York: Why Elizabeth Warren should run for president

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren is on a publicity tour for her new campaign-style book, “A Fighting Chance.” As she talks to the press, Warren is repeating previous statements that she will not run for president in 2016. But her denials aren’t really denials, and her party’s unique presidential circumstances give Warren plenty of room to run. Judging by what she has said publicly, there’s no reason to rule out a Warren candidacy.

First, the non-denial denials. Recently ABC’s David Muir asked Warren, “Are you going to run for president?” Warren’s response was, “I’m not running for president.”

That’s the oldest lawyerly evasion in the book. Warren, a former law professor, did not say, “I am not going to run for president.” Instead, she said she is “not running,” which could, in some sense, be true when she spoke the words but no longer true by, say, later this year.

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The bottom line is that Warren’s statements are entirely consistent with someone who is planning to announce a presidential candidacy later this year. Maybe she will, maybe she won’t. But she ruled nothing out.