I love Elizabeth Warren, which is why it’s been painful to watch her campaign’s earliest steps. She really deserves stronger campaign management. Two examples of the problem surfaced Saturday when she officially announced she was running.
As she walked off the stage, the song that played was Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” the most clichéd song-choice for any political event. It’s exactly the song you would pick if you were planning a Democratic event, were too busy to spend more than 10 seconds considering the possibilities, and you were unaware that new songs have been recorded since the mid- 20th Century.
The song that played earlier, when Warren walked to the stage, was at least a little more inspired: Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.” You don’t hear that at every campaign rally, and it’s a jumpy little tune. However, a song about the drudgery of going to work is hardly the best choice for convincing us Warren really wants this job, and POTUS is hardly a 9 to 5 gig, despite the current occupant’s lackadaisical approach.
Of course, “9 to 5” was meant to convey that Warren cares about the working class. But the song’s attitude is acceptance of workplace misery, hardly the attitude we want from our next leader. A more appropriate choice might have been the Dropkick Murphys’ “Worker’s Song,” with its anger about working class people being treated as disposable, or maybe Billy Bragg’s “I Guess I Planted” with its optimism about unity offering hope for America’s workers.
Perhaps the reason her campaign picked “9 to 5” is because the song was recorded by a woman, as was “Respect.” Warren began her speech by talking about striking women winning a battle a century ago. She seems eager to remind us she is a woman, the same messaging strategy that led Hillary Clinton to lose the most winnable presidential election in history.
Hey, Elizabeth! We know you’re a woman – you don’t need to keep telling us. Also, being a woman doesn’t make you unique in the current Democratic field. Your challenge right now is not to remind us that you, too, are a woman, but to convince us that you are the right woman for this role.
What makes Warren a great candidate, and someone special in the current contest, is her record of challenging corporate America to protect the working class. That’s the thing she needs to spotlight, not her gender.
What songs should Warren play at her rallies to remind people why we need her to be our next president? Offer your suggestions in the comments below.