| POLITICS & CAMPAIGNS: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is trying to recapture her mojo after losing some polling steam in Iowa amid the rise of South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who sits atop recent surveys of the first-in-the-nation caucus state. As Julia Manchester reports, Warren will arrive at Wednesday’s Democratic primary debate under heavy attacks from her rivals over her “Medicare for All” plan and continued questions over her viability in a general election setting. Along with the Iowa polling slip, these areas represent a moment of concern for the campaign, which had been riding high in the primary until recently. However, it’s her health care proposal that has given her opponents an opening, which they’ve exploited in recent weeks. “I think her announcing the specifics on the health care plan hurt her, and created an opportunity for Biden, and now also Buttigieg,” said Michael Gordon, a Democratic strategist. “Arguably the best moment for Biden’s campaign thus far was when Warren released her payment plan for Medicare for All. That combined with some of the polls that showed her not doing as well as Biden against Trump in key swing states feels like some of the gas has been taken out of her campaign. With Warren’s momentum ebbing slightly, the centrist wing of the Democratic Party has found itself on the rise, headlined by Buttigieg’s newly-minted spot as the top dog in the Hawkeye State. As Niall Stanage says in his latest memo on the race, along with Buttigieg’s polling rise, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick entered the race last week, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is poised to do so in the near future. In addition, former President Obama issued a warning to his party against overestimating the American public’s appetite for sweeping change. Those developments, all coming in quick succession, have changed the mood music around a primary that had previously been dominated by Warren’s rise and questions about whether Biden’s centrist policies were out of step with the party’s progressive base. The Hill: Key Republicans say Biden can break Washington gridlock. Politico: Impeachment trial crashes into Senate’s 2020 plans. 
© Getty Images Centrists, capitalists and 1 percenters: Warren, who made a reputation in and out of politics as a ferocious critic of large financial and tech firms, weighed in again on Monday, taking on private equity firm Blackstone for what she said was its decision to “shamelessly” profit from the financial crisis in 2008. Warren is an outspoken advocate for consumers, middle- and lower-income borrowers and families, and students who she says are undercut by corporate profiteering, excessive CEO compensation and Wall Street’s focus on satisfying stockholders and investors. The senator has been publicly critical of Facebook, Amazon, Wells Fargo and many of the Democratic-leaning financial titans who bristle at her zeal while she describes them as bad actors. Her assertion that Blackstone took advantage of real estate foreclosures to turn a profit during the financial meltdown served as a backdrop for her tenants’ rights plan, which Warren unveiled. It was the latest instance of the Democratic 2020 presidential candidate singling out Wall Street companies and investors by name for actions she says contribute to inequality (Bloomberg News). Bloomberg, recoiling at the anti-capitalist policies and rhetoric of Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), may soon enter the Democratic race in part because he’s so opposed to their approach. Patrick, a self-made millionaire and a managing director at Bain Capital, is a late entrant in the presidential race who has endorsed super PACs and has not shied from his advice to wealthy clients. Wall Street and other influential CEOs who consider themselves open to Democratic causes and candidates have made no secret of their alarm that Warren has become a top-tier presidential contender in part because of her worries about the influence of big banks and behemoth tech firms. Lloyd Blankfein, a former Goldman Sachs chief executive who is now a senior chairman, was targeted by Warren in one of her campaign ads as a CEO who “earned $70 million during the financial crisis.” Blankfein shot back, “Vilification of people as a member of a group may be good for her campaign, not the country. Maybe tribalism is just in her DNA” (Reuters). JPMorgan Chase CEO and chairman Jamie Dimon told CBS News’s “60 Minutes” that he’s not enamored with Warren’s rhetoric but doesn’t want to single her out: “Anything that vilifies people I just don't like. I think, you know, most people are good, not all of 'em. I think you should vilify Nazis, but you shouldn't vilify people who worked hard to accomplish things. And so my comment is, I think it's American society — we're just attacking each other all the time” (CBS News). Pressed to comment on his recent JPMorgan raise to $31 million, Dimon called America’s wage gap a “huge problem.” | 
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