The Beginning of Elizabeth Warren's Senate Campaign?

Elizabeth Warren Listening Tour's First Stop, Ritterbin Photography Blog - Images by Mike Ritter

Years ago, over a Dorchester Arts Collaborative breakfast at Gerard's, I met a walking Boston institution. I just didn't know it at the time. Her name is Joyce Linehan and she runs Ashmont Media. Over the years, I have shot various jobs with her from bands to politics, and she's shown me what it is to do meaningful work and be a true part of the community. I can hear her blushing now so enough about Joyce.

Joyce asked me to run to be a delegate at this year's Massachusetts Democratic Convention in Lowell (I was elected!). While there in early June, candidates more or less kicked off their campaigns as to why they should be the Democrat to run against Scott Brown next year. But, the buzz in the crowd was about Elizabeth Warren. At that point, she was still in the running to be the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and hence only a hypothetical candidate. Earlier this month, President Obama nominated Richard Cordray to the post leaving Warren free to run if she decides to do so.

This brings us to Monday of this week. Joyce hosted Warren's first Listening Tour stop. Between Joyce's living room, dining room, and hallway about 50 staunch Democrats filled the room to hear what Elizabeth Warren had to say. She gave a brief introduction of her personal life but mostly focused on her time crafting the bank bailout and helping create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

She began taking questions. One listener pointed out that fiscal responsibility is something Republicans lay claim to and that while the regulations of the CFPB are good, how will she keep from being portrayed as a bleeding heart shielding the incompetent from the consequences of their irresponsible decisions? She replied it was about fairness - one of her main themes.

More and more, things are stacked against the middle class. Did people who knew better take out mortgages they never should have years ago? Yes. Is she looking to save people like that? No. At the same time, did many people get tricked by intentionally confusing and misleading fine print in their credit card contracts, mortgages, and student loans? Yes. That is what she wants to fix through the CFPB and the type work she'd like to be part of as a Senator. Giving normal people a shot when it seems more and more leverage goes to the big guys these days.

I realize now, I recognized her from Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story and from the documentary Maxed Out. I also enjoyed finding this YouTube clip with Elizabeth Warren grilling Tim Geithner over the seemingly preferential bailout terms of AIG and Goldman Sachs in comparison to the car industry.

In the end, she said she could settle back into her academic life at Harvard. She could spend more time with her family. But, when she thinks about the future of her granddaughters, she knows there is an unbelievable amount of work to be done and who else is going to do it? These are the options she is weighing now.

What's on everybody's mind these days? Debt and uncertainty. To me, it seems Elizabeth Warren has worked hard to address these issues for Main Street America and in Washington. She left that night with people pledging to work hard for her campaign if she does in fact run. I'd be one of them.