Sen. Elizabeth Warren officially launched her presidential campaign over the weekend with strong endorsements from up-and-coming Rep. Joe Kennedy and liberal stalwart Sen. Ed Markey. Standing before a cheering crowd at the site of a famous labor strike 100 years ago, Warren promised voters Medicare for all and a higher minimum wage. She also vowed not to take money from political action committees or billionaire donors.

But try as she might, she couldn’t dodge the one issue that has persistently dogged her campaign since its inception. Warren claimed for years that she was of Native American ancestry, a claim that turned out not to be so accurate, to put it mildly. After her announcement, it seemed as though she spent the entire week on one long apology tour, repeatedly explaining that she should have been “more sensitive about tribal citizenship.”

In that way, the senator from Massachusetts seems to be taking a lesson from the Hillary Clinton campaign. Clinton ignored the e-mail scandal as it was brewing, only to have it grow into a tsunami that ultimately wounded her. It appears that Warren is determined to confront the charges directly in an attempt to address them and move on as she heads toward 2020.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 748)