Chris Carlson/AP Photo
Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden at a Democratic primary debate in Los Angeles last December
The most important counterweight to the centrists around Joe Biden is Elizabeth Warren. She is savvier about the deep dynamics and deficiencies of American capitalism than any other politician.
Warren is shortlisted for Biden’s running mate, and the two get along well personally. Her presence on the ticket would go a long way toward reassuring the Democratic Party’s progressive base that Biden will run a New Deal–style administration. With Warren as running mate and a second Trump term as the practical alternative to Biden, you’d have to be part of the self-immolating far left to vote for a protest candidate.
That said, there are obstacles. The Wall Street advisers around Biden don’t want her, and Biden himself may have noticed her independence. There is also pressure to name not just a woman but an African American woman.
On that score, New York Times columnist (and former Prospect staff writer) Jamelle Bouie, in a must-read piece earlier this week, flatly declares that Warren would be the best choice. Here’s part of what Bouie wrote:
Warren has never served in executive office. But she has a powerful grasp on the power of the bureaucracy, of the influence of federal agencies and the reach of their authority, of what you can do by organizing and wielding that power effectively. If empowered (much as Biden was under President Barack Obama) a Vice President Warren would be an invaluable asset in directing and implementing a New Deal-style program.
As a prominent African American commentator, Bouie is looking beyond race and urging us to do the same. (There is also a VP boomlet for Michelle Obama, who has disclaimed interest. If she changes her mind, she becomes an instant front-runner.)
Warren has also been mentioned as a possible Treasury Secretary or some other Cabinet post. I suspect that Warren knows better. The VP job is the one who can’t be fired.
Who Biden selects will send the most important signal to date of what kind of campaign he’ll run and what kind of president he’d be.
