Elizabeth Warren's time

The magazine cover dates from 2018, but as of today, it's factual. At least so says the George Washington University politics poll as reported by Newsweek.

Warren has pushed ahead of both Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the newest poll released just ahead of Tuesday evening's CNN/The New York Times 2020 Democratic debate. Warren tops the Democratic candidate field with 28 percent of the vote while Sanders comes in second with 21 percent. Biden, who has maintained his status as Democratic front-runner since entering the race in the spring, has fallen to just 18 percent.

Warren's rise makes me happy; she strikes me as smart enough, and agile enough, and able to combine enough strategic vision with enough realism to actually do the job. Plus she's become a good candidate, able to project accessibility with a bit of warmth and a touch of charisma. This wasn't a given. I remember being in Massachusetts during her first Senate run and quizzing people who'd been to her house parties. They were doubtful. Good candidates win house parties. Today she wins selfies with thousands of people. (And if Warren doesn't prevail, I'll work to elect a turnip if that's who it takes to rid the country of Trump.)

What I like least about Warren is that she is a member of my generation. Democrats ought not to be nominating some old codger. We're the party that knows there is a future and that it will be different from today, for worse or better. It shouldn't be my cohort's time any longer. But here we are -- and Warren does feel different from the two old white guys.

I've thought a lot about this and come to believe that aging plays out differently in women politicians -- at least in Warren's generation. In addition to the reality that on average old women are healthier than old men, women pols used to start their careers in public life about a decade later than men -- because they were raising children as the primary or sole parent. So they don't hit their prime until much later. Heck, Nancy Pelosi is 79 -- she didn't get started in electoral politics (beyond fundraising) until she'd raised five children. And she's still pretty good at handling a toddler president. Warren also came to politics late -- or perhaps mature.

Gail Collins expressed similar thoughts today, including observing that Warren gets better at being a candidate as she has aged.

In my capacity as a person who’s been writing a book about older women, I have to say it’s interesting that of the three 70-something candidates running for the Democratic nomination, Warren is the only one for whom it doesn’t seem to be a major issue.

The obvious reason is that Warren is racing around like an overachieving bee. While Bernie is recovering from a heart attack and Biden is making appearances in which he reminds me of a very friendly 15-year-old golden retriever.

... I’ve always had a theory that when people age, barring health crises, they simply become more like whatever they were at 40. Warren sort of undercuts this — she’s much more personable, politically astute, with a stronger public presence than when she first emerged on the political scene. ...

It's almost time to turn on the debate.