While Hillary Clinton is remaining relatively quiet, hoping to keep her powder dry in advance of the presidential election cycle, Elizabeth Warren is growing louder.
Fresh off of leading a fight over a spending deal struck by congressional lawmakers, which the White House supported, Warren this week pushed back against a trade deal being negotiated by President Obama with Pacific nations, warning it could hamper efforts to keep Wall Street in check.
“With millions of families still struggling to recover from the last financial crisis and the Great Recession that followed, we cannot afford a trade deal that undermines the government’s ability to protect the American economy,” read a letter signed by Warren and a few other senators.
Warren has said she is not currently running for president. But, whether she is or not, her vocal defense of progressive policies is driving a wedge in the Democratic Party, with tangible repercussions for the coming presidential election.
Meanwhile, more Democrats are offering praise for Warren and what she represents. This week, Rep. Keith Ellison, a prominent progressive among House Democrats, gave a boost to the idea of Warren as a presidential candidate and foil to Clinton.
“I would love to see Elizabeth Warren in this race. I think it would be fantastic. I think that it would help the quality of the debate and she may win,” Ellison said Thursday on a Democracy For America conference call, MSNBC reported. “But even if she doesn’t, I think she’ll make Hillary Clinton a better candidate.”
Clinton, for her part, is already well-liked among progressive Democrats, polls show, and still holds a commanding lead among other potential Democratic candidates, including Warren.
But, much as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, made a name for himself last year and stirred speculation about a potential presidential campaign by taking ideological stands appealing to his party’s base, Warren might find greater power and attention in the minority.
As a newly minted member of Senate Democratic leadership beginning next month, Warren will have a sturdy platform from which to express her positions — and, for as long as she is a potential candidate for president, a megaphone.
“There’s an arc in Sen. Warren’s approach,” said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist and former aide to outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “She started off keeping her head down and trying to avoid the national media, and now she’s picking and choosing her spots to elevate issues.”
