Elizabeth Warren considering run for U.S. Senate

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Elizabeth Warren had been hoping for an appointment to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency she conceived as a watchdog initiative in the wake of the financial crisis. She has served for 10 months as a special adviser to President Obama.

But the prospect of Warren serving as head of the new agency was derailed by strong opposition from Republicans and the banksters of Wall Street, who do not want a new Marshall in town to protect consumers. (Obama instead announced he is nominating Richard Cordray, former attorney general of Ohio, whom Elizabeth Warren strongly supports). President Obama Nominates Richard Cordray to Lead Consumer Financial Protection Bureau | The White House.

When one door closes, another one opens — one Tea-Publicans may come to regret. Progressives have been encouraging Elizabeth Warren to run for the U.S. Senate against flash-in-the-pan Scott Brown for Ted Kennedy's old seat in Massachusetts. Warren is giving it serious consideration. Leaving D.C., Warren ponders run for Senate – Boston.com:

Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law School professor whose consumer protection work has made her a favorite among liberal activists, will spend early August assessing whether to try to unseat Senator Scott Brown, an adviser said.

Warren will return to Massachusetts to ponder her political future after President Obama’s decision not to select her as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She will spend a few weeks winding down her role in Washington and on a trip with her grandchildren, and then focus on what’s next, according to the adviser.

National liberal activists believe Warren would be able to raise the necessary money and make the strongest case among Democrats seeking to challenge Brown. The adviser spoke on the condition of anonymity because Warren’s plans are emerging.

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Warren told MSNBC yester day that she plans to take her grandchildren to Legoland and then return to Massachusetts.

“Massachusetts does beckon in the sense that it’s my home and I need to go home,’’ she said. “I’ll do more thinking then, but I need to do that thinking not from Washington; I need to go home.’’

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Warren’s supporters believe her record as a consumer advocate whose early grasp of Wall Street’s role in creating the subprime mortgage crisis makes her an attractive candidate. They have begun online efforts to draft her [see Daily Kos Action] and raise money on her behalf. But she is untested in campaigns, which bring a different element of public scrutiny and up-close interactions, and she is virtually unknown to large swaths of the electorate.

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Warren has said little about whether she plans to run for Senate. And her delay in making a decision has left some party operatives anxious, questioning whether she has the passion for a backbreaking campaign. “Running for statewide office is enormously difficult and one has to have the fire in the belly to be successful, particularly against a well-financed incumbent,’’ said Philip W. Johnston, former state Democratic chairman.

Relax. Elizabeth Warren sounded every bit the candidate in this interview on the Rachel Maddow Show on Monday night. (Report begins at 07:08 mark). "If it takes more fighting… we can do it."

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