Women can win elections

Don’t let exaggerated fears stand in the way of nominating them

(Photo by Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)

I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect the memoirs of working politicians to be searchingly accurate, so the self-serving aspects of Elizabeth Warren’s new book didn’t bother me as much as they did Jonathan Chait.

What did bother me, though, is the specific time she takes in the book to attribute her defeat to sexism, because the problem there isn’t just literal accuracy but what impact it has down the line. Broadly speaking, I think Warren overstates this problem. But I also don’t think she’s 100% mistaken. Hillary Clinton and her senior staff also put a lot of weight on sexism in their accounts of her defeat at the hands of Donald Trump in 2016. Most Democrats like and admire Hillary Clinton, and they take what she says seriously. And she had two big statements during Trump’s first term that I think made an impression on people:

• Donald Trump is a uniquely dangerous person and we need to end his presidency by any means necessary.

• Sexism makes it…