By Joe Simonson
Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren distanced herself from the Sanders wing of the Democratic Party by saying she was not a socialist in an interview with BuzzFeed News published Thursday.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
The answer arose after Warren was asked to explain the difference between her and Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, a lingering question as Democrats are already discussing potential challengers to President Donald Trump in 2020.
Throughout the Obama years, as BuzzFeed notes, Warren was seen as the de facto leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. With Sanders’s primary challenge to Hillary Clinton in 2016 as an open socialist, that position is in the air.
Yet Warren seems to have her line when asked to differentiate herself from Sanders.
“He’s a socialist,” Warren said, “and I believe in markets.”
Such a break with Sanders could prove significant as the Democratic Party continues its march leftward.
Whether a belief in markets is enough to convince her party’s base that she’s authentic enough has yet to be seen — as has whether conceding that markets are preferable over central planning is enough to not scare away independents.
Warren has also told other interviewers that she, unlike Sanders and others, is not interested in entirely remaking the American economy.
In a July interview with CNBC, Warren gave more evidence of how she’ll continue separating herself from Sanders in the years ahead.
“I am a capitalist,” she told an interviewer. “Come on. I believe in markets.”
An an aide to Warren supported her position to BuzzFeed, saying, “She believes in markets. She loves markets.”
Of course, a mere belief in markets does not necessarily mean Warren would not be in favor of implementing tremendous changes to the safety net or regulations. Many on the left point to Scandinavian countries like Norway and Sweden as models for a social democratic United States.
In those countries, markets still exist besides a robust welfare system.
Despite her efforts to distance herself from Sanders and the “socialist” label, supporters of Warren see an overlap of her base with the Vermont senator’s.
“There’s gonna be a splintering of support for candidates,” Draft Warren co-founder Charles Lenchner told BuzzFeed. “The question I’m asking is how do you cultivate maximum unity between supporters of Bernie and Warren so that they will enter the race planning and hoping to be on the same side in the final run.”
Still, her supporters worry that Sanders will always be able to trump Warren when trying to seem authentic.
While in general identifying as a socialist might come as a liability, distancing oneself from the label could prove an asset in a competitive Democratic primary.
“There’s a looming danger of Bernie supporters saying she’s just as bad as the corporate Democrats,” Lenchner said. “She’s our best hope if Bernie can’t do it.”
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Lolss What did she say about Santa & the Easter Bunny vacationing on Mars?? that’s how much sense these Regressive Socialist Liberals make when they try to pull the wool over Americans eyes by denieing an ideology they are cleary apart of & agree with. Senator Warren forget whether or not your a Commie or a neocon Socialist we know you are. I want to see you take a DNA test so we can all see how much more of a Corrupt Criminal lieing Stateswoman Bureaucrat you really are…
That is correct.
Sanders descended on Vermont from Brooklyn, NY.
Warren partially descended from Pocahontas, or so she claims, or claimed, without a DNA test to actually prove it.
Their outlooks are the same: socialistic, government over everything, nail the evil private sector.
It should be interesting to hear these two Socialist Millionaires debate
and tell us of how they got rich in an evil non-socialist country?
She just recently said “I want to nationalize corporations.” What the help does she think socialism is?
Little Fauxahontas tells yet another windy,the main difference between her and El Burnmeister is he is male and she female and they are both Communists.
It’s terrible for Warren to lie about the differences between her and Bernie Sanders. Just because Bernie believes in better and more social programs for the people doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe in markets. She’s counting on people not knowing the difference… Warren has sleeved out so many times that I have lost all respect for her! Sure hope we don’t have a repeat of 2016!
I’m surprised at this. When I was on the Bolton select board, we did lots of socialist things. There are some things that are just too important to be left to private business. For instance, we have public roads, located on public rights of way, and a public road crew. That way we get to vote on their budget at a meeting we have the first Tuesday in March every year. And we have a public school system too and we elect the school board, and vote on their budget too. We also have lots of private businesses as well, so I guess we have a sort of mixed economy. When I was on the board, we always avoided doing anything for private individuals that could be done by one of the businesses in town. By the way, When did Bernie ever say he was going to remake the US economy?
Bernie ” Soapbox ” Sanders states he an Independent ( I-VT ) but runs as a Democrat when he runs for President but has a socialist agenda. Confused yet? Elizabeth “Fruitcake” Warren (D-MA) is the new Socialist Democrat or just Socialist but states she’s a capitalist … are you confused now? They both are! Democrats are still on a vendetta over Trump, I cannot wait for the debates.