John Locher/AP Photo
Warren and Biden on a big screen during the Democratic presidential primary debate in Las Vegas in February
On Friday morning, we published my piece on Joe Biden’s surprisingly good Made in America plan. I could not help noticing that it looked a lot like Elizabeth Warren’s Economic Patriotism plan of a year ago. And though I had no official confirmation, I wrote that Warren must have had something to do with Biden’s plan.
On Friday afternoon, both Biden and Warren confirmed her involvement. Biden wrote a letter to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a PAC close to Warren, crediting her role. And then Warren, in a CNN interview later on Friday, complimented Biden and his economic team, and acknowledged her own involvement.
Well, well. There are lots of ways to interpret this. One is that Biden is taking full advantage of Warren to send signals to reassure the grassroots left. Another is that Warren is truly playing a major substantive role.
Either way, one must conclude that despite the drumbeat that Biden has to name a Black running mate, Warren is still very much in it. In a recent piece for Slate, Julia Craven, who is African American, wrote that Warren is the best candidate for VP to advance a racial-justice agenda. Jamelle Bouie has made similar arguments in the Times.
In the media handicapping of the veepstakes, there seems to be a new favorite hyped every few days. The latest is Tammy Duckworth. But if you read below the headline, there is no real information, only promotion by the contender’s handlers.
Only Biden, of course, knows who he will pick; and he doesn’t know yet. But through it all, the Energizer Bunny continues to be Elizabeth Warren.
