Having shot to the national stage in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis after winning a key presidential advisory position and control over the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Elizabeth Warren is considering a bid for the Massachusetts Senate seat held by Republican Scott Brown.
Warren has a nod from Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh, and over 50,000 people have responded to a grassroots campaign run by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) to draft the Harvard law professor.
She launched an invitation-only listening tour this week, organized by Democratic consultants Doug Rubin and Kyle Sullivan, the Boston Globe reported.
“Elizabeth Warren has a track record of holding Wall Street accountable and fighting for regular people like us. Let’s tell her that if she runs, she’ll have our support!” stated the PCCC website.
Members of the PCCC have donated over $50,000 toward Warren’s campaign. Many have pledged to volunteer and campaign on her behalf, if she decides to enter the race.
Rumors that Warren was considering a challenge to Brown began in July when it was learned that she would return to Massachusetts, where her family has lived for 17 years, after President Barack Obama passed her over as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The bureau, which is intended to help Americans navigate the complex world of financial decision-making by having access to simple and transparent information, was Warren’s idea. It came into being as part of a greater financial services overhaul contained in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Warren is known for her passionate defense of the bureau in the face of Republican officials, and business and finance interest groups. While generally winning respect for her professionalism and her accomplishments, some supporters fear that she could be viewed as too partisan, or that her Harvard law professor status will be a turn-off for some potential supporters.
Warren has not said much publicly and has declined media requests for interviews, but she recently wrote in a post titled “Coming Home,” on a Blue Mass Group blog site, “I left Washington, but I don’t plan to stop fighting for middle class families.”
“In the weeks ahead, I want to hear from you about the challenges we face and how we get our economy growing again ... I want to hear your thoughts about how we can make sure that our voices—our families, our friends, and our neighbors—are heard again,” Warren wrote.
A Facebook page, “Elizabeth Warren for Senate 2012,” features a post by an unknown blogger in Arlington, Va., which says he or she hosted Warren on Tuesday, where she “wowed” a group of 30 activists.
“I was very pleased to discover that the passionate and articulate powerhouse I had seen on TV is also warm, funny and a natural campaigner,” wrote the blogger.
The blogger reported that before Warren decides to run, she said she would need to know that her message about fighting to preserve the middle class will resonate, and that she will be supported by the grassroots.
Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat in a special election against Democratic State Attorney General Martha Coakley in January 2010. Brown replaced deceased Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
Democrats are anxious to win back the seat. Several candidates have declared that they will campaign, but none boast the name recognition, nor the fundraising ability to challenge Brown.
Warren has reportedly begun phoning top Democrats in the nation to understand whether she can win enough campaign dollars to compete with Brown’s war chest, which is more than $10 million dollars.
Warren has a nod from Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh, and over 50,000 people have responded to a grassroots campaign run by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) to draft the Harvard law professor.
She launched an invitation-only listening tour this week, organized by Democratic consultants Doug Rubin and Kyle Sullivan, the Boston Globe reported.
“Elizabeth Warren has a track record of holding Wall Street accountable and fighting for regular people like us. Let’s tell her that if she runs, she’ll have our support!” stated the PCCC website.
Members of the PCCC have donated over $50,000 toward Warren’s campaign. Many have pledged to volunteer and campaign on her behalf, if she decides to enter the race.
Rumors that Warren was considering a challenge to Brown began in July when it was learned that she would return to Massachusetts, where her family has lived for 17 years, after President Barack Obama passed her over as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The bureau, which is intended to help Americans navigate the complex world of financial decision-making by having access to simple and transparent information, was Warren’s idea. It came into being as part of a greater financial services overhaul contained in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Warren is known for her passionate defense of the bureau in the face of Republican officials, and business and finance interest groups. While generally winning respect for her professionalism and her accomplishments, some supporters fear that she could be viewed as too partisan, or that her Harvard law professor status will be a turn-off for some potential supporters.
Warren has not said much publicly and has declined media requests for interviews, but she recently wrote in a post titled “Coming Home,” on a Blue Mass Group blog site, “I left Washington, but I don’t plan to stop fighting for middle class families.”
“In the weeks ahead, I want to hear from you about the challenges we face and how we get our economy growing again ... I want to hear your thoughts about how we can make sure that our voices—our families, our friends, and our neighbors—are heard again,” Warren wrote.
A Facebook page, “Elizabeth Warren for Senate 2012,” features a post by an unknown blogger in Arlington, Va., which says he or she hosted Warren on Tuesday, where she “wowed” a group of 30 activists.
“I was very pleased to discover that the passionate and articulate powerhouse I had seen on TV is also warm, funny and a natural campaigner,” wrote the blogger.
The blogger reported that before Warren decides to run, she said she would need to know that her message about fighting to preserve the middle class will resonate, and that she will be supported by the grassroots.
Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat in a special election against Democratic State Attorney General Martha Coakley in January 2010. Brown replaced deceased Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
Democrats are anxious to win back the seat. Several candidates have declared that they will campaign, but none boast the name recognition, nor the fundraising ability to challenge Brown.
Warren has reportedly begun phoning top Democrats in the nation to understand whether she can win enough campaign dollars to compete with Brown’s war chest, which is more than $10 million dollars.
