So... 'Elizabeth Warren: Vice President' Is A Thing Now?

Communication with Hillary Clinton's campaign, and now behind-the-scenes Dem leadership maneuvering. Does this mean all that "Elizabeth Warren: Vice President" talk is... actually a thing?

Apparently. Maybe.

The Massachusetts Senator's status - will she endorse? could she be Democrats' vice presidential pick? what happens if she is? - has been a dominant theme this campaign season, and not just among us locals in Massachusetts. News out from the Boston Globe Friday suggests that fever-pitch speculation has suddenly gotten more concrete.

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Warren is a darling of the progressive movement adored by left-leaning liberals of the Bernie Sanders variety, and propelled into office on the coattails of the Occupy Wall Street movement. She recently rocketed to national prominence by publicly taking on Donald Trump on his favorite platform: Twitter. The back-and-forth dominated news cycles for days and spurred whole new rounds of speculation about Warren's electoral ambitions.

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The problem, of course, is for Democratic bigwigs like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who have a legislative majority to look after. He in no uncertain terms last month said Warren should not be running for second-in-command (his exact words: "hell no.")

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Now, reports The Boston Globe's Matt Viser, Reid "has been actively reviewing Massachusetts rules for filling a US Senate vacancy." He calls this "another indication of the seriousness with which Democrats are gaming out the possibility of Elizabeth Warren joining likely presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s ticket."

The maneuvering is necessitated by Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican who would be tasked with appointing a temporary filler for Warren's Senate seat in an election year Senate Democrats had hoped would finally swing their way. Now, an anonymous source tells the Globe, there could be a bit of a loophole. Full story here.

Further evidence, as reported by The Washington Post, is that - in short - Warren's people have been talking to Clinton's people. Seems weak, but when it manifests as an apparently coordinated assault on the presumptive Republican nominee's presidential credentials, one starts to wonder.

Or, at least, wonder with a little more specificity than before.

>> Photo by AFGE via Flickr/Creative Commons