There is a revealing tradition of apostasy in American politics. Ronald Reagan’s disingenuous claim never to have left the Democratic Party (“It left me”) helped him woo millions of blue-collar Democrats. Hillary Clinton’s decision to downplay her early Republicanism, by contrast, signaled her lack of ambition to win votes from the other side. That Donald Trump switched camps at least five times before entering the Republican primary suggested his disloyalty to any party. Elizabeth Warren’s gravitation from right to left and the use she is making of it in her increasingly fancied presidential campaign is another telling case.
Unlike Mrs. Clinton, she is leaning into her Republican past. Her stump speech, which Lexington heard in a sun-dappled New Hampshire garden last week, opens with a description of her conservative upbringing in Oklahoma: her three brothers in uniform, her frugal parents. It would testify to her experience, rare in a former Harvard law professor, of working-class concerns and the heartland, even if she escaped both long ago. She remained a registered Republican into her late 40s.
Many Democrats would find that embarrassing. Ms. Warren, who entered politics over a decade later, after making a name for herself as a critic of Wall Street after the financial crisis, does not need to prove her left-wing credentials. She has used her conversion story to help distinguish herself from Bernie Sanders, her rival on the left, and to try to broaden her appeal.
She stuck with the Republicans, and she has said, because she believed their claim to be the best market managers. Unlike the socialist from Vermont, she says she is a “capitalist to my bones.” She left the right after researching surging individual bankruptcies, which turned out to be caused not by fecklessness, but ill health and other misfortunes. Why were so many hardworking people like her parents living so precariously? She asked. And why were companies, their soaring profits suggested, more protected?
Like Mr. Sanders, she considers the economy to be not merely skewed but rigged in the corporate interest. Stagnant wages, rising economic insecurity, outsourced jobs are a product of “who government works for,” she said in New Hampshire. But where Mr Sanders promises a revolution, her proposals are more measured, detailed and various. Indeed Ms Warren, who in a couple of recent polls was ahead of Mr Sanders, in second place behind Joe Biden, has unveiled more policies than her main rivals put together.
Her signature proposal is a wealth tax of two cents on the dollar on assets over $50m. She optimistically claims this would raise $2.75trn in a decade, a windfall she would splurge on progressive priorities including universal free childcare, free public college fees and writing off college debt. That is Sanders-esque, with a tonal difference. Unlike Mr Sanders, whose recent entry into the “millionaire class” seems not to have lessened his dislike of rich people, Ms Warren claims not to begrudge them their success. She just wants them to chip in more (“Two cents—just two cents!” is one of her slogans) to help expand opportunity (which is another).
Believe that or not, her other main proposals are regulatory fixes that are far-reaching and radical but mostly within the Democratic mainstream. Channelling the spirit of her hero Theodore Roosevelt, she vows to curb lobbying, campaign-finance extravagance, carbon emissions and much else. She has hedged her support for Mr Sanders’s promise of Medicare for all.
Setting aside the merits of her proposals, her focus on policy is smart politics, and unusual. Mrs Clinton’s loss to a candidate with no dangerous systems, though she had reams of them, has deterred most Democratic candidates from issuing detailed proposals. Mr Biden, the front-runner, has two policies, including a cut-and-paste climate plan. Ms Warren apprehends that Mrs Clinton failed not because she had too many systems, but because she had no theme to make sense of them. Her commitment to saving capitalism from the capitalists is an answer to that.
Her wonkishness also helps her deal with specific weaknesses. It has revised her former image as a one-trick pony, banging on about Wall Street. It has moderated her reputation as a left-winger. It has made Mr Sanders look lightweight by comparison. It has also helped neutralise an impression, exacerbated by sexism no doubt, that she is rather hectoring. “She reminds me of my sister-in-law,” said one of her listeners in New Hampshire guiltily. “But she knows what she’s talking about.” Mrs Clinton’s supporters were often unwilling to acknowledge her weaknesses as a campaigner. If Ms Warren’s are more willing, it is because she also has strengths.
She may well supplant Mr Sanders as the main threat to Mr Biden from the left. Whether she could woo enough moderate voters to mount a serious challenge is harder to predict. It is certainly possible. Yet such voters are mainly concerned with beating Mr Trump, and may consider Ms Warren too left-wing for that, which would be reasonable. Or they might find her also like Mrs Clinton, as a woman in her 60s, which would not be.
The sin of apostasy
That suggests Ms Warren’s ideas may get less attention than they deserve on the left. Meanwhile they are being studied by reform-minded Republicans, grappling with the rejection of conservative verities that Mr Trump represents. Tucker Carlson of Fox News described Ms Warren’s industrial policy as “like Donald Trump at his best”. Senator Marco Rubio wrote a column applauding its aims, while concluding that a “radical progressive movement” would not fulfil them. This illustrates a paradoxical feature of the political divide: a combination of intellectual flux and partisan rigidity.
Despite her past Republicanism, Ms Warren could not win votes on the right without repudiating her party in some way; by opposing mass immigration, for example. Yet her critique of American capitalism is quietly inspiring conservative thinkers. It is an odd time, when ideas cross parties more quickly than people.◼
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Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 7, column 167, Rule ID: EN_A_VS_AN
Message: Use 'an' instead of 'a' if the following word starts with a vowel sound, e.g. 'an article', 'an hour'
Suggestion: an
...socialist from Vermont, she says she is a 'capitalist to my bones.' She...
