(Cross posted, modified for the wider dkos audience. Awesome event, glad I went!)
I just returned a little while ago from a roundtable event with Elizabeth Warren here in downtown Lowell at Mambo Grill, focused on women-owned small businesses, where I got to both be at the table, and also tweet my little heart out. In the unlikely event you happened to catch my Twitter stream this afternoon, you would have been treated to quotes and photos from the event.
The local visit is part of the rolling out of the latest Warren endorsement - not only was Elizabeth joined by first-MA-Congressperson-to-endorse Rep. Niki Tsongas, but also by Sheila Bair, former chair of the FDIC, a Republican who has never endorsed or campaigned for a Democrat but has decided to wade into this race. A G.W. Bush appointee, Bair worked with Warren on issues of stopping foreclosures and helping consumers during the financial meltdown, then also when Warren had oversight of the TARP program and during the formation of the CFPB.
In the toss-around that is the rather tired old "bipartisan endorsement" game in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts these days, why should you care about Sheila Bair's? Because unlike other "cross-over" endorsements, this one has gravitas. It might not be a recognizable name to you, but in terms of really knowing Warren and her work, in places where it matters to average people, you can't beat this former Chair of the FDIC.
It was great to hear Bair in person, and her reasons for endorsing Warren that go beyond party lines. For her, it's about Warren's real, tangible work on behalf of consumers, the middle class, homeowners, and squaring the financial system so that it's fair for all. She said, specifically, that Warren is not anti-bank or anti-business, but rather is for an equal playing field for citizens and businesses alike.
Oh hell, I was on fire on my smartphone, I'm just going to include my own tweets here:
[Apologies for typo in Bair's name in above tweet, smartphone thought it was smarter than me.]
When a reporter asked the obligatory question about bipartisaniness, Bair responded with concrete examples of why Elizabeth Warren was the one who would do the real work:
Two things of gleeful personal note: the silly press people had to ask Warren about the asbestos lawsuit thing, again, which I imagine has to be tiresome beyond belief, but in her response, Warren cited the asbestos union, the many victims, and the victims' lawyers who've expressed dismay over Brown's lies about the case. Glad to have helped with that.
Second, I got to ask a roundtable question, and I was debating talking about DBE issues (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, a designation for federal DOT work as a women- or minority-owned business, for which my business was certified for several years) but...I decided to air out a long-standing frustration I have with a simple and obvious way that Dems can combat the "deregulate and untax businesses and they'll grow!" idiocy from Republicans. I mentioned my own personal experience - that it's the DEMAND from customers, not taxes, which are the arbiters of whether or not I expand as a business. If I have more work than I can handle, I hire. If it dries up, I shrink. Taxes and regulation have very little to do with it. If I can make money by expanding, of course I will!
This has been annoying the hell out of me - it's such a simple, easily understood concept Dems could use to whack their Ayn Randian Republican opponents over the head with in debates and on the stump. Warren was all over my idea - citing the jobs bills that Brown voted against and helped to kill, which would have increased spending money in the hands of the employed, indirectly helping even my B-to-B business, never mind the construction and infrastructure jobs bill which, with my web/graphics firm certified as a WBE/DBE at the time, might have helped me land some really big contracts. Which would have forced me to hire, in all likelihood.
Anyway, I was grateful to finally get that little gem out in a meaningful way. I hope it is useful to her and she uses it! Now I just need to find a roundtable with Obama that I can crash...
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My persistent and tenacious local regional Warren campaign coordinator nailed me down for yet another canvass this weekend, which is being kicked off by Rep. Niki Tsongas and from all accounts, will be ginormous (even by this campaign's very big standards). We're nearing GOTV week now, and so every voter ID'ed is crucial. As always, if you want to donate to Elizabeth Warren, please do so now! Link on her site or else, I have an ActBlue page...