A Washington Post reporter candidly admitted Monday that the bulk of Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's lofty proposals had little chance of ever going into effect.
National political reporter Michael Scherer wrote Sunday that the Massachusetts senator had regained momentum in the 2020 race by laying out a litany of policy specifics, including a limit on the size of corporations, a wealth tax, student loan forgiveness, universal child care, and mandatory tax-return disclosure for politicians.
MSNBC host Ali Velshi spoke to Scherer about that article, asking whether the general public would find Warren's frequent focus on policy as "juicy and exciting" as he, his co-host Stephanie Ruhle, and other journalists did.
"I think it's exciting right now for a lot of primary voters," Scherer responded.
"What's interesting about what Warren is doing, is not policy that has a good chance of passing should she win the presidency," he argued. "Barring a huge wave election that sweeps Democrats into power in both chambers with pretty significant majorities, most of this stuff won't happen."
"But if these policies have a small chance of actually passing, why is it that they're such a good idea? Doesn't that lead to the frustration people have when they say government doesn't actually deliver?" Ruhle asked.
Scherer agreed, but noted that many Democrats were already frustrated by the status quo. "If you're going to vote for someone like Joe Biden who's promising something far more incremental, sort of a return to the years of Barack Obama, where someone like Elizabeth Warren who's promising what she calls big structural change, there's an appeal for that," he said.