^
Line 9, column 214, Rule ID: COMMA_PARENTHESIS_WHITESPACE
Message: Put a space after the comma
Suggestion: , &apos
...roduct of 'who government works for,' she said in New Hampshire. But where M...
^^^^^^
Line 9, column 348, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Indeed,
...re more measured, detailed and various. Indeed Ms Warren, who in a couple of recent po...
^^^^^^
Line 17, column 196, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...erated her reputation as a left-winger. It has made Mr Sanders look lightweight by...
^^
Line 17, column 251, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...Sanders look lightweight by comparison. It has also helped neutralise an impressio...
^^
Line 17, column 398, Rule ID: COMMA_PARENTHESIS_WHITESPACE
Message: Put a space after the comma
Suggestion: , &apos
...'She reminds me of my sister-in-law,' said one of her listeners in New Hamps...
^^^^^^
Line 19, column 80, Rule ID: SENTENCE_FRAGMENT[1]
Message: “Whether” at the beginning of a sentence requires a 2nd clause. Maybe a comma, question or exclamation mark is missing, or the sentence is incomplete and should be joined with the following sentence.
... main threat to Mr Biden from the left. Whether she could woo enough moderate voters to...
^^^^^^^
Line 22, column 92, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Meanwhile,
...ttention than they deserve on the left. Meanwhile they are being studied by reform-minded...
^^^^^^^^^
Line 22, column 431, Rule ID: EN_A_VS_AN
Message: Use 'an' instead of 'a' if the following word starts with a vowel sound, e.g. 'an article', 'an hour'
Suggestion: an
...lauding its aims, while concluding that a 'radical progressive movement&apos...
^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, if, look, may, second, so, well, while, at least, for example, no doubt, talking about
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 34.0 10.4613686534 325% => Less to be verbs wanted.
Auxiliary verbs: 14.0 5.04856512141 277% => Less auxiliary verb wanted.
Conjunction : 24.0 7.30242825607 329% => Less conjunction wanted
Relative clauses : 23.0 12.0772626932 190% => OK
Pronoun: 111.0 22.412803532 495% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 123.0 30.3222958057 406% => Less preposition wanted.
Nominalization: 17.0 5.01324503311 339% => Less nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 5295.0 1373.03311258 386% => Less number of characters wanted.
No of words: 985.0 270.72406181 364% => Less content wanted.
Chars per words: 5.37563451777 5.08290768461 106% => OK
Fourth root words length: 5.6022057846 4.04702891845 138% => OK
Word Length SD: 3.16122211488 2.5805825403 123% => OK
Unique words: 542.0 145.348785872 373% => Less unique words wanted.
Unique words percentage: 0.550253807107 0.540411800872 102% => OK
syllable_count: 1586.7 419.366225166 378% => syllable counts are too long.
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.55342163355 103% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 39.0 3.25607064018 1198% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Article: 3.0 8.23620309051 36% => OK
Subordination: 8.0 1.25165562914 639% => Less adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 12.0 1.51434878587 792% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 9.0 2.5761589404 349% => Less preposition wanted as sentence beginnings.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 54.0 13.0662251656 413% => Too many sentences.
Sentence length: 18.0 21.2450331126 85% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 50.7118177216 49.2860985944 103% => OK
Chars per sentence: 98.0555555556 110.228320801 89% => OK
Words per sentence: 18.2407407407 21.698381199 84% => OK
Discourse Markers: 1.7962962963 7.06452816374 25% => More transition words/phrases wanted.
Paragraphs: 12.0 4.09492273731 293% => Less paragraphs wanted.
Language errors: 9.0 4.19205298013 215% => Less language errors wanted.
Sentences with positive sentiment : 27.0 4.33554083885 623% => Less positive sentences wanted.
Sentences with negative sentiment : 13.0 4.45695364238 292% => Less negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 16.0 4.27373068433 374% => Less facts, knowledge or examples wanted.
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.029224385646 0.272083759551 11% => The similarity between the topic and the content is low.
Sentence topic coherence: 0.00856582324639 0.0996497079465 9% => Sentence topic similarity is low.
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0173773250583 0.0662205650399 26% => Sentences are similar to each other.
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0148814986699 0.162205337803 9% => Maybe some paragraphs are off the topic.
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.00843643285655 0.0443174109184 19% => Paragraphs are similar to each other. Some content may get duplicated or it is not exactly right on the topic.
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 13.0 13.3589403974 97% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 53.21 53.8541721854 99% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 5.55761589404 158% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.3 11.0289183223 93% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 13.92 12.2367328918 114% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.39 8.42419426049 111% => OK
difficult_words: 303.0 63.6247240618 476% => Less difficult words wanted.
linsear_write_formula: 12.5 10.7273730684 117% => OK
gunning_fog: 9.2 10.498013245 88% => OK
text_standard: 13.0 11.2008830022 116% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Write the essay in 20 minutes.
Maximum four paragraphs wanted.
It is not exactly right on the topic in the view of e-grader. Maybe there is a wrong essay topic.
Rates: 3.33333333333 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 1.0 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.