Liberal’s obsession with the presidency is one of their biggest problems these days.
So it’s official, the grassroots campaign to draft Elizabeth Warren formally titled “Run Warren Run” has dissolved.
As a liberal I personally think Elizabeth Warren is a great senator and am glad to see more liberals getting involved in the nitty gritty of doing real politics with things like Run Warren Run instead of just whining on Twitter. But at the same time groups like Run Warren Run are a big part of what’s wrong with liberalism these days.
Simply put groups like Run Warren Run focus way too much on what individual in particular sits in the White House while ignoring all the other more important questions about American politics.
Yes the person in the Oval Office is the most important single individual in American politics, but the presidency as an institution isn’t that powerful. And just as importantly in the age of the partisan presidency the beliefs of a president’s party are much more important than the beliefs or personalities of any one particular individual. In other words if the Republicans take back the White House in 2016 their new president will try to cut taxes on the rich, because low taxes on the rich is one of the guiding principles of today’s GOP. Likewise there wouldn’t be much difference between a hypothetical Hillary or Warren presidency, because the party is what tends to drive the agenda these days, not the thoughts of the individual in the White House.
In other words if liberal activists want to make the Democrats more liberal they should focus on making the Democratic Party as a whole more liberal, rather than just trying to nominate the perfect candidate every four years.
Similarly liberals’ obsession with putting “the right person” based on personality traits or background in the White House sets them up for disappointment every time. Barack Obama is a centrist Democrat, and he’s always been one. The fact that intelligent people like Ta-Nehisi Coates are upset with him for acting like that tell us more about liberals unrealistic expectations than the failings of Barack Obama.
Of course liberals should still try to elect a good president every four years, but they should stop ignoring who controls Congress and state legislatures.
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