The MFJS Reporter — Winter 2020 M-W

DENVER –  What started as a grey, snowy morning slowly turned into a beautiful, warm Denver winter day. As the sun came out, so did the Elizabeth Warren supporters. As the crowds gathered, the 4,000 person intimate Fillmore Auditorium quickly filled up and became packed straight to the back. Unable to fit all of her supporters into this venue, Warren came outside of the auditorium to thank everyone for coming out, apologizing for not being able to fit everyone inside. 

“I’ve got bad news, and I’ve got good news,” said Warren greeting the overflow outside of the auditorium, “the bad news is there’s no more room inside, the good news is there’s no more room inside!” 

Rallys in Colorado have been popping off in the last weeks, with multiple candidates stopping by to gain support before the upcoming 2020 elections, such as Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and Pete Buttigieg. Warren’s rally this past Sunday drew the least amount of supporters out of her running mates. 

Before Warren took the stage, Sen. Kerry Donovan warmed up the crowd with powerful messages, ending the Warren walk-up speech with “We will not be told that we don’t belong in this race – and we sure as heck won’t step aside for someone else to run for president when we know Elizabeth Warren is the best gal to lead this nation”. 

The structure of this Warren rally was a question and answer, with many questions focusing on Bloomberg as a looming threat, topics such as healthcare, immigration, and the cost of her proposals. Warren declined to criticize Sanders upon being asked by a reporter if he posed as a threat to her nomination. 

Warren’s overall message of this rally is her call for change in America, “I want to go to Washington not just to talk,” Warren exclaimed, “I want to go to Washington to make big, structural change.”

The U.S. senator from Massachusetts has been down in the campaign rankings in comparison to other democratic presidential candidates. Down 13% in national polls, Warren trails behind democratic leaders such as Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, and Michael Bloomberg.

“She’s just so amazing, such a strong woman who should be the next president of the United States” said Linda Johnston, a 46 year old from Boulder, CO, who was attending the rally because she’s “been a fan since the beginning of Warren’s campaign”. 

Warren is expected to have 103 events in just 116 total campaign days. Warren is known for her ability to answer lots of audience questions, and interact with supporters immensely. Warren has taken over 25,000 selfies with supporters throughout her campaign.

“I hope to continue to see people come around to support and eventually vote for Elizabeth Warren,” said John Locke, a first year marketing minor at DU, “her policies on healthcare for those who don’t have insurance is something that is very appealing to me”.