The appointment of Elizabeth Warren is the best day for Democrats in a very
long time. She seems to be that Harvard professor who actually belongs there
and not on the golf course at Martha’s Vineyard with the leisure class and the
entitled. She seems in essence to be that which was once the essence of Harvard.
She seems to be the embodiment of New England as it once was. Like James’s
Isabel Archer, she is smart, competent, determined and makes her own way. She
talks straight and honest and says the same things at a Daily Kos convention as
she says on Cavuto. Everyone should be proud of her and thrilled that we have
her. But everyone is afraid of her.
Wall Street is and the Republicans are, but the Democrats seem to be as well.
She has already sent so many to the fainting couch. Not since Sarah Palin has
there been such a disturbance in the Force. But Elizabeth Warren is the defense,
and possibly the only defense, against Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and the
prairie fire that is rising in the West. Irony will no longer work, nor will
the late-night tittering of Tina Fey and David Letterman. Or the weakling
parody of Colbert and Stewart. It is decadent and debilitating. With Elizabeth
Warren, the Democrats finally enter the room. And potentially — who knew? — awaken
a new paradigm of excellence.
It has been a long wait. Several years ago, Mark Warner, former governor of
Virginia and senator today, and Jim Webb, the senator from Virginia, started a
new season for the Democrats. It was first identified when Markos Moulitsas, commentator
for The Hill and founder of the original political blog The Daily Kos,
identified a generational division within the Democrats in an op-ed for The
Washington Post.
These divisions need to happen, and the Democrats had a head start. But in that
same period Markos had a post on Daily Kos asking, “Won’t these
Clinton-era Democrats ever go away?” Even before the Senate races in 2008,
Clinton loyalists were raising money for Hillary. And the Clinton baggage
remains a burden.
Elizabeth Warren can and should turn the tide. The Democrats can rebuild their
stock with her. I am delighted President Obama has appointed her to oversee the
establishment of a new consumer financial protection office. But he has another
job opening ahead: chief of staff. For someone who has taken every wrong
direction in making appointments (Joe Biden?), the president might ask himself,
What Would Bill Belichick do? Appoint the most able person to replace Randy
Moss, or my cousin Darryl from Chicago? Warren brings a new ethic to the
Democrats. They must demand nothing less.
The stables are starting to clean out. Time to start again. Warren and as far
as I can see, only Warren, gives the Dems a fighting chance.
Visit Mr. Quigley’s website at http://quigleyblog.blogspot.com.