Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren addresses a packed crowd in Chem 140 at a Udall campaign event in October. (Nigel Amstock/CU Independent)
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Hillary Clinton, to the astonishment of absolutely no one, announced her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination of 2016. She is widely acknowledged as the favorite of the Democratic Party, and most people I’ve spoken to believe that she has no competition within the ranks for the nomination.
However, the subject of a possible Clinton/Elizabeth Warren ticket came up when discussing politics with one of my friends at UC Berkeley. The idea peaked my curiosity about Warren, the Massachusetts senator and I decided to delve into this possibility, since it has not yet been discussed in the media.
There has been a sizable outcry for Warren to run, yet time after time, she has stated in interviews that she has no interest in the presidency. During an interview with Senator Warren last week, Bill Maher even offered her a $1 million donation to her campaign if she decided to run — an offer that he stated he would not give Hillary Clinton. She politely declined yet again.
The outcry for Warren to run despite her fervent refusals must really speak to her character, right? I decided to consult the website “Run Warren Run,” to see just how badly Dems want to see her in office.
The “Run Warren Run” Facebook page already has more than 75,000 likes, and the website itself answers the question as to why we should petition for her to run. It claims that she is a champion for working families and “has spent her career taking on corporate interests and winning historic financial protections for workers and small businesses.” Every interview she’s been in supports this “working class hero” persona.
Warren has struggled her way out of hard times. She worked through law school while raising two children and all three of her brothers served in the military. She understands the struggle and that working class Americans should be treated at least as fairly as the corporations that exploit them. After the financial crisis in 2008, she served as chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, earning her praise from both Democrats and Republicans. TIME magazine dubbed her one of the “New Sheriffs of Wall Street”.
Last year Warren flashed her proverbial badge when she criticized Citigroup’s influence in Washington, D.C. Citigroup, the leading global bank, received heavy criticism from Warren for inserting a provision that would scale back the regulations introduced by the Dodd-Frank bill. The bill consists of several federal regulations that were designed to protect investors from a reoccurrence of the 2008 financial crisis.
Warren vowed to loosen Citigroup’s grip on Washington, stating, “Think about this kind of power. A financial institution has become so big and so powerful that it can hold the entire country hostage. That alone is a reason enough for us break them up. Enough is enough … enough is enough with Citigroup passing 11th-hour deregulatory provisions that nobody takes ownership over but that everybody comes to regret. Enough is enough.”
Senator Warren is the anti-Wall Street hero America needs. The fact that she didn’t want to waste time campaigning when she was elected as senator only makes her more appealing. In an era where money is considered free speech, where billionaires can give unrestricted amounts of money to the candidate of their choosing and where politicians are bought and serve the interests of their respective purchasers, it is all the more crucial that we elect a true champion of democracy. With Warren’s moral standing and dedication to the people, the juice that the Clinton family brings to the table and the rising awareness and resentment of corporate exploitation of our population, we can really make a difference in 2016. This may only be a pipe dream for now, but let’s see how the next 18 months play out. Clinton/Warren 2016 for the people.
“Today the game is rigged — rigged to work for those who have money and power. Big corporations hire armies of lobbyists to get billion-dollar loopholes into the tax system and persuade their friends in Congress to support laws that keep the playing field titled in their favor. Meanwhile, hardworking families are told that they’ll just have to live with smaller dreams for their children.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Drew Chowbay at andrew.chowbay@colorado.edu.
