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Corporate Compromise Candidate: The Rise of Elizabeth Warren

A couple of items from the establishment media in the last few days have led to the suggestion in the title. Senator Warren appears to be the ‘left-extreme’ among the Democratic candidates. This is a highly relative term given how far to the right the American establishment is. I define ‘left-extreme’ as follows: she is as far left as the corporate establishment is willing to tolerate. It looks like the establishment is setting up Senator Warren as a sort of ‘left gatekeeper’ against the actual progressive candidate in the primary, Bernie Sanders. Please note that I am not criticising Senator Warren herself. Rather, the problem is the media outlets and the establishment using her in this way.

Item One: The Politico Article

In a remarkable piece of condescending propaganda, Politico recently tweeted this:

In poll after poll, Sanders appeals to: lower-income and less-educated people, men and younger people who vote less frequently. While Warren’s camp consists of: people with postgraduate degrees, women, and seniors who follow politics closely

The contrast in how Politico depicts the two camps could not be more stark. The poor and less educated (mostly men) who are less engaged in politics are likely to support Bernie. There is a distinct tone of elitism there that is dismissive of Sanders’ supporters. To paraphrase Jimmy Dore, if you are an idiot who does not ‘really know how politics works’ (read you do not know your place), you will support Bernie. There is a definite air of deligitimisation of Bernie and his supporters in that statement: as if it is the dregs of society, the lower orders, the peasants who support him. As someone with a PhD, I support Bernie Sanders, and I am not alone.

Turning now to Warren’s supporters, these are people with more formal education, women and seniors who pay more attention to politics. We might understand this group as those favoured by the elites: the right kind of people. People with postgraduate degrees are likely to earn more money and be less worried about the issues of concern to Sanders. It must be noted that possession of a degree is no indicator of your level of intelligence, how informed you are about politics or anything else. The political opinion of someone with an MA or a PhD carries no more weight than that of a tradesman. The bias on display in this comparison of the two candidates’ respective supporters is thus clear.

Item Two: The MSNBC Segment 

On a recent segment on The Contenders on MSNBC, Mimi Rocah offered the following statement on the comparison between Sanders and Warren

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren next to each other will really highlight…because – for me as – again I’m not a political analyst, but just – as a woman, probably considered a somewhat moderate Democrat, I…Bernie Sanders makes my skin crawl. I can’t even identify for you what exactly it is, but I see him as a…not pro-woman candidate. So, having the two of them there – like – I don’t understand young women who support him, and I’m hoping that having him next to her will help highlight that, because those are the people that, if I were her, I would want to say ‘why are you supporting him and not me if you’re gonna choose between the two of us?

Wow – where to start? First, if you are not a political analyst, as you yourself admit, what are you doing on a political talk show? If you have a personal opinion, go on social media and display it for the world to see. But if you are not a political analyst, why should I take your opinion seriously? Second, she admitted there was absolutely no substance to her criticism of Sanders! He ‘makes my skin crawl’ – what does that mean? Pathetic, substance free, feelings-based crap. Third, he is a ‘not pro-woman candidate’ – Hitchens’ Razor: that which is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. Having feelings-based verbal diarrhea does not constitute a political argument. Fourth, she says she does not understand young women who support Sanders, the implication being that there is a perfectly good female candidate right there in Warren.

Identity Politics Rides Again

If you think that last point a stretch, look at her next sentence ‘why are you supporting him and not me’; she said that directly after she said she does not understand young women who support him. I do not think that is a stretch: support her because woman; if not, you sexist. I have intentionally used caveman style broken English there to convey the simple-minded garbage that is this brand of politics. Policy substance did not even enter the discussion! She clearly implied that Warren should be the candidate of any self-respecting woman based, appropriately enough, on dick!

A quick question for Ms. Rocah and those who agree with her: how did that work out last time you tried it? This was the precise strategy that Hillary used in 2016. Remember ‘I’m with Her’ as the red arrow pointed to the right (a great political Freudian slip)? You have tried the ‘support her because woman’ approach before, and you lost! The electorate does not like being told who to vote for based on gender, or race, or sexual orientation. They care about policy! 

