Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts will now have a seat at the Democratic leadership table, which should make for some interesting lunch conversations. Ms. Warren cares passionately about economic policy, but she will be joining a group that’s far more passionate about politics and strategy and legislative maneuvering.
It would seem that, after last week’s electoral debacle, Senator Harry Reid and the other leaders have finally realized that pure strategy has its limits. For years, Mr. Reid has tried to duck many big policy debates by not allowing budgets to be passed (this year was an exception), and by limiting the number of amendments that could receive votes. The idea was to protect vulnerable Democrats from having to take votes that could be used against them in Koch Brothers attack ads.
That didn’t work too well; Republicans savaged them in ads anyway, and won big. And during the campaign, Democratic candidates followed a similarly feckless strategy, hiding from policies they once supported, denying the existence of President Obama, and failing to advocate a positive agenda that might have drawn more of their voters to the polls.
So now a deliberately bland leadership team has invited a walking billboard for strong economic policy into its midst. And you can tell how awkward this is from the cumbersome title they created for her: “Strategic Policy Adviser to the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.”
If this were a law firm, you’d have to read that title as “of counsel” rather than an actual partner. And senators and their aides are telling reporters that she will act as a “liaison to liberal groups,” which sounds a bit like an ambassador to a distant country. Tell us, senator, what your liberal friends will say if we do this or that.
A mere liaison is not what the Democrats need right now. The right wing is already talking about entitlement cutbacks, givebacks in corporate taxes, and undoing financial regulations. If Ms. Warren is allowed to become the voice of Democratic opposition to the worst Republican policies, she may just help lead the party out of the wilderness.