Opinion

Liz Warren’s low attack on Bernie Sanders

Liz Warren has opted to break her non-aggression pact with Bernie Sanders with a full-on identity-politics stunt. Will it work?

In the runup to the last debate, Warren’s campaign told reporters that in a December 2018 one-on-one, Sanders told her a woman couldn’t win the presidency. He denied it; she doubled down with a statement repeating the allegation.

On stage Tuesday, both stuck to their stories — while debate host CNN treated her account as the gospel truth. The evening ended with Liz refusing to shake Bernie’s hand as a live mic caught her telling him, “I think you called me a liar on national TV.”

Yet he’s been careful not to make that obvious charge. Indeed, Sanders admitted he had said something about sex: “What I did say that night was that Donald Trump is a sexist, a racist and a liar who would weaponize whatever he could” went his statement.





That’s pretty much what Democrats have been saying for the last four years. And even if Sanders’ actual remark went further, it’s hard to believe Warren’s feelings were hurt by someone pointing out what she herself has said: Women face an uphill battle in the working world.

Most important: The remark didn’t seem to hurt her friendship with Sanders . . . until she needed to take offense.

Warren, you see, is on track to finish well behind Sanders in the Iowa caucuses, which would pretty well doom her hopes for the nomination. It’s attack, or go home — hence a gambit calculated to play well with much of the Democratic base and the media.

If it works, it’s poetic justice for the left: This ugliness is where identity politics leads you — into silly squabbles far from a real discussion about the nation’s future, and even farther from what most voters care about.





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