She seems to be emerging as the candidate of the liberal smart set. But to win, she’d need a majority.
The good news for Elizabeth Warren, judging from the latest polls, is that she’s closed the gap with Bernie Sanders and gained ground on Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential race. The bad news is that she could become 2020’s Adlai Stevenson.
Stevenson was the Illinois governor and future diplomat who became the Democratic nominee for president in 1952 and 1956, only to lose both elections to Dwight Eisenhower. The story goes that a supporter once approached him at a campaign rally and gushed, “Governor, every thinking person would be voting for you.”
Stevenson replied, “Madam, that is not enough. I need a majority.”
Ms. Warren, the Harvard law professor turned U.S. senator, is shaping up to be the liberal smart set’s candidate, at least in the early going. Not long ago, Democrats were fussing over the wisdom of even nominating another woman to face Donald Trump given Hillary Clinton’s defeat in 2016. Neera Tanden, a left-wing activist and former Clinton policy adviser, told the New York Times in January that there was “real tension” among Democrats who believe that sexism cost Mrs. Clinton the election. “On one hand, women are leading the resistance and deserve representation. But on the other side, there’s a fear that if misogyny beat Clinton, it can beat other women.”
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Jason L. Riley is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, and a Fox News commentator. Follow him on Twitter here.
This piece originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal