Elizabeth Warren: "We Are Not Resting Until at Least 50 Senators Are Women"

By Dana Davidsen, CNN

29 April 14

lizabeth Warren contends America's middle class struggles against a system that's "rigged" and favors those who wield power in money and politics.

It's a refrain the freshman Democratic Massachusetts senator and former consumer protection advocate repeats often since entering national politics where she is already viewed as a possible presidential candidate in 2016 even though she says she's not running.

It's also the crux of her new book, "A Fighting Chance," released this week.

One of Wall Street's toughest critics, Warren told CNN's Bill Weir the title of the book originated from her fight to level the playing field.

"Let's just be real clear - the game is rigged and it's rigged in favor of those who have money and who have power," Warren said in an interview on "CNN Tonight."

"Watch what happens in Wall Street. If you can hire an army of lobbyists and an army of lawyers then you get what you need out of Washington - Washington will make sure that the rules work for you," she said.

"A Fighting Chance"

Warren, a former Harvard University Law School professor, said her memoir is inspired by her modest upbringing and parents who struggled to make ends meet.

"I think that what I learned very early is that people can work hard, they can play by the rules and then they can take such a financial smack that it just turns them upside down and they can never quite get their feet under them again," she said. "A kid doesn't forget something like that."

Warren was a senior adviser under President Barack Obama in setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - created to protect Americans from unfair lending practices and bring transparency to financial products - before returning to Massachusetts to run for the Senate.

"A Fighting Chance" chronicles Warren's fight to create the agency - a cause that eventually prevailed after a fierce congressional battle.

Where's she headed next?

So where's Warren, with her legions of loyal, progressive followers, headed next?

Not to the White House.

"I'm not running for president. I'm working right now in the issues I'm talking about in this book. America's middle class has been hammered for a generation now. My life's work has been just to try to level the playing field."

She called Hillary Clinton "terrific."

Clinton's seen as the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential race if she runs.

But some have speculated that if Warren were to throw her hat into the ring, the former secretary of state might have a run for her money with the liberal base.

A push for women in Congress

Along with her full-throated support of a potential Clinton candidacy, Warren said wants more women in power, specifically in Congress.

"I'll tell you one thing that is really important to me and that is whatever job I make it to, is to look back and say where's the next women who's ready to move up the ladder and let's bring her up," Warren said, noting that her top aides in her Senate campaign were all women.

"I'll tell you, we're not resting until we get to at least 50 seats in the United States Senate," she said.