Contrary to your insulated, bubble-world opinion, these women (or anyone else for that matter) who support America’s Dad are doing so because they agree with his policies! They do not care if he is the dreaded straight, old, white man. His policies would help them in their day-to-day lives much more than screaming Russia Russia Russia!

Conclusion: Warren as Corporate Compromise Candidate

The point of the respective treatment of Warren and Bernie here seems clear enough. The corporate elite have seen that the energy in the Democratic party is in the populist wing. They have thus chosen a compromise candidate: one who is populist enough to excite the base but who will ‘play ball’. Senator Warren is also a woman, so identity politics becomes a viable weapon against her detractors.

To end, I reiterate that this is not a critique of the Senator herself; she is merely running her campaign for the nomination. It is the media who are to blame here, cynically manipulating her campaign in an effort to bring down Bernie Sanders.

 

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13 comments

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  1. Terence Mills

    In poll after poll, Sanders appeals to: lower-income and less-educated people, men and younger people who vote less frequently.

    I thought they were the Trump rump !

  2. Kerri

    My daughter (25 and the most intelligent member of the family) preferred Sanders to Clinton.
    I have liked Warren from the first day I saw her speak. She explains in firm yet calm tones that are easily listened to.
    I wish I could say the same for Sanders. He does not make my skin crawl but always sounds like an angry old man too irrational to listen to. I don’t like Warren for her gender, though I do think it is time the US had a female president, but her confidence, patience, relatability and statesmanship.
    Bernie seems to lack that calmness and statesmanship and seems so ready to get into a fight.
    That may well be the media and the grabs they choose to use.
    Being a leader of a country is not just about policy. It is also about representing your nation on the world stage.
    Most people want a leader they can feel proud of and someone who reflects a mature democracy.
    Trump? Johnston? Kim?
    But take Merkel or Ardern or even Macron and you see a calm statesmanship that you are prepared to listen to.
    But………. the media is the message.

  3. Alpo

    “Warren as Corporate Compromise Candidate”… Pretty crappy statement, that makes Warren look just like another Neoliberal, whereas she is NOT. At the previous presidential election, ignorant critics of Hillary Clinton should have read her program, which was Social Democratic and a clear departure from Neoliberalism…. but of course those critics wanted to hear the word “Socialism”, and so they went hard against Clinton and, as a result, they got the Neoliberal Trump!!…. “Well done”!… It reminds me of the treatment of Shorten and the result of the last federal election here in Australia.

    Warren stands in fact to the left of Hillary Clinton, and therefore her program is even more Social Democratic…. but she is not a classic Socialist, and so wait for the usual Morons from the left to go hard against her…

    Will some characters ever understand that nowhere…. ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE, in the Capitalist world there is any interest whatever for Socialism, real Socialism? Do those guys even know what Socialism is?…. The only hope for Progressive politics and a turn around for the World away from the current bankrupt Neoliberalism is Social Democracy.

    Warren is a solid Social Democrat and the only hope to defeat Trump, because she knows how to speak to Trump-voting American middle and lower classes.

    Sanders?…. Yeah, good for attracting a small percentage of romantics, that’s all. Just look at the opinion polls on the Democratic presidential candidates. Do you bloody know who is and has been ahead for some time?…. Sanders? No!…. Not even Warren, in fact…. But the cadaveric Joe Biden…. Why? Because the guy has some capacity of attracting the traditional, American middle-class and traditional, proud-to-be-American working class. Warren also has a chance of attracting those necessary voters by offering a Progressive program that is far more advanced than anything that Biden could even dream of….. Sanders? He has a snowflake chance in hell!

    So, all behind Warren… and this time no undermining, no staying at home because Sanders is not the candidate… All Americans go and vote, because if Trump is returned…. there is no god that can save them….

  4. John O'Callaghan

    Sanders is the real deal and would make a fantastic President, i like Warren but after promising not to accept corporate money for her campaign she has done exactly that.
    Bernie has never accepted corporate money so no one owns him unlike Warren,and Sanders is for a single payer medicare for all system and Warren has sold out to the corrupt big pharma industry!

