The New Republic has a new article that talks about how Elizabeth Warren would be a strong challenger to any potential Hillary Clinton candidacy. This is the front page story in the print version of their magazine. The article quotes a "former aide" to Warren, who suggests that she may be considering a run for President after all:
Warren is shrewd enough to understand that the future of the Democratic Party is at stake in 2016. At 64, she knows that if Hillary wins and populates yet another administration with heirs to Robert Rubin, it will be at least eight years before there’s another chance to reclaim the party. “She has an immense—I can’t put it in words—a sense of destiny,” says a former aide. “If Hillary or the man on the moon is not representing her stuff, and her people don’t have a seat at table, she’ll do what she can to make sure it’s represented.”
Warren refused to tell me what would happen if the likely 2016 nominee is wrong on her issues. “You’ve asked me about the politics. All I can do is take you back to the principle part of this,” she said. “I know what I am in Washington to do: I’m here to fight for hardworking families.”4
These words may be soothingly diplomatic, but her methods usually are not—and that should be terrifying for Hillary. An opponent who doesn’t heed political incentives is like a militant who doesn’t fear death. “Yeah, Hillary is running. And she’ll probably win,” says the former aide. “But Elizabeth doesn’t care about winning. She doesn’t care whose turn it is.”
Simultaneously, Huffington Post
publishes an article talking up Warren's prospects, as does
Politico. This follows a
Washington Post story recently that discussed Warren's 2016 prospects.
It's interesting to consider an Elizabeth Warren challenge to Hillary Clinton. The New Republic piece talks about how Warren lobbied the Clinton administration against bankruptcy "reform", and then felt betrayed when Hillary reversed herself and voted in favor of it as Senator. Warren would absolutely have a powerful argument to make about representing the needs of the working class.
This comes at the same time that there is a resurgence on the left that can be seen everywhere from Bill de Blasio's 50-point win in New York, to the fact that a Socialist Alternative candidate and ex-Occupy activist, Kshama Sawant, may end up defeating the Democratic incumbent for Seattle City Council (the race is currently too close to call as votes continue to be counted). You have to think that if Warren doesn't run to represent the left, someone else will.
Here's Warren speaking at the AFL-CIO a couple months ago: