Can Elizabeth Warren be the new Ted Kennedy? [View all]

By Joan Vennochi GLOBE COLUMNIST FEBRUARY 28, 2015



SENATOR ELIZABETH Warren knows what it takes to go viral — just turn left.

A confrontation with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will do it. So will a sly comment on MSNBC, that she’s still waiting to see how progressive Hillary Clinton will be as a presidential candidate.

From the Massachusetts perspective, Warren represents the Ted Kennedy wing of the Democratic party. It’s a fitting ascension, since Warren holds the seat Kennedy held for 46 years.

But now, what about Kennedy’s ability to move the left and right to center, where compromise happens? The upcoming opening of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, with its emphasis on bipartisanship, is a reminder of just how important that was to the senator and his legacy.

Warren is her own woman and deserves to carve out her own path. These are also different times, and Congress is in a different place than when Kennedy could play the dual roles as liberal lion and great compromiser on contentious issues..............


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