Elizabeth Warren was the keynote speaker here today at the California Democratic Party’s statewide convention in Anaheim. The speeches, as at most conventions, tend to be a way to motivate the crowd in between bouts of serious business from caucus meetings to endorsements to resolutions and what not. As such, they tend to be high-energy affairs, but not especially newsworthy.
But today’s speech by Elizabeth Warren came in the context of her well-publicized spat with President Obama over trade issues and the TPP, and a significant divide within the Democratic Party over the issue. As the Senator delivered her usual, brilliantly articulated statements of liberal values, the audience of Democratic activists (myself included) applauded with enthusiasm. But what would happen on trade, where she was so publicly in opposition to the beloved President?
Well, it turns out that when Senator Warren brought up opposition to trade deals that hurt American workers, nearly the entire audience of officials and activists in the California Democratic Party rose to its feet, cheering and hollering with deafening applause.
At least in California, there’s no doubt as to where this large group of Democratic legislators, central committee members and elected caucus delegates stood–and it wasn’t with the President. It was with Elizabeth Warren.
And that is fairly newsworthy.
