US Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren — an outspoken critic of Wall Street and nemesis of US President Donald Trump — on Monday entered next year’s race for the White House.
The 69-year-old progressive announced that she was launching an exploratory committee for president, becoming the first major candidate in what is set to be an extraordinarily crowded Democratic primary, united by a singular focus on unseating the Republican Trump.
The move would help Warren raise funds and hire more staff early in the campaign cycle — an effort in which she already leads most other potential Democratic candidates. Her announcement came 13 months before the Iowa caucuses that launch what is expected to be a boisterous primary season.
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“America’s middle class is under attack,” said a video message from Warren, who has represented Massachusetts in the US Senate since 2013, crafting a reputation as an economic populist.
“Corruption is poisoning our democracy,” she said. “Politicians look the other way while big insurance companies deny patients life-saving coverage, while big banks rip off consumers and while big oil companies destroy this planet.”
That is why she is launching her exploratory committee, she added.
With as many as three dozen Democrats weighing possible presidential bids, the road to the nomination will be arduous.
Several have already declared their intention to run: Julian Castro, a former housing secretary in former US president Barack Obama’s administration; US Representative John Delaney; and Richard Ojeda, a former army paratrooper serving as a state senator in West Virginia.
Polls for now show Warren trailing veteran politicians such as former US vice president Joe Biden and US Senator Bernie Sanders, both in their 70s — as well as rising young star Beto O’Rourke, who is 46.
However, analyst Nate Silver tweeted that Warren “probably has a better chance than Sanders of bridging the gap between the left and the party establishment.”
“She’s always raised a ton of money. Voters know what she stands for. Women did well in the 2018 primaries,” Silver added.
Warren has built the framework of a serious campaign, with a staff of more than 70 people, US$12.5 million left over from her successful re-election effort and a nationwide network of contacts and supporters.
As she seeks to raise her profile, Warren likes to tell how she grew up in the Central Plains state of Oklahoma, in a family she said lived “on the ragged edge of the middle class.”
After her father suffered a heart attack, she went to work at age 13 waiting tables in a restaurant — life experiences that she says gives her a visceral connection to ordinary Americans.
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