Warren set to announce candidacy amid lingering questions over identity

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren is preparing to formally launch her presidential campaign in Massachusetts today amid a fresh round of questions over whether she can move beyond a political problem that’s bedeviled her since her first Senate contest in 2012: Her decision to claim to be Native American in the 1980s and 1990s.

Allies hope the launch, set in the mill town of Lawrence, the site of a textile strike in the early 20th century, will allow the Massachusetts Democrat to reset the conversation about her candidacy and refocus it on her message of bolstering the middle class.

“The problem is, they haven’t put a bow on it,” said Symone D. Sanders, a Democratic strategist who is unaligned. “This is something, if not put to bed, it will take on a life of its own.”

The re-emergence of the issue — including Warren’s recent apologies and the disclosure of a 1986 document in which Warren claims to be “American Indian” — comes at an awkward time for the senator, ensuring that her announcement today will be closely scrutinized for whether and how she confronts the matter.

Warren’s campaign hoped questions over her identity claims would be largely answered by now. Aides have tried for nearly a year to put those concerns behind her so she could use this point in the campaign, when she is reintroducing herself to voters, to tout populist policies aimed at reducing the political power of corporations and special interests.

Warren has stuck to a strategy of responding only briefly such questions, saying a Native American background was part of her family lore and that she did not realize that tribes control membership.