Elizabeth Warren: The Dems' best shot to oust Scott Brown?

President Obama didn't pick Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren to run the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she created for him, but national Democrats still have big hopes for her political future. The Progressive Change Campaign has launched a petition drive to draft Warren to run against Republican Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Is Warren the Democrats' best hope to win back the seat long held by the late Ted Kennedy?

Warren is the perfect Democratic candidate: There is no guarantee progressives can get Warren to run, says Chris Bowers at Daily Kos. But it's worth a try. Deep-blue "Massachusetts is one of the top two Democratic pick up opportunities in the Senate next year," and Warren, one of the nation's top advocates for America's working and middle class, would stand a better chance than the Democrats' other options. "We need Elizabeth Warren to stay in the fight, and the Senate needs a fighter like Elizabeth Warren."

"Elizabeth Warren for Senate"

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But she's not a proven politician: The Democrats do need a strong candidate to beat Scott Brown, says Aaron Blake at The Washington Post, but is Warren the one? "The jury's still out." Warren, despite all her work to protect consumers, "is still a Harvard professor who hasn't done retail politics before," and has trouble relating to regular folks. Brown is the one with the "everyman image (think: the pick-up truck ads)" that voters love.

"Is Elizabeth Warren the answer for Democrats in Mass.?"

And she may have trouble winning over moderates: Now that Obama has balked at nominating Warren to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, says The Wall Street Journal in an editorial, she won't have to defend her role in the attempts to "squeeze billions" out of mortgage lenders. Running for office would give her the opportunity to "test her views against popular opinion." But a March survey found that Brown would beat her by 17 percentage points, so it's already apparent what the state's voters think of this "great liberal hero."

"Warren for Senate"