Brian Beutler August 5, 2010, 8:00 AM

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and its new affiliate, the P St. Project, will launch a public campaign this week with the help of Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) to whip up support in the Senate for Elizabeth Warren’s nomination and confirmation to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

PCCC, in partnership with the progressive group CREDO, rounded up 200,000 petition signatures in support of Warren, and will now team up with Franken to urge members to publicly commit to voting for her.

“Elizabeth Warren has proven that she is willing to stand up to Wall Street on behalf of consumers and is the logical choice to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” Franken said. “If appointed by President Obama, I would vote to confirm Elizabeth Warren to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”

In a letter to its members, PCCC highlights Franken’s support and urges supporters to tell their senators to follow suit. “Our momentum really impressed Senator Franken from Minnesota - so much that he’s released a statement supporting Warren for the job and he’s working with us to ask his colleagues to sign on,” the letter reads. “Can you call Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet and ask them if they will sign on to Franken’s statement?”

Warren has strong support among progressives and the Democratic party. Just today, Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-DE) released a statement urging the White House to nominate her “
“Elizabeth Warren is the ideal candidate to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and I hope very much that President Obama will appoint her to that position.”

But leading Democrats have been publicly at odds over whether Warren would touch off a lengthy confirmation battle — a question this whip effort could resolve. You can read the entire letter below.

Debbie,

The Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal have all reported on our petition with Credo Action supporting Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — and we hit 200,000 signers!

Our momentum really impressed Senator Franken from Minnesota - so much that he’s released a statement supporting Warren for the job and he’s working with us to ask his colleagues to sign on.

Can you call Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet and ask them if they will sign on to Franken’s statement? Click here to make a call.

So far, our public pressure has taken us from 6 to 63 House members endorsing Warren publicly and led the White House to issue this game-changing statement:

Robert Gibbs, Obama spokesman: “I would say Elizabeth Warren is a terrific candidate. I don’t think any criticism in any way by anybody would disqualify her. I think she’s very confirmable for this job.”

Now let’s prove them right.

Can you call Sens. Udall and Bennet and ask them to sign on to the Franken statement supporting Warren - and prove she’s confirmable?

Click here for a script and the number.

Every Senator that signs puts more pressure on the White House to appoint Warren. And it helps us keep the media focused on the issue, leading to more coverage like this:
Washington Post: The PCCC “helped Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) organize a letter calling on President Obama to nominate Elizabeth Warren to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…the group helped Maloney’s letter attract more than 60 members of Congress as co-signers.”

New York Post: “The PCCC has fetched more than 200,000 signatures in support of a Warren nomination in the past week.”

Can you take a minute to call Sens. Udall and Bennet and ask them to sign the Franken statement?

Thanks for being a bold progressive,

—Julia Rosen and the PCCC team

Al Franken, Chris Dodd, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Elizabeth Warren, Financial Reform, Robert Gibbs, Ted Kaufman, Wall Street, White House