The truest statement of the first half of the Democratic debate Wednesday night came when Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts defended Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota for not knowing the name of the president of Mexico.
Warren was correct that what matters is not the ability to repeat back a particular name or factoid on the spur of the moment, but whether someone has a broader knowledge base and experience with regard to public policy and the ability to use it.
In making those points, Warren also made herself, perhaps for the first time in this entire campaign, appear to be a personally empathetic candidate, rather than just a know-it-all who thinks she has all the intellectual answers. And at a very feisty debate — my wife’s comment was that the candidates appeared to be like crabs in a bucket, all biting each other in their attempt to crawl out — Warren’s brief display of humanity seemed a breath of fresh air.
Then again, I bet she planned it meticulously ahead of time, knowing somebody was likely to attack Klobuchar on this well-publicized gaffe. Anybody who has watched Warren for very long knows she is as calculating as can be imagined.
Still, if she indeed did calculate a way to appear human, more power to her. It worked, and her point was fair.
