LIZ KEEPS SENATE SEAT, EYES 2020
Easy race didn’t prep her for prez
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has fended off a Trump-aligned Republican to win a second term in what’s seen as a warmup to her likely 2020 White House race.
Striking presidential stump speech notes as she declared her Senate victory, Warren said, “I promise I will never stop working my heart out for you. Never.
“Tonight you told me to stay in the fight,” she said. “We came to this movement to pick a fight. ... Together we have persisted.” In a reference to the anti-Trump women’s protests of 2016 and 2017, she said, “Let’s make sure no one rewrites history: This resistance began with women and is being led by women tonight.”
Warren was expected to easily fend off the challenge from state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who was seen as largely keeping the gloves on despite his background as President Trump’s Massachusetts campaign chairman.
“She’d be much better off having a tough opponent who would have beat
her up a bit, then she’d be more ready,” said Ron Kaufman, Republican National Committeeman from Massachusetts and former White House political director. “At best, this was a 50-yard dash, where a run for president is a super-marathon or an ironman.”
Warren is considered a likely 2020 presidential candidate, admitting she’ll “take a hard look” at a run after this election. The Associated Press called the Senate race just minutes after polls closed.
The first-term senator is a frequent antagonist and target for Trump, who likes to call her “Pocahontas” for her claims of Native American ancestry. Warren tried to put those to bed by releasing a DNA test showing that she has a distant Indian ancestor, but that hasn’t closed the book on the president’s line of attack.
Warren has campaigned nationwide for Democratic candidates, which drew derision from critics but could benefit her, said Democratic strategist Doug Rubin.
“She’s run a strong campaign and helped out candidates all over the country,” Rubin told the Herald.
In the Senate race, Warren used her own spin on the nationwide Democratic playbook, which is to focus on health care and infrastructure. Warren also went after Diehl for his support of Trump, who is unpopular in Massachusetts.
Diehl, opting not to draw on any of Trump’s anti-Warren vitriol, instead painted Warren as out of touch, focusing more on her own ambitions than on Massachusetts.
The one issue both actively talked about was that of the Republican tax cuts passed a year ago. Diehl ran hard on the good state of the economy, crediting it in large part to the tax bill and the Trump administration’s other policies. But Warren always hammered away at the bill as a “giveaway” to the rich and powerful, saying the money would better be invested in infrastructure.