Hillary Rodham Clinton believes Sen. Elizabeth Warren is a “special kind of leader” who will play a critical role in American politics for years to come.
Writing the entry for Ms. Warren in Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People,” Mrs. Clinton said the freshman senator has become a leading champion for the working class.
“It was always going to take a special kind of leader to pick up Ted Kennedy’s mantle as senior Senator from Massachusetts — champion of working families and scourge of special interests. Elizabeth Warren never lets us forget that the work of taming Wall Street’s irresponsible risk taking and reforming our financial system is far from finished,” Mrs. Clinton said. “And she never hesitates to hold powerful people’s feet to the fire: bankers, lobbyists, senior government officials and, yes, even presidential aspirants.”
Mrs. Clinton announced this week she’ll seek the White House in 2016. Ms. Warren, Massachusetts Democrat and a hero to many on the liberal left, so far has refused calls to run for president.
Still, leading progressives have urged Mrs. Clinton to follow the example set by Ms. Warren and make economic populism a centerpiece of her fledgling campaign.
Some liberals fear Mrs. Clinton is too closely tied to Wall Street, and have launched an all-out effort to pull her further left and closer to the economic positions of Ms. Warren.
“We hope Hillary Clinton thinks big and takes on powerful interests on behalf of everyday working families,” Adam Green, co-founder of the increasingly powerful Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said after Mrs. Clinton’s presidential announcement on Sunday.
“Americans need Clinton to focus the national conversation on big, bold, economic populist ideas, like debt-free college, expanding Social Security, clean-energy jobs, Wall Street reform, campaign finance reform, and helping workers share in the wealth they create,” he added.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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