I dreaded the seemingly empty kerfluffle in the media between Bernie and warren today. It was a distraction from issues voters say they care about. Potentially divisive. Not enough was done to tamp it down. Etc...
But I have to say, as it all played out, I am impressed by the chutzpah of the warren campaign and what they tried to accomplish here. As I watched it, it seems to have worked — or could still blow up in her face somehow— but win or lose I respect the gamble.
Underlying this race has been this sense that the electorate is so scared of trump that they are clinging to the tried and true champions, Bernie and Biden in their respective spheres. Both aging and not at their peaks but they feel safe and familiar to many.
The warren campaign allowed a media storm to brew and then hit a series of segments out of the park about women’s electability, and her electability in particular. She sought, as she has in other debates, to unlock the spark of hope and courage in voters to try something unknown and new. It was a bold gamble, an example of skillful theatre to build drama, and high stakes media management.
As for the “how he/she remembers it” issue between her and Bernie, it was and remains an absolute nothingburger. There’s optics around sexism but no actual accusation of anything more banal than punditry. It’s risky and I understand Bernie supporters may find the whole leaking process underhanded and it may backfire for warren in the primary.
But, fundamentally, one of these candidates will win and the other will lose, and a month later they will share a beer and the loser will admire the political chops of the winner and get on with beating trump in solidarity. This was never a serious accusation of anything nefarious, it was political theatre and a play for dominance and voters respect. It was a power play that men do often but women would rarely dare in politics due to the risk of blowback.
If warren wins, I look forward to having a street fighter ready to take on trump. If she loses the primary, I don’t mind that her campaign took a coordinated gamble. Because, as theatre, they tried to go to the heart of differentiating a female candidate as a “nice to have but too risky”. She showed guts, has a theory for how she might break through and win, and I will be content with whatever that brings.