Elizabeth Warren insists: 'I am not running for president'

Three hundred ex-Obama campaign staffers might be ready for Elizabeth Warren, but the Massachusetts senator isn't heeding their wishes about a White House bid.

In an interview with NPR that aired Monday, the populist Democrat who reignited liberal hopes of a 2016 campaign bid said four times: "I'm not running for president."

Steve Inskeep of NPR noted that Warren's statements were made without a definitive declaration of "never" in the sentence. "I am not running for president. You want me to put an exclamation point at the end?" Warren responded.

Warren buoyed independent groups hoping to urge her into the presidential race when she took a stand against the $1.1 trillion bill to fund most of the government because it contained a provision that would loosen rules against Wall Street banks.  She lost the battle — the Senate passed the spending bill late Saturday — but showed her chops as a general committed to a lengthy ideological war.

Warren played down her challenge to the Senate Democratic leadership (of which she is now a part) and vowed she would continue to fight Wall Street. "I am glad to be in leadership, I am grateful to have a place at the table, but my priorities haven't changed," she said. "I'm gonna stand up and fight for what I believe in."

In addition to the ex-Obama campaign staffers, the liberal group MoveOn.org committed to spending $1 million to draft Warren into the 2016 race. The organization will hold its Iowa kickoff Wednesday in Des Moines.