Elizabeth Warren Might Have Just Opened The Door To A Presidential Run

After months of denying speculation she will think about running for president in 2016, US Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) slightly opened the door to that possibility in an interview with People magazine.

"I don't think so," Warren told the magazine, when asked if she was "on board" with supporters who are actively pushing her to run. "If there's any lesson I've learned in the last five years, it's don't be so sure about what lies ahead. There are amazing doors that could open."

It's a noticeable shift from September, when she told Katie Couric that she was "not running for president," saying it was "critical" for Democrats to focus on holding control of the Senate in 2014.

She has given some variation of that answer over much of the past year, despite a flurry of progressive supporters who have urged her to run and challenge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is considered the Democratic frontrunner if she decides to run.

Political analysts, however, still think Warren would only run on the slim chance Clinton decides against it. But that's not "totally out of the question," Potomac Research Group chief political strategist Greg Valliere said.

"Hillary has stated that she enjoys being a grandmother, and she knows her detractors will dredge up issues from her past - as the Wall Street Journal editorial page did this morning in a scathing comment on the demonization of Monica Lewinsky," Valliere said.

"If Hillary runs, she would be the overwhelming favorite for the nomination; if Hillary doesn't run, Joe Biden would enter the race, but his cringe-inducing gaffes this fall probably have disqualified him. The rest of the Democrats' bench is awfully thin; Kirsten Gillibrand [D-N.Y.] is hardly a household name. So Warren has a chance - if Hillary doesn't run."