From offering a uniquely specific raft of policy proposals, to simply showing an intense enthusiasm to actually do the job of the high office that she is seeking, Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has begun to surge in the polls and actually gain some of the traction which had eluded her since she announced for president early this year.

Warren, a US senator from Massachusetts, in recent weeks has begun to experience what precious few among this year’s crowded field of presidential contenders have: actual upward mobility in a variety of public opinion polls.

In the process, Warren has attracted the attention of the man who had made a habit of mocking her on Twitter and who she ultimately wants to replace: Donald Trump.

“What Elizabeth Warren is doing is showing people she really wants this job. So she’s really expressing this hunger that people in small settings in her campaign appearances are responding to,” said RealClearPolitics editor and columnist A.B. Stoddard. “She doesn’t just want to be president, she wants to do president. I don’t know that President Trump wanted to, I think he wanted to, you know, win. But there are days when he doesn’t act like he wants to do the job. Maybe Joe Biden is not showing up enough on the campaign trail. But her intensity about wanting to actually be president and govern and make all these changes is clearly breaking through.”

Despite all of her recent success, there remains at least one barrier to winning the Democratic nomination and the chance to take on Trump: the aforementioned Biden. Because while Warren has surpassed rival Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont for second place in some polling, the former vice president has remained the undisputed front-runner.

“I certainly think Elizabeth Warren is surging. I think her message is getting through. It has to be of some concern to the Biden campaign,” said former Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY). “But I also know that some internal numbers, in terms of the African-American population and its polling clearly shows that Biden has a significant advantage in that field. You know, this is very fluid and certainly no one should take anything for granted. I mean, I still think it’s a bit of a jump ball.”