I said in a recent post that I believe Elizabeth Warren is the best presidential candidate of my lifetime. This post will explain why. And, just to be different, it will just be about Warren. I won’t even mention the other candidates. This is an election where I’m happy to be voting for someone instead against the others.
I guess I’ll start with the thing that she is most famous for, “Warren has a plan for that.” Every presidential candidate has ideas and hopes and wishes. Surprisingly few have plans. And the ones that do have plans don’t have plans like Warren’s plans. In the business world, they get excited about SMART plans. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Warren has SMART plans. She is not only telling us what she wants to do as president. She is telling us how she will do it, why she will do it, what the costs are going to be, and who will benefit from it. This ought to be the baseline for any presidential candidate, but it is rare. And Warren, to mix my sports metaphors, has knocked it out of the park.
The next thing is that Warren has a true grasp of the issues. She understands on a deep level. She’s not the type to work off of talking points given to her by advisors. It’s clear that she studies. It’s no accident that she’s always prepared. This understanding shows the work she puts in.
Warren’s tenacity is another selling point. She’s a fighter. She doesn’t give up or get distracted. She doesn’t get pushed around or bullied. She’s demonstrated her tenacity throughout her adult life.
The next two are related to each other. First, she listens. I don’t just mean that Warren has functioning ears. I mean she really listens. She might not always agree, but she does her absolute best to know where the ideas are coming from. Second, she cares. Warren has a high degree of empathy. It’s other people that she cares about. For Warren, it’s not about defending her point of view or protecting her cherished ideas. It’s about helping real people.
The most important thing that makes Warren different, and better, is what all these things add up to. To put it as plainly as I can, she gets it. In this case “it” is referring to a lot. She gets the issues, she gets the people, she gets the political climate, she gets the opposition, she gets the job, and she gets herself. But, more importantly, she gets how all of those things (and more) fit together. Because she gets it, as president, she will be in a perfect position to get stuff done, stuff that will improve our lives in the short and the long term.
This is the first time I can remember a candidate having the full package. The trick is getting everyone else to realize it. I’ll do my part. I hope everyone else gets onboard.
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