The Presidential Hopefuls – An Occasional Series – Elizabeth Warren in Aurora, Colorado

Elizabeth Warren at The Hanger, Aurora, Colorado. April 16, 2019

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Note – this is the first of a number of entries on the presidential hopefuls. Attending their Denver appearances – does not entail endorsements. 

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Elizabeth Warren, many sound domestic policy ideas, but avoids foreign policy issues and the country’s cancerous military budget…

Elizabeth Warren came to the Denver area to boost her campaign to win the Democratic Party nomination for the presidency in 2020. Speaking at The Hanger at the Stanley Market Place in Aurora on April 16th, she enthused a large crowd . (1)

So…We – Molly, Nancy and I – went to hear her speak.

There are only two Dem candidates for Prez that interest me in the least – Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren…For those interested I am far, far more supportive of Sanders than Warren…but that said, Warren herself is head and shoulders above the rest of the pack – She has a program, it is – on domestic issues – progressive, to the left of the Democratic Leadership Council which has pushed – or is it shoved – the Democratic Party rightward…and their symbolic if not real leaders, Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Our invitation to attend came from ColoradoWINS, the state-employee union that Nancy belonged to before retiring last month. Nancy was invited, I just went along for the ride, Molly knew about the talk from social media. The evening included a photo-op with Warren. I was more interested in who would turn up and what Warren had to say  although I was interested in that too.  As for who turned up…the turn out was impressive. I admit not knowing how to estimate numbers but my unscientific survey suggests as many as 5000. They were overwhelming white – I would say – middle class – ie, some professionals, government employees, some workers in the better paying trades. The unions represented were the teachers – CEA officials, a few members, ColoradoWINS organizers and some rank and file.

The audience was angry and fearful…I have the sense that most of them will be involved in one way or another, trying to defeat Trump. Warren is a good, relaxed extemporaneous speaker. She connected with the audience. Hers was a progressive message – on climate change, on the rape of the environment and the giving away of the national parks, on student loans..and on the growing inequality between the rich and poor.

Unfortunately, at least for the part of her remarks that we stayed for, there was little about countering the racism rampant today, nor anything I heard about immigration, the ICE Nazis, etc. Not a word about agricultural policy in a part of the country where it is strategic. Nor were there any comments about the debacle that is U.S. Middle East policy, the cancerous military budget or the nuclear build up, ie, foreign policy was not mentioned. But perhaps she dealt with that after we left, which raises the question of how she might extend her base to people of color, immigrants – that part of her potential base, without which she, nor the Democrats, cannot win.

Unfortunately, at least for the part of her remarks that we stayed for, there was little about countering the racism rampant today, nor anything I heard about immigration, the ICE Nazis, etc. Not a word about agricultural policy in a part of the country where it is strategic. Nor were there any comments about the debacle that is U.S. Middle East policy, the cancerous military budget or the nuclear build up, ie, foreign policy was not mentioned. But perhaps she dealt with that after we left, which raises the question of how she might extend her base to people of color, immigrants – that part of her potential base, without which she, nor the Democrats, cannot win.

Still, not to be too harsh (yet)…she was a breath of fresh air overall compared to the shit

Nancy Fey, giving Elizabeth Warren a piece of her mind (as only Nancy Fey can do)…

that now is in power in Washington. Many of her ideas do resonate with middle class, working class and poor constituents. To give her the credit she deserves, rare among Democratic hopeful, Warren’s campaign has put together an actual program, a series of detailed proposals that could very well form the heart of the 2020 Democratic Party platform – at least on domestic issues. As Moira Donagan noted in an op-ed in the April 12, 2019 edition of The Guardian:

Although details were lacking, she also stated that she is committed to addressing climate change. Besides sharing her Oklahoma youth, her campaign speeches focus on anti-trust policies of breaking up huge tech companies such as Amazon and Google, implementing and strengthening the Glass-Steagall Act separating commercial and investment banking, prosecuting and jailing bank executives who break the law. She is a strong advocate of funding federal childcare programs, boosting early childhood education as well as addressing the housing crisis facing working families and the poor nationally. It is in the area of housing that she does address patterns of racism, calling for an end of redlining and easier credit for non-white families to get home loans.

She has also proposed a federal plan that would cancel student debt for 75% of Americans and make undergraduate tuition free in all public colleges.  Most Democratic presidential candidates support at least some form of “debt-free” college, which can mean free tuition — or simply cutting costs. Only Warren has proposed canceling a significant amount of student loans, both public and private.

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1. Estimating crowd size is not easy. I have repeatedly found that when it comes to liberal-left events that the mainstream media low-balls the numbers. Several sources said about 1500 people were in attendance at Elizabeth Warren’s April 16 talk/rally. I’ll stick with my figure of 5000, which I think much closer to the actual number.