Elizabeth Warren had a hardscrabble background. Her shtick is to complain about the “rigged” system and to bash billionaires. She is proposing lots of new programs to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor. That makes her a perfect populist, right?
No, because she is a Harvard Law professor who is justifiably proud of her own intellect, and she loves wonks. Every one of her innumerable plans has a team of prominent wonks behind it. Wonks and populism go together like oil and water.
Every time Warren opens her mouth, in spite of her valiant attempts to sound empathetic, she undercuts her populist economic message. She would make a far better president than Bernie Sanders, but Bernie, with his gruff, straightforward way and his disdain for wonks, is a far more authentic populist.