Courtesy of the State Library of Massachusetts /THE REVIEW

In 2012, Elizabeth Warren (D – MA) became the first woman elected to serve Massachusetts in the United States Senate.

BY

Let me start this off by saying that any Democratic candidate for president is better than

Donald Trump. All of them are level-headed, competent and way more stable than the current occupant of the White House. With that being said, I believe Sen. Elizabeth Warren is our best chance at making Donald Trump a one-term president and our best chance for true systemic change in this country.

Warren has spent her entire adult life studying why families go broke and what policies

are negatively impacting working class Americans. In her announcement video, she said, “I’ve spent my career getting to the bottom of why America’s promise works for some families, but others who work just as hard slip through the cracks into disaster. And what I found is terrifying: these aren’t cracks that families are falling into, they are traps. America’s middle class is under attack.”

Not only does Warren have a grasp of the issues, but she also predicted a recession just a few years before the 2008 Financial Crisis. She could see a failing economy before most economists do.

Warren argues that the wealthy and well-connected use their power and capital in order to make government work better for themselves while leaving regular Americans behind. In a time where America is the most unequal industrialized nation in the world, Elizabeth Warren has the message and understands the problems we face better than any other candidate.

Being a former Harvard Law professor and “policy wonk,” Sen. Warren tries to set

herself as unique from her primary opponents in a very positive way: plans. Since Warren announced her candidacy earlier this year, she has realized dozens upon dozens of plans to tackle the issues that Americans face. And they aren’t just basic bullet points and goals: they are truly detailed, policy-specific plans that leave no details behind.

Warren leaves no issue undiscussed. She has plans ranging from addressing maternal

mortality among black women in America, to reducing corporate influence in the Pentagon. Her website even has a page where you can go through all of these plans and search for a specific one of your choosing.

In terms of ideology, Warren is definitely one of the most progressive candidates running

for president. Many pundits argue that Warren has gone so “far-left” that she could never win a general election. I strongly disagree with this sentiment.

The United States, as great as it is, has its fair share of significant problems, such as lack of access to healthcare, enormous wealth inequality, and environmental injustice. Warren’s whole argument is that you cannot address these enormous issues with small and “moderate” ideas, you need true, systemic change and restructuring.

Warren does not think of this as “left vs. right.” She thinks of it as returning our economy

and government back to the middle class, and creating big, structural change. Regardless of

political affiliation, almost any American would agree that the “little guy” constantly gets

squeezed and experience stagnant wages, while the wealthiest Americans get tax breaks and

greater access to our government.

Another argument against Elizabeth Warren is that she is simply “unelectable.” Some of

her primary opponents base their messaging off of this idea. Basically, “electability” is the belief that Democrats need a moderate, male candidate if we want to make Donald Trump a one-term president.

This is personally my favorite argument her critics use, because it is comical. “Electability” simply is not real. If electability were a thing, a man named Barack Hussein Obama, a relatively inexperienced progressive senator, would have never been elected president of the United States, and neither would have Donald Trump.

Electability is a flawed concept that often does not prove anything—just ask Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton. The truly most electable candidate is the one that meets the national mood at the moment. After the financial crisis of 2008—which brought Warren to the national stage herself—and the disastrous War in Iraq, Americans were looking for major change. That change that is exactly what President Obama offered, hence his electoral success.

If we Democrats want to win in 2020, we need to pick a candidate who excites our party, so we have people knocking on doors and calling voters all across the country. While there are other

candidates running who may seem like a “safe” pick, the feeling of being safe does not energize the base, and neither do middle ground, moderate policies.

If we are going up against a candidate who is known for being unfiltered and unhinged, Warren would use her toughness, intellect and true grasp on the issues to call President Trump out on his corruption and failure to fight for the working class. And this is why I am proud to back her for the Democratic nomination, and you should be too.

Dylan J. Rosenthal is a junior political science and public policy double major at the university. He is also the Director of Programming for the College Democrats at the University of Delaware. His opinions are his own and do not reflect the opinion of The Review’s staff or the College Democrats. Dylan Rosenthal may be reached at dylanjay@udel.edu. The university’s College Democrats may be reached at udeldems@gmail.com.