John Nichols writes:

Elizabeth Warren won the ideas primary, and on Thursday she claimed that victory.

“A year ago, people weren’t talking about a two-cent wealth tax, universal childcare, canceling student loan debt for 43 million Americans while reducing the racial wealth gap, breaking up big tech, or expanding Social Security. And now they are,” she told her supporters. “And because we did the work of building broad support for all of those ideas across this country, these changes could actually be implemented by the next president.”

But Warren won’t be the next president; winning the ideas primary did not translate into winning the Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses that will identify the party’s 2020 nominee. It is a measure of the vital role Warren played in the race that her exit has opened up an intense discussion about what the senator from Massachusetts will do next. Vice president. Senate majority leader. Another presidential run—which Warren said she would not rule out, in answer to a question posed Thursday by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

In the short term, this frenzy of forecasting focuses on how Warren will engage with the work of choosing and then electing Donald Trump’s challenger. I’ll leave the speculation about whom she might endorse to others. And I’ll respect that, ultimately, she will make the best decision.

What I am worried about are the decisions that must be made by the Democrats who remain in the race, former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and by the party leaders and strategists who will shape the fall campaign.

To my view, the smartest move for them would be to ask Warren to chair the party’s platform committee. No one could be more adept at consulting with people who know the issues—from personal experience and from rigorous research. No one could do a better job of drafting the document. [Continue reading…]