[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/24/art.warren.bohn.jpg caption ="Elizabeth Warren received a warm at Netroots Nation on Saturday."]Las Vegas (CNN) – The woman many in the progressive community hope will be the first head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received a hero's welcome Saturday at the Netroots Nation convention.
Speaking at a seminar on building a progressive economic vision, Elizabeth Warren received a standing ovation as soon as she was introduced.
Warren, head of the congressional panel overseeing the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, is considered a strong advocate for the working and middle classes and has been one of the fiercest proponents of the new consumer bureau, a centerpiece of the financial reform bill signed into law earlier this week by President Obama.
Some in the administration privately oppose Warren because of her outspokenness and work on the bailout panel.
During her speech Saturday to several hundred activists, Warren laid out what she thought should be some of the priorities for the new bureau: be a strong advocate for families; base it on realistic views of the effects of regulation; and make sure the bureau can adapt to changing economic circumstances.
Her remarks also indicated how enthusiastic she is about changes the new bureau might mean for consumers. Specifically she pointed out this will be the first agency to be created in a wired world, and should create conditions whereby consumers and regulators can instantly talk to each other.
“The possibilities here are endless,” she said.
Warren also asked the audience to help shape the agency and to push ideas they have.
“I want to talk to people who have a voice, and that is why I came to talk to you,” she said. “I want to ask you to use your voice as a voice of conscience.”
Reviewing how often lobbyists had predicted they would be able to kill the new agency, Warren said there is a lesson in that for the future, as lobbyists will continue to try to limit its scope.
“We didn’t give up. We scratched and we built and we hung on,” she said.
She never directly referenced the possibility of being the bureau’s first administrator although other speakers did. But Warren did generally reference it at the end of her speech.
“One way or another I will keep fighting for the middle class,” she said.
Warren later appeared on a separate panel on the forgotten foreclosure crisis at which she was lauded as the mother and godmother of the consumer bureau by panelists.
“I really hope the Obama administration appoints her,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, said. “My fingers are crossed. My toes are crossed.” The audience roundly applauded.
Warren then said thank you to the Senator.
Read more about Warren's rock star status at Netroots here.