Elizabeth Warren’s Graceful Surrender

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Elizabeth Warren surrendered today. As I watched her speak with reporters outside her Massachusetts home, I was transported back to 1992 and my second job in politics: holding Geraldine Ferraro's purse.

I also happened to be Gerry's press secretary in her unsuccessful campaign that year for the U.S. Senate in New York. But I did plenty of purse holding. A man standing off to the side holding a purse while a woman speaks to an audience has an unusual perch. I emitted the obligatory chuckle as the umpteenth supporter or volunteer made a clever remark about my purse. And I'd watch the main action, the woman actually in the arena, from the dual perspective of a campaign staffer deeply invested in the public performance and of a man who could only guess or intuit about what the politician, and woman, in front of me was going through.

Gerry was not a big reader. But one book that she clung to like a life raft was “In a Different Voice,” by Carol Gilligan, which asserts that women approach tasks and problems in different ways than men. I was always vaguely skeptical of the book's broad claims. Gerry, however, used the book's thesis to make an affirmative case for women in political leadership as more creative, cooperative problem-solvers than men. It was part of her stump speech — a part she never grew tired of reiterating.

I think she had a less obvious use for the book as well: She used it to bolster her confidence when necessary, to affirm that she belonged in the big leagues with Big Men. Because being a woman in politics in 1992, when there were two elected women in the U.S. Senate, was tough.

It still is. Ask Warren.

Of course, if you do ask her, she probably can't afford to be honest with you. When Warren was asked today about the role of sexism in her campaign's roller-coaster trajectory, she demurred, saying she would have more on that subject later. She rightly noted that there is no way to answer the question and win.

“If you say, ‘Yeah, there was sexism in this race,' everyone says, ‘Whiner!'” Warren said. “If you say, ‘No, there was no sexism, about a bazillion women think, ‘What planet do you live on?'”

Warren may be especially confounding to some people. Her intellect can be intimidating, and she pushes norms in multiple directions. She manages to be both tougher than the female political archetype, employing biting sarcasm and frontal attacks, while also being naturally, deeply empathetic. In a political environment where nonwhite and nonmale candidates must strive to find a series of Goldilocks sweet spots — appearance, tone, affect, rhetoric, policy, etc. — Warren kicks up, sometimes fiercely, at the powerful while extending a gentle hand down to the powerless. She campaigns in her own truly different voice.

In her remarks thanking her campaign staff earlier in the day, Warren noted, among the campaign's accomplishments, that it had “shown that a woman can stand up, hold her ground, and stay true to herself — no matter what.”

Gerry Ferraro was a ground breaker. Warren is too. There are many reasons why she failed to win the Democratic presidential nomination. But don't kid yourself: Being a woman is one of them.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Newman at mnewman43@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Francis Wilkinson writes editorials on politics and U.S. domestic policy for Bloomberg Opinion. He was executive editor of the Week. He was previously a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.

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