  5. Phil

    ‘ Will some characters ever understand that nowhere…. ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE, in the Capitalist world there is any interest whatever for Socialism, real Socialism? Do those guys even know what Socialism is?…. The only hope for Progressive politics and a turn around for the World away from the current bankrupt Neoliberalism is Social Democracy.’

    Bwahahahahahahabhabaha. How true. Yep I don’t know any capitalists that want socialism. However I do know heaps of workers that are exploited by capitalism, that wouldn’t mind giving socialism a whirl.

    The ignorant critics of Hillary Bwahahahahahah Is this the same Hillary who is the other half of the Clinton crime family? The same Hillary who was responsible for the destruction of Libya? What did she say about Gaddafi ? ‘ We came we saw he died snigger, snigger laugh.. ‘ The same Clinton who sent top secret emails through a private server? The same Clinton that fiddled the Democratic nomination for President.

    The rest is just hyperbole.

    Democrats-Republicans are just different cheeks of the same arse.

  6. Matters Not

    Warren is the stand-out for me. As for the corporate dollars, it’s somewhat complicated:

    Elizabeth Warren relied on a multimillion-dollar Democratic donor to cover the cost of an expensive voter database — a move that risks putting her campaign at odds with the spirit, if not the letter, of the pledge she made to abstain from “big money” fundraising. …

    Warren officials said she did not violate that pledge when her campaign turned to one of California’s top Democratic donors, a wealthy Silicon Valley physician named Karla Jurvetson, to help pay for access to a crucial voter database earlier this spring. …

    The official said Warren has remained consistent with the standard she set earlier this year in her pledge: not trading access for money.

    https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rubycramer/elizabeth-warren-fundraising-dnc

    With her many ‘plans’, Warren (aged 70) has certainly done her homework. Biden’s time has passed – now handicapped by his long-term voting record. Harris also has the capacity but her ‘color’ is probably against her. Sanders is also yesterday’s candidate. Mark Steyn – now in the race with plenty of his own money (not accepting other corporate coin) and has massive data bases.

    But a long way to go in the race to see who’s the best chance to beat Trump. Which sounds stupid because the polls show almost all can IF they can get the punters out to vote.

  7. Brad Black

    ‘Democrats/Republicans are just different cheeks on the same arse’

    Well put Phil! Although the right cheek does have a rather nasty, pustulent boil, not quite ready for lancing.

  8. Phil

    Warren has said the economy may crash.

  9. Andrew Smith

    Warren would be a good choice, if she is able to maintain broad support from Democrats and undecided.

    Sanders probably appeals to constituents for whom voting is less likely, than those in the above median age demographic, like elsewhere in the western world, the latter demographic has ageing constituents. Further, it has been highlighted that Sander’s Jewish heritage would no doubt be used incessantly to attack and attempt to discredit him, resonating with conspiracy theories and/or dog whistles that too many Americans indulge in.

    According to some, although we see younger and/or working age people in media imagery, it’s the oldies and retirees who may well be deciding, hence Biden could have legs still….. with a Warren VP?

  10. Florence Howarth

    Are you saying the people Bernie appeals to are the same as those who follow Trump?

  11. wam

    What a lovely read and a good chuckle at:
    The electorate does not like being told who to vote for based on gender, or race, or sexual orientation. They care about policy!
    Trump’s perfect policy of ‘making America great, again!’ has been an abysmal failure outside of America but to the unseeing population inside the cocoon, he deserves a second term.

    Neither an ancient socialist nor a woman will deflect the trump’s caravan.

  12. Stephen

    A great article about inherent media bias in support of the establishment candidate Elizabeth Warren. As usual the rusted on supporters were quick to defend her even when she wasn’t being attacked…Albo!
    The majority of
    comments seem particularly bland so I guess most of us are just so fatigued by the corporate hijacking of our “free press” (😂) that we no longer have the energy to comment again and again and again and…
    The presumption that Sanders is somehow getting in the way of the legitimate candidate does have definite overtones of the previous Hillary debacle. Of course the rich and powerful Democrat elite would rather loose another election than take the chance a truly progressive candidate getting in power!

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