Elizabeth Warren at Netroots Nation

At the end of Water protests in Detroit, I wrote "In other news, Elizabeth Warren spoke.  That will be the topic of another update."  I'll begin with this excerpt from the Detroit Free Press.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told a crowd at Cobo Center today that “corporations are not people.”

In a speech that touched on topics ranging from immigration to culpability in the financial crisis, the Democratic senator — who now is being encouraged by some to run for president — offered a list of progressive beliefs, blasting big banks, lobbying and corporate misdeeds along the way.

“Those with power fight to make sure every rule tilts in their favor. That’s what we’re up against,” she told the crowd, which responded with rounds of applause. At times, the crowd broke into chants of “Run, Liz, Run,” a reference to the next presidential race. Warren, however, has said she has no plans to run for president in 2016.

Amanda Turkel of The Huffington Post captured an even more inspiring quote.

Warren focused her message on her familiar theme of economic populism, getting loud applause when she said, "The game is rigged. And the rich and the powerful have lobbyists and lawyers and plenty of friends in Congress. Everybody else, not so much. So the way I see this is we can whine about it, we can whimper about it or we can fight back. I'm fighting back!"

As for the attempt by the Warren supporters to draft her, Turkel had this to say.

Warren's supporters used her speech to progressive activists Friday as their launching pad, handing out hats, signs and stickers to attendees. When Warren appeared on stage, large banners urging her to run were unfurled, and members of the crowd chanted for her to run a few times during her speech.

Warren, however, does not support this effort, as her spokeswoman told The Huffington Post this week. And she didn't acknowledge the calls to run for president Friday either, simply urging people to sit down whenever they jumped up and started applauding.

I really enjoyed the speech and found it a great way to start my day of meeting other activists, participating caucuses, and attending panel discussions.  However, I did not join in the calls for Elizabeth Warren to run.  I can understand why the conference attendees want Warren to contest the Democratic nomination, but she's not going to run so long as Hillary Clinton appears likely to.  At this stage in the game, the nomination is Clinton's to lose and the best that Warren could hope for is to audition to be Vice President.  That might not be a bad idea, but I suspect Warren thinks she can serve her state and her country more effectively in other ways.  If so, I agree.