The upshot of McClatchey’s report is that the right-wing donor class sees Warren as a clear and present danger — and is, therefore, willing to throw big money at the long-shot campaign of her 2018 challenger. The idea being: What doesn’t kill Warren will make her weaker.
Trying to bruise the other side’s top players in a preliminary round is a pretty standard gambit in American politics. And given how deep the right’s pockets are, it would be imprudent for it not to make a big investment in making Warren’s life less pleasant next year.
That said, the idea that the GOP can poison Warren’s image as effectively as it did Clinton’s seems suspect. And not just because Warren has fewer liabilities and the Republicans have less time to prepare.
In 2016, the GOP didn’t merely enjoy the benefit of an opponent who had alienated a segment of her own base by taking heretical stances on “super predators,” and the Iraq War — along with ungodly sums of money from Wall Street firms. Nor did the Republicans just have the good fortune to run against a candidate with little talent for retail politics, and a name that instantly stimulates red America’s amygdala.
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