Elizabeth Warren Has Shifted Democratic Senate Power To The Liberals

One of the major outcomes that has come from liberals standing together against the government funding bill is that the focus of Democratic Senate power has shifted away from moderates and towards liberals and progressives like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

The Hill offered some insight into what Senator Warren (D-MA) has gained from the clash over the government funding bill,
Peter Ubertaccio, a political science professor at Stonehill College in Massachusetts, who follows Warren’s career, said that this week, Warren demonstrated a better feel for the sentiments of her party than her leadership.

“If she’s able to succeed in the Senate at the expense of her own leadership team — the team that she’s on — it will have the practical impact of moving the center of power away from folks like Schumer and toward her,” he said. “That’s pretty significant for a freshman senator that’s been brought into the leadership.

Between Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Sherrod Brown the liberals are displaying their strength in the Senate. One of the advantages of having a smaller Democratic Senate caucus is that the liberals will now play a larger role. The government funding bill passed the House, but this fact doesn’t mean that it was a loss for liberals. Bernie Sanders is considering a run for the Democratic nomination in 2016. Elizabeth Warren has been promoted to a leadership position in the Democratic caucus.

While some in the media are speculating about what this means for a potential Warren presidential candidacy, a more plausible scenario is emerging where Sen. Warren could some day replace Harry Reid as the Democratic leader/potential Senate Majority Leader. Reid is going to run for another Senate term, but his Senate career is winding down. It is easy to see Warren rising up through the Democratic leadership ranks to become Majority Leader.

The House passage of the government funding bill wasn’t a defeat. The unity of congressional liberals in opposition marked another step forward for the growing strength of the left in Congress.