The mighty Warren at bat

As a son of Massachusetts in exile, I watched with horror and amazement at the chain of events that in two years began with the shooting star of Scott P. Brown and ended with the election of Elizabeth Warren, a woman who always sounds like she is lecturing me about something.

The Bay State’s senior senator pulled off the ultimate liberal maneuver: accumulating great wealth by remarrying well and representing corporate interests against the disadvantaged—then, successfully presenting herself as both a feminist and exemplar of the everyday American. Perhaps the only thing keeping her out of the Liberal Hall of Fame is the speed bump over her claim to have been a Cherokee Indian. Her fib was characteristic of the 1980s steroid-era of liberal guilt, when progressives went out of their way to reconcile their persecution envy. We are all glad that is no longer necessary. Still the taint of the faux-Cherokee claims could soon all be forgotten, as Warren prepares to rob Hillary R. Clinton of White House. I am old enough to remember when Clinton was a lock for the presidency in 2008. Her campaign was stocked up so many high-priced consultant, statesmen Democrats and celebrities, it did not seem a campaign as much as an impatient administration in-waiting.

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No one saw Barack Obama coming, least of all Clinton, who woke up one morning to realize that not only had Obama out-flanked her in the caucuses, but he swiped her husband’s “Hope” franchise. Imagine what that was like, the wife of the Man from Hope, Ark., having to listen to “Hope, hope and hope” from some guy she vaguely remembered from the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Obama having secured the support of the Chicago machine, not only took her husband’s hometown, but also hers. Thus it came to pass that Clinton would serve loyally in the Obama administration as secretary of state—and when the chips were down in 2012, the big dog William J. Clinton carried Obama over the finish line to reelection. It follows that Obama owes Clinton double. Once for his 2008 larceny and twice for the vital support given him in 2012 by Clinton Industries. Too easy, right? Not quite. There is the matter of the sinking of S.S. ObamaCare to consider. As Obama rallied the crew to man the pumps, he looked over his shoulder to see the Clintons swiftly rowing for shore. This could be a small thing. Or, it could be a deal-breaker. If it is a deal-breaker, it will play out in two major ways. The first way is that White House staff will be free to ramp up the Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign for president. Whatever people outside the Beltway think, there is great affection for Biden in Washington, especially on Capitol Hill. There is also an appreciation among administration staff that the best way to keep their jobs and exploit influence after they leave their jobs is for a Biden White House to take the baton from the Obama White House. Biden wants to run and run hard, but Obama is reining him in because of his treaty obligations with the House of Clinton. With Biden and a sprinkling of governors in the race with Clinton, all of the tussle will be within the Democratic establishment, which means if the progressives unite behind one candidate, it could run the table. (Enter Warren from stage left.) Beginning in 1960, four Bay Staters have been nominated for president, John F. Kennedy, 1960; Michael S. Dukakis, 1988; John F. Kerry, 2004 and W. Mitt Romney, 2012, and so far we are batting .250. It may seem far-fetched, but every time I get an email from Warren asking for money for her 2018 reelection, I cannot help but think she is spending some extra time in the batting cage.