A Note on That Infamous Warren/Sanders Conversation
On the morning before the January Democratic debate, CNN reported that Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren in a private December 2018 conversation that he did not believe a woman could win the presidency. I remember when I first read the report, waking up to the CNN notification on my phone. My initial reaction was to skim the article, roll my eyes at this all too familiar statement and send it to a friend. “Ugh, when will people realize that this always comes across as just a little bit misogynistic?” I wrote.
I love Bernie Sanders. I have long respected his contributions to our political environment and am especially thrilled by his adherence to self-described (democratic) socialism. However, being a liberal doesn’t make you immune to having biases or making slip ups. It’s completely possible that Bernie Sanders, our socialist icon, made a mistake. My takeaway from the report of this conversation wasn’t that Bernie is a bad guy or a sexist. My takeaway was that he wanted to have the all too unoriginal conversation about electability, and that Warren wasn’t interested. I don’t blame her — I can’t say I’d be compelled to entertain a conversation of the same nature with any of my peers. So, after reading the article, I returned to my day as usual because for women in politics, this isn’t much of an aberration.
The media didn’t quite do the same. New outlets spread the story, building tension and drama for the upcoming debate. Internet users went back and forth, calling the Warren campaign calculated and calling Bernie a misogynist. I don’t think Bernie is a misogynist. I think he is an imperfect old man who has been on the right side of many discussions of equality, but still moves around social and political spaces with common American prejudices. I don’t have answers about the Warren campaign’s motives. It certainly felt off to get this report right before a big debate. However, it did allow us to have a conversation about women in U.S. politics — one that Sanders also seemed to be interested in having on that day in December.
When asked about the interaction in the debate, Warren decided to have that conversation. She quickly moved past the initial did he/didn’t he say it and pivoted to the grander issue of the so-called electability of a female president, giving an answer that I hoped would end this discussion once and for all.
Warren stuck to a line similar to a statement she made earlier that day and said that she “disagreed” with Sanders when he made the comment. She quickly turned to the big picture and shared a positive message, highlighting the success of women in U.S. electoral politics, pulling the only other female candidate on stage, Amy Klobuchar, into the conversation. It was a proud moment for me as a Warren supporter because of the message of unity she shared and the track record she was able to cite, but this moment was most exciting for me as a woman. She reminded viewers of the success women can have in politics, and it wasn’t just about her. It was about Amy. It was about every little girl watching at home.
Sanders’ response was a flat out denial of what had happened, and the conversation reverted to a he said/she said. Meanwhile, Bernie supporters began to resurface old videos of him saying a woman could win the presidency, as if that meant it was impossible he made these most recent comments to Warren. People are inconsistent, they make mistakes, and the pressure of our political environment could easily mean that Bernie brought the conversation up with Warren. A flat out denial just doesn’t make sense to me, and it feels completely disrespectful to his friend, Warren.
I do think reports leading up to the debate got carried away and that no one should really be calling Bernie’s morals into question. The point of this issue is that women like Warren will be asked the same question for years to come: “Can a woman really win the presidency?” — and each time, it’ll sound like a dog whistle. Of course a woman can really win the presidency. Our seemingly definite stances about electability are only our prejudice in disguise. They often tell us a lot more about ourselves and our fears than they do the candidates in question.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the conversation about electibility is going to end, and people are going to be asking if a woman can win the presidency, even after one wins. At least we have women like Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar on that stage who know that those people can be proven wrong.