Elizabeth Warren has officially sold out her progressive base for Hillary Clinton. And her endorsement raises the question: What is she getting in return? If Republicans are lucky, it will be a Clinton-Warren Democratic ticket.
After joining Clinton on the campaign trail, even twinning with the Democratic presumptive nominee in matching blue jackets, Warren created a firestorm of speculation that she would be tapped as Clinton’s vice president. Republicans should welcome this.
Picking Warren would be a wasted opportunity for Clinton and a victory for Republicans. Her only value is bolstering Clinton’s support among groups that are already with her. According to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll Clinton has a 17 point lead with women. Adding estrogen to the ticket may give her someone to match clothes with, but women already support Clinton by large margins. Additionally, many look to Warren to bring home Sanders supporters, but polls would indicate they are already moving her way. And Warren, who hails from the reliably Democratic state of Massachusetts, also fails to bring any value geographically.
If anything, Warren will repel voters Clinton hopes to woo. Male voters, particularly white men, have consistently rejected Clinton this election cycle. With Clinton already trailing Trump by 10 points with male voters, picking a progressive feminist will only increase that disparity. After she secures the Democratic nomination at the convention, Clinton will look to move to the middle in an attempt to court disaffected Republicans and independent voters. That pivot would be much more difficult with a raging liberal by her side.
Warren also underscores Clinton’s policy weaknesses, opening the door for Donald Trump and Republicans to attack. One of Clinton’s vulnerabilities is her hypocrisy regarding Wall Street. Despite her rhetoric claiming she will take on the big banks, Clinton has personally made millions of dollars off of speeches she has given to the likes of Goldman Sachs and has received tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the financial sector. Bernie Sanders failed to capitalize off of this issue in the Democratic primary and Donald Trump should bring it up repeatedly. Clinton’s continued refusal to release the transcripts of these speeches would not only leave her exposed on the issue, but it would put Warren, who has staked her career on going after Wall Street, in a difficult position politically.
That is not the only charge of hypocrisy they would face. While they try to portray themselves as champions of the middle class, they are both part of the group they denounce: The coveted 1 percent. Hillary and Bill Clinton have amassed over $150 million from paid speeches. Warren, who is worth an estimated $8.75 million, has made her money flipping foreclosed houses, which the Boston Herald reported “doesn’t seem to square with her public statements about the latest real estate boom and bust.” And even though Warren says she wants college to be free, she has had no problem getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars at law schools like Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania.
At a time when Clinton faces questions from voters about her honesty, adding someone to the ticket who has been blatantly dishonest about her heritage to get ahead in her career could cast further doubt. Warren falsely claimed she was Native American to get teaching jobs and even wrote about it in her book , for which she received a $525,000 advance. The New England Historic Genealogical Society stated there is no evidence to back up her Native American claims.
As a first-term senator, Warren is not battle-tested nor has she faced the scrutiny that would come with running on a presidential ticket. She repels voters who Clinton will try to court and opens the door to accusations of hypocrisy and dishonesty. Republicans could only be so lucky to face her and Clinton this November, matching jackets and all.
Lisa Boothe is a contributing columnist for The Washington Examiner and president of High Noon Strategies.
