She's Running (And She's Going to Kick A Lot of Ass)

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | October 15, 2018 |

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | October 15, 2018 |

Elizabeth Warren has not officially announced her candidacy for 2020, but this morning, she took what appears to be a major first step: She released DNA results showing that she does, indeed, have Native American heritage. She has a pure Native American ancestor about 6 to 10 generations ago.

Not that this matters at all where it concerns Warren’s qualifications. However, she is trying to take away Donald Trump’s favorite nickname for her, “Pochahantas.”

Flashback. July 5. Trump on Elizabeth Warren: "I will give you a million dollars to your favorite charity, paid for by Trump, if you take the test and it shows you're an Indian." (via Fox) pic.twitter.com/rQ8cxHGg8s

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 15, 2018

Look: It’s not going to work. Donald Trump will double down on it because that’s what Donald Trump does. When Obama finally released his birth certificate, it didn’t stop Trump from continuing his birther campaign. All that matters is that the people inclined to support Elizabeth Warren know the truth.

Warren also released this video, which, again, is not an announcement, but it is clearly designed to let the rest of America know her a little better, and understand more about her family history. Namely, she’s from Oklahoma, and she comes from Rednecks (represent!), many of whom are Republicans. This is good.

My family (including Fox News-watchers) sat together and talked about what they think of @realDonaldTrump’s attacks on our heritage. And yes, a famous geneticist analyzed my DNA and concluded that it contains Native American ancestry. pic.twitter.com/r3SNzP22f8

— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) October 15, 2018

Look: I’m not sure yet if I’d support Warren in the primary (I think I’m still leaning Kamala Harris), but I am seriously glad she’s running. She’s kind of the perfect Democratic candidate for right now. She’s got Hillary credentials, Bernie’s politics, and Biden’s fighting spirit. More importantly, probably more than any other Democratic candidate, she’s managed to not only neutralize some of the GOP insults but turn them back around on them. See: “Nevertheless, she persisted …” and what she did just last week, turning Chief of Staff John Kelly’s insult of her — “arrogant, impolite woman” — into a rallying cry.

Warren knows how to play politics in the Trump era. She knows how to weaponize insults against her. She knows how to deliver great insults, too and she is wicked, wicked brilliant, one of the best lawyers in the country — a lot of us knew about her from her appearances in consumer finance protection documentaries (Maxed Out) before she even got into politics. More than almost anyone in politics, she’s also fought for and enacted legislation to help poor people. She’s got the record. She’s got the temperament. She’s got the working-class background to go along with her Harvard Law pedigree. She’s got the politics, and she’s a f—king pro at Twitter.

Hey, @realDonaldTrump: While you obsess over my genes, your Admin is conducting DNA tests on little kids because you ripped them from their mamas & you are too incompetent to reunite them in time to meet a court order. Maybe you should focus on fixing the lives you're destroying.

— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) July 5, 2018

I’m super excited for her eventual candidacy.