The "Indian" issue is a huge distraction from Elizabeth Warren's message. The right-wing media are using it as a dogwhistle, allowing their fans to read it either as "she's not really white" (appealing to the basest instincts of the base), "she's an affirmative action kid after all" (which is ridiculous), or "she's a liar". It is how they parry the real issues about Scott Brown's support for the 0.1% and Warren's support for the 99%.
Warren's campaign team seems to be taking a cue from that crack team who worked for her predecessor as Democratic nominee against Brown, Martha Coakley. They are not on message.
This all could be avoided if Warren confronted the issue dead-on. Below the orange squiggle, I'll suggest a speech that she should give that would answer the questions.
My friends,
I grew up in Oklahoma, a state that used to be called the Indian Territory, at a time when prejudice was widely accepted. It had a large Indian population, but it was a very segregated place. I wasn't the kind of little girl who liked tea parties; I liked to go outside and play with the boys. And in those days, one of the games that kids played was cowboys and Indians. The idea was that cowboys were good and Indians were bad. We liked to watch westerns on TV; they usually portrayed Indians as the enemy too.
One day, my mother overheard me repeating a saying that I heard from the other kids, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian". My mother was very upset. She told me that Indians were people too, and we shouldn't think of them that way. She then told me that her grandmother was one-quarter Indian. So I was a little bit Indian too. This immediately made me think about it differently. If I'm part Indian, I couldn't hate Indians. And then I realized that I had no reason to hate anyone else for that matter. People should all be judged as individuals.
I don't know for sure if my mother was telling me the truth about her grandmother. I always assumed it was true, but even if it wasn't, it might as well have been. Because my parents were not rich in money and couldn't give me a lot of material goods, but they were rich in values. My mother gave me a very important gift that day. And I'm proud of her, and of her grandmother, and of my father, and of everyone else who shares these important American values of tolerance. No one should be judged by who their ancestors were. And everyone should have an opportunity to succeed on their own merits. That's what I stand for, and that's what I'll fight for when I'm elected.
Thank you.
Something like that might make lemonade out of the situation. And it's not too late.