Is Liz Warren preparing for a presidential run?

Exactly one decade since U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren paved the way for today’s progressive left by creating the Occupy Wall Street protest movement, the Massachusetts Democrat has been conspicuously absent from much of the national discussion this fall.

Consider the loudest voices on the left right now. U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal rallied the troops on the $3.5 trillion dollar reconciliation package. Fellow House member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez remains a ubiquitous presence on television and social media. Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders made waves for refusing to sign onto a letter condemning the protestors harassing Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in a bathroom.

President Biden has a growing list of political problems from within his own party, but Warren, who once accused then-Sen. Biden of “being on the side of the credit companies,” has not been one of them. Until now. Warren ratcheted up her criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whose 10-year term expires in February. She has called for an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into allegations of insider trading by top Fed officials.

Warren has gone deeply personal, blasting the “culture of corruption” at the Fed and labeling him a “dangerous man.” Her political offensive has cast a shadow over Powell’s re-nomination, and put her at odds with the White House, which reiterated its “confidence in Powell at this time.”

Of course, as with most of Warren’s villains, there is more than meets the eye. She has developed a track record of selective sanctimony, crusading against certain individuals and institutions while turning a blind eye to others — especially those in her back yard of Massachusetts — engaged in the same behavior.

For instance, Warren rails on the high costs of college and has demanded that Biden cancel $50,000 dollars of student debt. Left unsaid are the root cause of those costs: the exorbitant $50,000 annual tuition fees commanded by institutions like Harvard University — where Warren used to draw a $400,000 salary.

Warren’s love-hate relationship with defense contractors such as Raytheon — political pinatas in Democratic politics but respected employers in Massachusetts — has been well-documented.

On insider trading, Warren has been quiet about the questionable stock-selling practices of top executives at Moderna, which happens to be headquartered in Warren’s hometown of Cambridge. Last year, the biotech company’s stock soared as their COVID-19 vaccine moved through the approval process. At the same time, Moderna insiders sold as much as $1.9 billion of stock, turning a huge profit and leading Jay Clayton, then-chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to wonder: “Why would you want to even raise the question that you were doing something that was inappropriate?”

Which brings us back to Warren’s current crusade against Jerome Powell. Banking issues have always been Warren’s political bread and butter. In 2011, when she bragged about creating “much of the intellectual foundation” for Occupy Wall Street, she became a left-wing populist star overnight. It’s possible that she, like many others, are looking at a nearly 80-yearold Biden with a 38% approval rating and concluding that there is no earthly way he can be the Democratic standard-bearer in 2024.

Should Warren decide to take the presidential plunge again, she may well try to dust off the greatest hits that made her a political star in the first place. But all the vulnerabilities and authenticity questions lie in wait as well, and they have only ripened over time.