Boston Globe Editorial Board: Elizabeth Warren should think carefully about run against Trump

Massachusetts politicians – including Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren – who may be mulling a 2020 White House run should think carefully about the decision, The Boston Globe’s editorial board suggested in a piece posted Thursday. (Reuters, File)

The Boston Globe’s editorial board -- which had called on Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for president in 2016 – wrote in a piece Thursday suggesting she's now become too "divisive," and would be better off staying in the Senate instead of running against President Trump in 2020.

“While Warren is an effective and impactful senator with an important voice nationally, she has become a divisive figure,” the editors wrote. “A unifying voice is what the country needs now after the polarizing politics of Donald Trump.”

It's a far cry from 2015, when the board wrote: “Democrats would be making a big mistake if they let Hillary Clinton coast to the presidential nomination without real opposition, and, as a national leader, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren can make sure that doesn’t happen. While Warren has repeatedly vowed that she won’t run for president herself, she ought to reconsider.”

“Running for president is hard. Deciding not to run? That can be even harder,” Thursday's piece began, before noting an announcement from former Democratic Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick that he would not be launching a 2020 run.

While commending Patrick’s tenure in office and saying that he “would have been a formidable candidate,” the publication urged other lawmakers in the state “reportedly considering presidential runs” to “think carefully before jumping in, too.”

The outlet noted multiple lawmakers who have been rumored to be contemplating a White House bid. They also recalled how in 2015, the “editorial page urged Warren to run, in part because of the lack of serious competition against Hillary Clinton.”

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Clinton ultimately became the Democratic candidate and lost to Trump in the general election.

But there isn’t as much a need for more Democratic candidates in the race this time around, the outlet said.

“With or without the Massachusetts candidates, it appears the party will have a wide-open, racially and ideologically diverse field,” they said while listing off several possible contenders.

Warren didn’t seize the open window of opportunity in the 2016 election and now “there’s reason to be skeptical” of her possible success as a candidate, The Globe said, while noting some poll figures in the state.

“Governor Baker garnered more votes than her in a state that is supposed to be a Democratic haven,” The Globe wrote. “Meanwhile, a September poll indicated that Massachusetts voters were more enthusiastic about Patrick making a White House bid than Warren.”

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Warren has not been shy about her interest in running against President Trump, at one point saying that after the midterm elections, she would “take a hard look at running for president.”

While acknowledging the difficulty for politicians to decide against launching a campaign after previously suggesting they would take it under consideration, The Globe noted Patrick's ability to do so.

“There’s no shame in testing the waters and deciding to stay on the beach,” they concluded.

Fox News’ Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.