Elizabeth Warren has mostly been regarded as a vice presidential dark horse more likely destined, if progressive dreams were answered, for a top cabinet position.Confronted with the prospect of taking office next year in the depths of a historic economic and health crisis, Biden is now talking about a bolder presidency, with ambitions stretching beyond the restoration of pre-Donald Trump normalcy.
In November 2019, Warren responded to Biden's criticism of her"Medicare for All" plan by accusing him of"repeating Republican talking points" and suggesting the former vice president, given his position on the matter, might be"running in the wrong presidential primary.
Warren, too, has been moved by the former vice president's efforts -- in particular his March decision to endorse Warren's consumer bankruptcy reform plan, which opens up new avenues for student debt relief. It had been a bone of contention between them tracing back decades, to when they famously squared off over it during a hearing on Capitol Hill. A source familiar with Warren's thinking said it meant a lot to her that Biden adopted her bankruptcy plan when she dropped out.
That potential connection, though, has grown in recent weeks -- as the senator mourns her brother, Donald Reed Herring, who died of Covid-19. Warren described the conversation she had with Biden, who called to offer his condolences, in a recent interview withBiden contacted Warren shortly after her brother's death, the source said.
"I'm seeing actions that show it," said Nelson, an increasingly influential labor leader."The grilling that Elizabeth Warren gave Steve Mnuchin around enforcement of the CARES Act ... was right in line with what we were talking about. Biden picked that up and amplified it with a tweet thread." Other Warren allies pointed to her turn as a pre-pandemic Cassandra, whose warning in the summer of 2019 that the economy was one"shock" away from another collapse were mostly ignored. When she offered a series of plans, earlier this year, for dealing with the coronavirus when its full force was unleashed on the country, those too were largely overlooked.
Biden and his team have said that the decision will ultimately turn on two key wagers: that he can foresee a partnership, in the White House, that has the potential to mirror the close relationship he shared with President Barack Obama. And that his choice be ready to ascend and lead, if necessary, with little or no on-the-job training.