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Obama, Warren emerge as potential political foils

FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 file photo, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., left, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, voice their objections to a House-approved spending bill that includes a repeal of the Dodd-Frank divide between traditional banks and derivative trading, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington. Six years after the collapse of Lehman Bros., the lessons of the financial crisis may already be fading from memory. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 file photo, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., left, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, voice their objections to a House-approved spending bill that includes a repeal of the Dodd-Frank divide between traditional banks and derivative trading, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington. Six years after the collapse of Lehman Bros., the lessons of the financial crisis may already be fading from memory. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 file photo, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., left, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, voice their objections to a House-approved spending bill that includes a repeal of the Dodd-Frank divide between traditional banks and derivative trading, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington. Six years after the collapse of Lehman Bros., the lessons of the financial crisis may already be fading from memory. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

By Associated Press 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – During the depths of the economic crises that consumed his first term, President Barack Obama helped pluck Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren out of relative obscurity and made her the face of his campaign to curtail Wall Street banks.

Now Warren is showing her willingness to take a stand against Obama, magnifying rifts in the Democratic Party and sparking speculation about her presidential ambitions.

Despite their shared history, Warren and the White House have a political incentive in using each other as a foil.

For Obama, creating distance with Warren may be seen as a tack to the center that clears the way for striking deals with Republicans. For Warren, splitting with the president helps solidify her as a populist champion and perhaps opens a lane for a 2016 presidential campaign.