Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is almost certainly planning a presidential run in 2020, already seems to have some of her spin ready to go.
Sensitive to criticism that she’s now a party insider, Warren rolled out a new line this week. “I’m an outsider who now has a lot more leverage,” she told New York magazine. That’s one way to put it.
[Related: Warren hints at 2020 bid in fundraising off Trump’s ‘Pocahontas’ mock]
There’s no question Warren entered the upper chamber in 2012 as a progressive antagonist, eager to chase friction with the establishment in both parties. But by 2016, she was delivering a keynote address at the DNC convention, and had a big hand in moving the Democratic Party closer to her own point on the ideological spectrum. Warren’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton was pivotal, and she made the candidate’s shortlist of potential vice presidential picks. She’s one of the most popular Democratic lawmakers in the country, and regularly receives friendly coverage in major media outlets (case in point, the glowing profile this quote came from). Sure, she probably remains further to the Left than Democrats as a whole (although that seems increasingly debatable), but that may say more about the party than Warren.
Warren helped stoke the populist fires that will likely give any candidate who can pitch themselves as an outsider an advantage in the 2020 Democratic primary. And she seems to know that. The question, though, is whether she’ll be able to get away with it herself.
