Elizabeth Warren’s New Ad Reminds Voters Of Her Alliance With Obama

A new television spot set to air in Iowa features footage of a 2010 Rose Garden press conference with the president.
President Barack Obama announces Elizabeth Warren as a special adviser to lead the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Rose Garden on Sept. 17, 2010.
President Barack Obama announces Elizabeth Warren as a special adviser to lead the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Rose Garden on Sept. 17, 2010.
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Former Vice President Joe Biden isn’t the only Democratic presidential candidate who can put former President Barack Obama in his ads.

One of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s newest ads in Iowa features footage of Obama announcing that she would help lead the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the wake of the Great Recession. Images from the Sept. 17, 2010, event appear as Warren describes her role in launching that agency.

“After Wall Street crashed our economy in 2008, I confronted the broken system head-on,” the Massachusetts senator says in the 30-second ad, which will air on broadcast, cable and digital platforms in Iowa. “That created America’s first consumer watchdog to hold the big banks accountable.”

Biden has already aired two television ads featuring footage of the man he served under. Now Warren’s new spot shows she won’t shy away from hyping her own work with the former president, who remains by far the most popular figure in Democratic Party politics.

Of course, while Biden has worked hard to erase any daylight between himself and Obama, Warren’s relationship with the former president ― and especially with some of the senior members of his economic team ― has been more testy.

Warren’s criticisms of the Obama administration’s response to the Great Recession ― chiefly, that they focused too much on stabilizing large financial institutions and not enough on helping struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure ― appeal to many progressives, who make up a large chunk of her political base.

After the mention of Obama, the new ad moves on to Warren’s election to the Senate in 2012: “When Republican senators tried to sabotage the reforms we made, I ran against one of them and I beat him.”

The spot is part of the Warren campaign’s existing $10 million ad buy in the four early-voting states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. It comes as Warren is increasing her advertising budget in Iowa after initially being outspent by South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the state.

Warren is also releasing a second ad, this one focused on her core campaign theme of fighting corruption. The spot has her speaking directly to the camera on the issue, mixed with footage of Trump administration figures and of Warren’s 20,000-person strong rally at Washington Square Park in New York City.

“I have the biggest anti-corruption plan since Watergate,” Warren says in the ad. “I know what’s broken, I know how to fix it and that’s why I’m running for president.”

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