Warren tells Seattle: ‘Dream big, fight hard’ as campaign makes Washington appearance
Don’t count her out.
Even though Sen. Bernie Sanders won Saturday’s Nevada caucus, Sen. Elizabeth Warren still has a passionate following in Washington state, which turned out to pack the Seattle Center Armory.
According to the campaign, more than 7,000 were in attendance, including in an overflow space at Fisher Pavilion.
Taking the stage to the Dolly Parton song, “9 to 5,” she was ready not only to bring the fight to Donald Trump, but Michael Bloomberg.
“(Bloomberg) has skipped the first four states, and he plans to come in on Super Tuesday and here in Washington and draw hundreds of millions of dollars and buy this election,” the candidate said.
That was met with boos.
Warren went on.
“He’s hiding his taxes ...... who knows what lurks there.”
“We’re not substituting one arrogant billionaire for another.”
“You’ve got to fight and have a plan to get things done.”
“This election is not for sale.”
She congratulated Sanders on his Nevada win and thanked that state for keeping her “in the fight.”
But she hit early and frequently on Bloomberg and drew contrasts to him and her own work.
“You remember the (Wall Street) crash, you know the one Bloomberg blamed on Latinos and African Americans. ... I had a plan for a consumer agency,” Warren told her supporters. “I am not a lifelong politician, but I am a lifelong fighter.”
Terri Niles of Vancouver, Washington, arrived at the Seattle Armory early in the afternoon to hand out stickers for Warren.
Outfitted in a “Women with Warren” T-shirt and campaign buttons, she said she supported Warren because she’s “brilliant.”
“We need a woman in the White House. It’s about time, right?” she said smiling.
Niles started volunteering for Warren in June, and she acknowledged the Nevada debate appearance helped to re-energize the base.
“We’ve got about a dozen coming up here today from Clark County,” she said.
Theo Samuels from Seattle came to the rally to hear what Warren had to say on gender equality.
“I’m genderqueer, so my voting tends to be based on genderqueer people, especially those of color and in neighborhoods that are not as liberal as mine,” Samuels said. “I would rather go for a strong candidate who will protect those people who are especially vulnerable right now and are being killed at a very high rate.”
Melissa Weakly and Jeannie Grassi brought homemade “Persist Warren 4 Prez” and “You Go, Girl! Warren 2020” signs from home.
“I think that she’d be a fantastic leader,” Weakly said. “She’s aligned with my beliefs and ideals, but she also knows how to get things done. She’s articulate, she’s inclusive and I just think that she’s the best person to unite the Democratic party.”
Weakly and Grassi, who are from Bainbridge Island, said health care and climate change were particularly important issues to them.
“I very much want to support a female candidate because I feel like we’ve taken three steps back in our society,” Weakly said. “I want to have a very capable, confident, strong, kick-ass woman (as president).”
Becky Peterson traveled from Portland, Oregon, to attend the rally with her daughter, Madeline Bergman, who works at a Seattle law firm.
“I think she’s very representative to a lot of people, and I think she’ll be able to represent a wide swath of Americans … I think the fact that her history in education, and in law, and in banking — she’s come to her policies through experience, not because it’s trendy,” Bergman said.
In opening remarks before Warren took the stage, Toshiko Hasegawa, director of the Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs told the crowd: “You don’t get what you don’t fight for. ... We are the rising tide of justice.”
Some supporters said they’d like to see Warren take on President Donald Trump in a debate.
“First of all, I like the fact that she’s a woman and a professional debater because I think she can probably eat up Trump and spit him out like hamburger,” supporter Sarah Roskam said as she stood in line at the rally. “We need someone who can look him in the eye and take him on.”
Warren told the crowd Saturday she is prepared to do just that.
“It is time for a wealth tax in America,” she said to some of the loudest cheers of the night.
She blamed Trump and his family for “stealing the wealth and dignity of this country. Leadership starts in the White House, and what I will do is lead an America that values every single human being.”
When asked what she was looking for in a running mate: “There are some really good choices out there. ... I want a partner in this fight, that’s it.”
Warren’s previous Seattle appearance drew an estimated 15,000 to an outdoor rally at the Seattle Center International Fountain area in August, in what at that time her campaign said was the largest audience yet in her presidential run.
Before speaking to the main crowd Saturday night, Warren spoke briefly to an overflow crowd in another room at the center, entering to chants of “Dream big, fight hard.”
She ended it with a promise of “Selfies for everyone!” at the end.
Washington state voters in the past year have turned out by the thousands to see candidates in the Democratic race, culminating in the largest campaign draw yet to the state this cycle, 17 ,000 to see current front-runner Bernie Sanders in a free rally held Feb. 17 at the Tacoma Dome.
Last summer, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg drew more than 1,000 to the Showbox in Seattle for a ticketed fund-raising town hall, hundreds in December to another fundraiser at Seattle’s Moore Theatre, and on Feb. 15 he drew an estimated 350 again to Seattle, this time for a fundraiser at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center.
Buttigieg is not alone among Democratic contenders in holding Washington fundraisers and is quick to remind supporters on the campaign trail he is the only non-millionaire candidate.
The level of fundraising underscores the extreme level of money needed to campaign alongside the two billionaires running (former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer), who are using their own money for massive ad spends.
On Thursday, Buttigieg’s campaign sent an email to supporters, stating that it needed $13 million just to stay competitive before Super Tuesday, which is March 3, noting it had raised $6 million in the first month of this year, and an additional $11 million so far this month.
“Frankly, our numbers should have been better,” it read. “And what we did raise would have gone a lot further without another billionaire in the race.”
Bloomberg has already run two billion online ads on Google and Facebook so far this year, adding up to 30,000 online ads a minute, according to the Washington Post.
“We are no longer just up against Bernie Sanders, the Washington politician who has been running for president for years. We are now also up against a billionaire who is throwing colossal sums of money on television instead of doing the work of campaigning. He just expects others to clear a path for him and his money,” the Buttigieg campaign email noted.
Warren herself has gained the aid of a new super PAC formed to help her stay in the race, and another one recently formed to help candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
Warren previously has taken a hard line against accepting super PAC money but reversed course this week.
“If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in. I’ll lead the charge,” Warren said Thursday in Nevada. “But that’s how it has to be. It can’t be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only one or two don’t.”
According to Opensecrets.org, which tracks political funding, each of the top 2020 Democratic Democrats are now backed by outside funding groups. By law, candidates cannot coordinate with these independent groups and cannot direct their spending.
On Saturday, a Warren campaign representative tweeted: “We’ve raised $9 million in 3 days and more than $21 million this month.”
Washington state, at least for now, is very much still in play for its delegates, with endorsements coming in early from local officials and entities to align early with their preferred candidates.
The word for the night from Warren and her campaign was “fight.” Over and over.
“This is the moment to choose courage over fear, dream big, fight hard and win,” she said in closing.
Washington’s presidential primary is March 10.
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Warren tells Seattle: ‘Dream big, fight hard’ as campaign makes Washington appearance."
