MA-SEN 2024 Megathread: Still, She Persists (Pg. 1 - Warren running for re-election)

[brucejoel99]

Sorry (not sorry), BRTD:

https://twitter.com/politico/status/1391182059230666759

[brucejoel99]

If Feinstein can still be around, why not Warren who actually contributes.

Eh, not exactly a fair equivalence: Warren suffers from no evident health issues, & serving a 3rd term would - in the event that she doesn't then seek a 4th term - see her leave office at only 81, compared to Feinstein, who's actually exhibiting signs of dementia, sought a 6th term at 85, & may very well seek a 7th at 91, if the existence of her 2024 campaign account is to be believed.

[brucejoel99]

If Feinstein can still be around, why not Warren who actually contributes.

Eh, not exactly a fair equivalence: Warren suffers from no evident health issues, & serving a 3rd term would - in the event that she doesn't then seek a 4th term - leave office at only 81, compared to Feinstein, who's actually exhibiting signs of dementia, sought a 6th term at 85, & may very well seek a 7th at 91, if the existence of her 2024 campaign account is to be believed.

While there is an argument to be made here, I would push back against the idea that there is some kind of maximum age past which one cannot be an good and/or effective Senator. Just look at Robert Byrd - he served the state from when he was 41 all the way until his death at age 91.
There is some value for seniority also - especially so for a state like California. If you have just as many members as Wyoming despite having a much, much bigger population, then it is important to have long-serving people in high places in the chamber.
One doesn't have to vote Feinstein, and I actually favored Kevin de Leon back in 2018, but it's important to note some of the valuable things for the state of CA that it has attained on basis of having Boxer (since retired) and Feinstein. And that a rational voter can value that long-term incumbency.

Oh, I completely agree! (Trust me, I had to push back on the "Biden too old" card from my friends plenty of times myself, which was always weird because they were pushing it while simultaneously supporting a guy who was a year older & literally suffered a heart attack on the campaign trail, but I digress.) I was merely just pointing out why attempting to illustrate the hitherto aforementioned equivalence between Warren & Feinstein is - in & of itself - a bit flawed.

[brucejoel99]

In any case, nothing to see here. Safe Warren in the primary and the general. Odd that the Politico article frames this as "surprising"; I think it would be a lot more surprising if she weren't running again.

I think it's just a combination of the facts - as the article portends - that she's been spending the last 2 years trying to get out of the Senate (e.g., campaigning for President, & then trying to be Biden's VP & then Treasury Secretary) & that "insiders" were of a general belief for some reason that she was keen on having Pressley succeed her in the seat.