Elizabeth Warren Campaigns in Iowa: 'This is How It Starts'

Hundreds of people packed a room in a bowling alley just across the state’s border with Nebraska as Warren, D-Mass., the uncompromising leftist and ardent critic of unrestrained capitalism, tackled issues including income inequality and climate change in an hourlong question-and-answer session with voters.

Though Warren’s campaign is still nascent — she announced the formation of an exploratory presidential committee on Monday — Friday’s event had all the hallmarks of a candidate meant to last: a laser-focused message on income inequality, a robust campaign staff shepherding hordes of interested reporters, and an excited supporter base eager to hear more.

“This is how it starts. Person to person. Town to town. Across Iowa and then across America,” Warren said, addressing supporters who were standing outside the venue, which was filled to capacity.

“All of us, together, raising our voices — that’s what’s going to make real change,” she said. “And Iowa is going to have a big part of determining where we go next.”

The event not only kicked off Warren’s campaign, but marked the starting point to what figures to be a long and grueling Democratic primary season. Dozens of candidates, including governors, senators and big-city mayors — many of whom will be new to the national stage — are considering joining the race in the coming months.

Some have characterized the 2020 Democratic nomination process as perhaps the most wide open since 1992: The party has no single leader, no obvious front-runner to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020, and no broadly unifying ideology as it moves away from a quarter-century of dominance by the Clintons and Barack Obama.

Warren, who will be among the top-tier candidates no matter who else runs, has staked out a position as one of the party’s most resolute voices on the left. Before she took questions from the audience, she laid out her overarching premise of America’s ills: too much corporate money in the political system, a retrenchment from government regulation in the market and even overt discrimination that has affected racial minorities.

“It is an America right now who works for the rich and powerful. And we need to call it out for what it is: corruption pure and simple,” Warren said. “What’s happening to opportunity in this country? Why is the path so rocky for many — and why is it so much rockier for people of color?”

Warren also paid special attention to telling her personal story. To the assembled crowd about 500, which included almost 200 people waiting outside, she spoke of her Oklahoma roots and her family’s humble upbringing.

She said she was motivated to run for president, not by party politics or the desire to oppose Trump, but because her personal life benefited from an American economy that has now become too inaccessible.

The event comes in a busy week for Warren. After announcing her exploratory committee Monday morning, she has four more events in Iowa this weekend, in Sioux City, Des Moines, Storm Lake and Ankeny. The Council Bluffs appearance Friday drew Iowans and residents of nearby Omaha.

In the crowd, many of the potential voters said they were just beginning to look at presidential candidates and had not yet decided on a singular person to support.

Daniel Jaimes, a 28-year-old graduate student who supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary, said Warren was currently in his “top two” choices, because she speaks to grassroots populism.

Gary Himes, 70, said he voted for Trump in the 2016 election but had been so disappointed by the current administration that he intends to vote for a Democrat “no matter what.” Liel Wilwerding, a 36-year-old Omaha resident, said she was looking for a candidate who can win back former Trump voters, like Himes.

“It’s important to pick a candidate who can go into these areas and be attractive,” said Wilwerding, who also supported Sanders in the 2016 primary.

Wilwerding brought a gift for Ms. Warren: a cross-stitched pattern that read “Nevertheless, she persisted,” the admonishment-turned-rallying cry spoken by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., when he cut short a speech by Warren on the Senate floor last year.

But most of all, many of the voters said they were excited to spend the next year hearing from several candidates.

“I supported Bernie in the primary, but I’m keeping my options open,” said Sarah Jane Teetzel, a 46-year-old Omaha resident. She added one caveat: “Except if I have to vote for an old white guy, he better be exceptional.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.