There’s a reason that I point out how my rankings of the Democratic candidates are based on my preference, rather than unbiased calculation of who has the best chance to win the nomination. I’m biased in favor of Elizabeth Warren. Not so much that I’ll be like a Bernie bro and try to sabotage any other Democratic candidate that might win the nomination. But it’s gonna take a lot for some other candidate to earn my preference over Senator Warren.
Exhibit A is this article from Vox that I just read. It covers her time getting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) up and running during the Obama administration. I’ve been following Senator Warren’s crusade since about that time, when I was a Major in the Air Force, working in Washington DC. I was on my last assignment and, after my deployment to Iraq, I knew I would be getting out at the 20 year mark. I figured my best chance for post retirement employment was somewhere in the federal government. I officially retired March 2012, but I was on terminal leave by Thanksgiving 2011. Even before I knew the exact when of the retirement, I had my eyes on the CFPB. Working as a JAG, I didn’t have direct attorney experience in consumer financial issues, but I always kept it in the back of my mind. And I paid close attention to everything that was going on with the CFPB.
Once I was on terminal leave, and even before that really, I was searching for any and all positions, attorney or related, that I could plausibly apply for. Once the CFPB positions showed up on USAJOBS.com, I knew that was where I wanted to go. In the article, they talked about how Senator Warren was looking for people who were true believers and I can see in retrospect that was the case. I got a non-attorney position in the Consumer Response division of the CFPB and I can attest that the people I worked with really wanted to do the best they could for consumers. Some probably also hated big banks and some may have hoped to work with big banks someday, but most everybody really cared to do what we could to make the CFPB work for consumers. It was a good job and I really enjoyed the work that I did there. Especially because I felt like I made a difference for consumers. I was able to fight on their behalf against big banks and payday lenders and credit card companies and credit bureaus and debt collectors. In this way I feel a kinship for the mission that I think Senator Warren has in her run to be President. She’s running a good campaign and has good ideas that I agree with. But, she’s probably going to be #1 on my ranking for a while and our common interest in the mission of the CFPB is the reason why.