According to most polls, Joe Biden holds the lead among Democrats running for president, but clueless Joe, bless his moderately liberal heart, cannot be grandfathered into the presidency. Except for his eight years as loyal veep, Biden has almost nothing in common with Barack Obama as a candidate. He is much closer to Hubert Humphrey or Walter Mondale, a mildly inoffensive party veteran who bores the hell out of most Democrats—especially younger ones—and is doomed to lose against a conservative Republican. Democrats win when they have something fresh to offer, not some belated recycling of an imaginary status quo.

Since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is too young to run, that makes Bernie Sanders, ideologically at least, the freshest face the Democrats have to offer and the most popular candidate among the young. But his appeal to the youthful dream of “revolution,” when he knows that even with a Democratic Senate most of his socialist policies would never get through Congress, is pure fantasy. Bernie’s critique of capitalism is dead-on, but that has nothing to do with his ability to govern once in office. Sanders’ attempted hostile takeover of the Democratic Party in order to impose a neo-Marxist agenda will go nowhere. On top of that, he’s too old.

So who does that leave as plausible contenders to take on the King of Israel? All the remaining Democrats seem like good people with good politics, but it will take toughness, sharp intelligence and steely self-confidence to go head to head with the dirtiest fighter in U.S. political history. The only candidates I see with those qualities are Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, either of whom could clean Trump’s clock on the debate stage and appeal to a broad enough swath of the population to win the election. I’ve liked Harris from the outset, and I believe she could be a good chief executive, having run California’s sprawling law enforcement system. She would no doubt make a dynamite U.S. attorney general. But my jury’s still out on whether or not I’ll vote for her next March.

Warren, whose stock has steadily risen as more and more people have heard her speak for herself (rather than be caricatured by right-wing jerks, starting with the jerk-in-chief), has thus far made a strong impression as someone fit for the job, and for the ugly battle ahead. Her unfortunate DNA fiasco, when she took the racist bait of “Pocahontas” and embarrassed herself, is the kind of self-inflicted wound she is unlikely to suffer again. Warren will be prepared next time the bully tries to demean her, and I’m certain she can fend for herself. Her lucidity and sincerity as a speaker, the quickness of her mind and her white working-class Middle American roots are a winning combination in a candidate.

As a leader, Warren is not asking for a revolution or a restoration but for a restructuring of our free-market system to make it work for everyone, not just the oligarchs. Her progressive policy proposals are as much philosophical as they are political statements. She knows she won’t be able to implement her whole agenda without congressional cooperation, and even a Democratic Senate is not a slam dunk on Medicare for all or student debt forgiveness or a Green New Deal. But Warren will make her case with eloquence and will move public opinion forward so that after a while leftish ideals and ideas will sound more and more normal.

To the disappointment of some absolutists, there is no messiah on the horizon. Obama, for all his qualities, couldn’t work miracles and his accomplishments were limited despite his popularity, thanks to Republican obstructionism. But Warren has the fire and the commitment and the authenticity to fight (one of her favorite words) for the rescue of this country from the abyss it’s been driven into. The longer the campaign lasts, the clearer this will be to anyone who’s paying attention.

Stephen Kessler is the author of “Need I Say More?” and other books.