You can make a pretty good argument that Elizabeth Warren’s innumerable plans, financed by her wealth tax, actually put her to the left of Bernie Sanders. Unlike the “democratic socialist” Sanders, however, she is portraying herself as a capitalist who wants to save the system from itself. In historical terms, she’s trying to play FDR to Bernie’s Huey Long.
It’s a sensible move, and one that will make her more acceptable than Sanders to the electorate if she wins the nomination. But, given her schoolteacher personality, can she persuade the public that she truly is FDR’s heir, and that we need a Second New Deal at a time when the unemployment rate is 3 percent? Don’t hold your breath on either count.