Odds of a Warren Presidential Run Just Grew

Elizabeth Warren has come out swinging against her own party on two contentious issues in recent weeks—and it could be a sign she's moving closer to a presidential run, writes Danny Vinik at the New Republic. First, the senator opposed President Obama's nomination of investment banker Antonio Weiss for the number-three position at the Treasury department, arguing in the Huffington Post that his nomination contributed to a message "that whatever goes wrong in this economy, the Wall Street banks will be protected first."

This week, Warren took on the new spending bill, slamming a rider that derailed part of Dodd-Frank financial reform. The measure, she said on the Senate floor, "would let derivatives traders on Wall Street gamble with taxpayer money and get bailed out by the government when their risky bets threaten to blow up our financial system." Once again, she was going against President Obama, who supported the bill, which eventually passed the House. Both these issues "hold significant appeal for the Democratic base that believes Obama has grown too close to Wall Street and worries that (Hillary) Clinton will be more of the same," Vinik writes. Warren's press secretary still says she "isn't running for president," but that doesn't mean she won't. Click for the full piece. (More Elizabeth Warren stories.)