But I do know this: Assuming Warren follows through on her not-quite-set plan to seek the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate, Massachusetts has never seen a candidate quite like her.
Think of Martha Coakley, all tailored and scripted, and now think of the exact opposite. Think of Brown, cautiously circling every critical issue before tiptoeing ahead with a last-minute stand, and think of the opposite of that as well. Think of our governor, preaching the virtues of togetherness in that pleasantly wispy voice of his, and think of the opposite.
She talks from her gut as well as her sizable brain. She bothers not with polls and focus groups. She far prefers to fight for what she believes in rather than compromise it all away. As I said, it may take a little while to get used to this.
There was a particularly telling moment in an interview chock full of them yesterday, one in which a Globe colleague informed Warren that in a campaign, she might have to be something more than the thorn that is her trademark.
Warren nodded vigorously and smiled. “Thorn,’’ she said. “I like that.’’
She’s your typical Oklahoma-born daughter of a carpet salesman and Sears worker who went on to become a state debating champion, attended public college, got married young, had kids early, graduated from law school while taking care of a toddler, earned a teaching position at Harvard Law School, and finally headed to Washington as the plainspoken voice of people getting crushed by so many predatory lenders and underregulated banks. She’s like Ralph Nader without the airs and self-obsession, sort of a Prairie Home professor. Then President Obama failed to appoint her this summer to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that was her brainchild, after Republican senators threatened to filibuster her confirmation. Banks and their many backers in Congress are scared to death of her.
