This article is one of several profiles of women running for the democratic presidential nomination.
Throughout her career, Elizabeth Warren blended a life of experiences that many of us can relate to with the benefits of an education most people can only dream about. That is what makes her the people’s wonk.
As 23 people vie to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, standing out in a sea of excellence is a challenge.  To be honest, the only thing the mainstream media frowns upon more than women running for the presidency is women who are wonky. Warren is both of those things. The minimal coverage given to her campaign and that of other women seeking the 2020 nomination is reflective of the misogyny we saw in 2016.
This isn’t merely a perception. A study by researchers at the Northeastern University School of Journalism looked at articles from the five most read on-line news outlets and concluded they were tougher on the women who are running,
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The study reveals a trend that is disturbingly similar to the one that occurred in 2016. Unlike 2016, the outlets in question can’t claim this is about one woman candidate’s alleged shortcomings.
Any woman who runs for the presidency knowing the obstacles is a profile in courage. She is contributing to breaking down those barriers a second time, especially after Donald Trump. But let’s get back to Elizabeth Warren as the wonkiest of the candidates.
From the outset, Senator Warren focused on policy. She focused on policies designed to address the disastrous economic disparity that came with years of Republicans depressing wages and subsidizing their wealthy donors.
Warren understands economics and economic disparity in our economy unlike anyone else. She has a solid background in economics but her knowledge extends beyond the things you learn in books. Warren experienced it in life.
After her father’s premature death, Elizabeth’s mother had to find a way to support her children – without the skills or background to get a well-paying job. She worked for minimum wage and while that life wasn’t easy, she could support her children on minimum wage. Today, it’s impossible for a minimum wage job to provide the necessities of life for one person – let alone a family.
Elizabeth Warren married young. After divorce, Warren lived and worked as a single mother. Like the other women seeking the Democratic nomination, Warren is well educated and well accomplished. She could have stayed in academia teaching law at Harvard. Instead, she answered the call to public service.
By her policies today, you would never know that Senator Warren started out as a Republican. It was through her studies that she saw how flawed the Republican party’s philosophy on economics was. She had the integrity to change parties.
Warren is gifted in her ability to include people in economics and explaining economics in a way that captures the interest and attention of people like me. But kid you not, she has the ability to crunch and dissect the numbers like the field’s other brilliant minds.
Warren has many excellent ideas which you can review in further detail on her website.
She has detailed plan to break up social media monopolies, Warren rolled out a plan on affordable childcare – for those of us who can’t afford to hire a staff of nannies.
Earlier in her life, Warren was a school teacher. It comes as little surprise that she has a vision about education and thoughts about the sort of person who should be secretary of education. Unlike Betsy Devos, it would be someone who actually been in a public school, taught and therefore has insight into the issues that students and teachers face.
No, pundits, this is not socialism. Warren is a capitalist who recognizes the necessity and wisdom of regulation in order to keep things sane. As she once said,
“I believe in markets and the benefits they can produce when they work. Markets with rules can produce enormous value. So much of the work I have done—the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, my hearing-aid bill—are about making markets work for people, not making markets work for a handful of companies that scrape all the value off to themselves. I believe in competition.â€
Most of Warren’s attention is on issues related to the economy through various stages in life.
The very idea of making childcare universally accessible means opportunity for children whose circumstances today present an obstacle. It means that working mothers will have the opportunity to thrive and better provide for their families – that’s especially important for single parents most of whom are women.
Making college more accessible means young people have a chance at thriving based on THEIR abilities rather than being held back by their parents’ financial circumstances.
Corporate accountability doesn’t preclude competition, It enhances it.
Warren has bold ideas and bases them on knowledge instead of recommendations by her favorite pundit. She deserves better than an evaluation of her hair or her genetic profile. But privilege doesn’t like competition, whether it’s in the economy or the bastions of power.
Former contributor.
