Do voters long for a policy wonk? Elizabeth Warren hopes so on WTOP| NEW YORK (AP) — More than 1,000 people packed a New York concert venue last Friday for an act that wasn’t on guitar and drums. It was Elizabeth Warren, vocalizing hard numbers. The Massachusetts Democratic senator wove data points…
NEW YORK (AP) — More than 1,000 people packed a New York concert venue last Friday for an act that wasn’t on guitar and drums. It was Elizabeth Warren, vocalizing hard numbers.
The Massachusetts Democratic senator wove data points into a stump speech that riffed on the policy proposals she’s rolled out in her month-old presidential candidacy. “I love that you want to get into more detail about the 2 percent wealth tax,” she said to a man asking whether her economic plan would drive the wealthy to move overseas.
Warren’s policy-heavy performance was a hit with her crowd. And that’s something she’s counting on heavily in her campaign. She has laid down significant markers in a half-dozen different policy areas since the year began, putting pressure on other 2020 presidential contenders while keeping her campaign in the public eye without having to spend a dollar on ads.
But Warren’s approach is built on a risky bet: that voters will respond to her detail-driven effort when other Democrats are appealing to hearts as much as their minds and after a 2016 presidential campaign in which Hillary Clinton’s policy portfolio wilted in the face of Donald Trump’s personal attacks.
While she’s successfully forced some of her rivals to respond to her agenda, particularly her two-part plan last week to curb the growing consolidation of the biggest tech companies, other 2020 hopefuls who have rolled out fewer new policy proposals — California Sen. Kamala Harris and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — are outpacing Warren in early polls and bested her in their initial fundraising hauls after making their first moves for the presidency.
The contrast between Warren’s ambitious agenda-setting and the less wonky paths of other candidates underscores what Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright described as the party’s “diversity of strategy.” In a crowded field, Democrats don’t just have a historically diverse field for 2020 — they are field-testing different theories of connection with voters.
“The first thing every candidate should do is allow themselves to be introduced to voters and allow voters to find who they are,” Seawright said. “Sometimes people are not moved by policy. Sometimes people are moved by your personal story.
