I said that I found her to be an
implausible nominee because of her background as an academic at an elite
eastern university (Harvard) and her total lack of experience in foreign policy
and in matters of national security.
I added, “She’s all but sworn
an oath not to run. She has repeatedly
denied any interest in running next year.
How’s she going to get past those denials?”
My friend, per usual, was not
impressed by my stab at punditry.
“What’s national security
experience got to do with it?” he asked. “Obama had none and he got elected
easily against a guy who was a war hero.
That will not disqualify Warren.
As for her repeatedly denying she will run, there’s a long
history of people saying they wouldn’t be a candidate and then became
candidates when circumstances supposedly changed or their thinking 'evolved.' There are lots ways she could explain her change of heart. She explains it once, with conviction, and moves
on quicker than Belichick to Cincinnati.”
He added, “Warren’s candidacy
against Hillary would get a tremendous boost from all the Dems on the left who
are disenchanted with her and see her and Bill as extensions of Wall
Street. Warren’s base in the party is
highly motivated. They’re begging her to
run. If she gives even a hint she’s
thinking of doing it, they’ll go wild.
Warren could catch a tremendous wave.
She could lock up the nomination fairly early, giving her lots of time
to raise money for the final.”
I am so suggestible that only my
wife hiding the credit cards prevents me from buying every device sold for
$19.95 on an infomercial. I was now captured by my friend’s
logic.
I visualized the women Scott
Brown loved to address as “Professor” raising her right hand on Jan. 20, 2017, at
the Capitol, our first “Madame President.”
“OK,” I said. “Tell me more.”
He said, “In politics, as in life,
it’s all about timing. You have a moment
and you have to grab it. Obama is the
best example in recent times. Less than
two years in the Senate, almost a complete unknown when he started -- a blank
slate really -- and he becomes this unstoppable candidate. It was his time, his moment in history. The stars were all lined up for Obama. He obviously knew his chance might never come
again, so he went for it. Chris Christie is the worst example recently, but you
have to think about Mario Cuomo, too.
Christie had his moment back in 2011 when all the attention was on
him. There was this buzz about him. He should have run because, you know what, I
think he could have beat Romney for the nomination. And I think he could have run a better
campaign than Romney did in the final.
He would have been better at punching Obama in the nose. He would have connected better with people
than Mr. Aloof, Obama. Now the
excitement about Christie has faded. People aren’t really interested in him
anymore. His moment has passed. I’m sure
he’s kicking himself.”
I asked, “So what would you say to
Elizabeth Warren if you bumped into her tomorrow at Logan?”
He said, “This is your moment. Better go for it.”
In 10th grade English,
I had a nun, a Sister of St. Joseph, who loved Shakespeare. She had us memorize patches of dialogue from
his most famous plays. I still remember
the following from “Julius Caesar,” so I recited it to my friend, trying to
sound intelligent and hoping to recover a bit from his demolition of my
Warren-is-implausible argument.
“There is a tide in the affairs of
men, which taken at the flood, leads onto victory. Omitted, all the voyages of their life are
bound in shallows and miseries.”
My friend said, “Shallows and
miseries, yeah. Mario Cuomo no doubt became an expert on that. ”
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