Elizabeth Warren mulls Massachusetts Senate bid, threatening GOP plans

Elizabeth Warren missed her opportunity to go directly up against Senate Republicans during her confirmation hearing, now that she's been passed over as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). But she may get another shot, in the electoral arena.

Warren, a Harvard Law school professor and attorney, plans to spend early August mulling whether to challenge Massachusetts GOP Sen. Scott Brown next year, an adviser told the Boston Globe.

That's welcome news to many Democrats who had been floating the idea of a 2012 senate run for Warren. No doubt many Massachusetts Democrats would welcome the prospect of picking up a Senate seat after Republicans essentially killed her chances of chairing the CFPB.

Warren's national profile increased when President Obama picked her last year to help create the CFPB--a regulatory body that Warren's own ideas were instrumental in launching. And she became a hero to the left and consumer-rights groups once her possible nomination drew vehement GOP opposition that cited her past record of fighting against Wall Street and big corporations.

Democrats are still searching for a top candidate in the 2012 Massachusetts Senate race. Party strategists believe they have a strong shot at defeating Brown--in part, because of his own record of voting for the Obama administration's legislative agenda, after pulling off a surprise 2010 special-election victory with the backing of the national tea party movement. Many conservative leaders have since denounced Brown as a turncoat, which will likely dilute his support for his 2012 re-election bid.

At the moment, multiple Democrats are angling for their party's 2012 nomination in the Massachusetts Senate race, but none has gained major traction.

Warren has lived in Massachusetts since the early 1990s, according to news reports. She told the media this week that she plans to remain in the state, and away from the D.C. power nexus, as she mulls her decision.