she ran against him, he would insist that she take a DNA test right in the middle of a debate. “‘ ‘I will give you a million dollars to your favorite charity, paid for by Trump, if you take the test and it shows you’re an Indian,’” he said he’d tell her.
His response this week to Warren’s DNA results? “Who cares,” Trump said.
In the middle of this overheated campaign season, with Election Day less than a month away, why would a newspaper devote so much space to this story? More worrisome, though: What does this say about Warren? With Democratic candidates furiously fighting for control of Congress all over the country, why would she choose to distract from these important and more-immediate contests?
I admit to some bias against Warren. I have vivid memories of her shushing delegates at the 2012 Democratic convention who were greeting her warmly. She struck me as an effete academic taking an officious tone with her students. Does Warren actually think the American people care if she is 10 percent Native American? Or any percent?
Apparently the Cherokee tribe was not too happy either and strongly rebuked her. Jim Messina, President Obama’s former campaign manager, was also critical, asking in exasperation why Democrats can’t stick to issues affecting Americans this year.
It is a legitimate question. Instead of worrying about Trump’s attacks and focusing on herself, wouldn’t Democrats be better served if Warren used her substantial intellect to articulate the real issues of the day?
Warren was ill-advised to revive the ancestry issue. There are at least 20 competent Democrats contemplating challenging Trump in 2020, including women who run the gamut from the fiery Kamala Harris and Kirstin Gillibrand to the quietly eloquent Amy Klobuchar, all U.S. senators. For Democrats, who are specifically looking for a woman to nominate, they will find any of those three more electable than Warren after this week.
MIKE ABRAMS IS FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE DADE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, A FORMER STATE LEGISLATOR AND CURRENTLY A POLICY ADVISER TO BALLARD PARTNERS.