National group entices Elizabeth Warren to take on Scott Brown

Harvard Law School professor and former Obama Administration advisor Elizabeth Warren is sending clear signs that she is seriously considering mounting a challenge against Sen. Scott Brown, writing in a blog post Thursday she still has work to do to rebuild the economy.


“I left Washington, but I don’t plan to stop fighting for middle class families. I spent years working against special interests and have the battle scars to show it – and I have no intention of stopping now,” Warren wrote on Blue Mass Group, a left-leaning blog.


Warren was recently passed over to lead the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the agency that she was widely credited with setting up. As a result of her outspoken advocacy to increase regulations on banks and hedge funds, Warren has emerged as a darling of the left, leading many leading Democrats in Washington to urge her to challenge Brown.


Now, it seems Warren is moving toward doing exactly that. She spent Friday calling Massachusetts officials and activists, according to the Boston Globe. Warren has also reportedly reached out to prominent state political operatives, including Doug Rubin, a former campaign manager for Gov. Deval L. Patrick '78, and Kyle Sullivan, who was Patrick’s communications manager. Over the next few weeks she will be travelling around the state conducting meetings, probably the firmest indication yet that she’s seriously weighing a run.


Democratic leaders—especially in Washington D.C.—have spent months urging Warren to run for the seat, saying that a high-profile figure such as Warren could build the enthusiasm and war chest necessary to defeat the incumbent Brown.


While Thursday’s blog post did not contain explicit mention of running for the Senate, the post reads much like a campaign document, mentioning Warren’s upbringing in Oklahoma and how her family struggled to get by.


The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has reportedly raised $100,000 to help Warren and claims to have nearly 54,000 volunteers ready to roll if she opts in to the crowded field of Democrats who want to reclaim Ted Kennedy’s former seat.


A Democratic operative close to Warren said the PCCC support is “appreciated” and that she’s “focused on meeting with and talking with grassroots folks across Massachusetts.”




Another Democratic strategist predicted she’d be able to raise funds to compete with Brown’s $10 million war chest.


“She can raise money nationally,” the strategist said. “If she gets in, the money that will come into the race on the Scott Brown side will be astounding.”


Massachusetts GOP chairman Jennifer Nassour countered: “If the Massachusetts Democratic primary were decided by Washington insiders and policy wonks in ivory towers, Professor Warren would likely be the front-runner. Time will tell whether the Massachusetts Democratic political machine caves in to the Washington, D.C., establishment pushing her candidacy.”


Warren has hired Doug Rubin — the architect of Gov. Deval Patrick’s historic 2006 victory — and says she’ll make a decision by Labor Day on whether she’ll join the 2012 race.


She has yet to open a federal campaign account and is a political newcomer, but she has gotten strong support from national Democrats unsatisfied with the current field, which includes City Year founder Alan Khazei, state Rep. Tom Conroy (D-Wayland) and Newton Mayor Setti Warren, among others.