SEATTLE _ Sen. Elizabeth Warren, despite a disappointing showing in another early caucus on Saturday, promised a crowd of thousands in Seattle that she would continue to fight for "big, structural change." "I wasn't born a politician, but I was born a fighter and these times call for a fight," Warren told an overflow crowd at Seattle Center, before her main speech. "A fight on behalf of our families, a fight on behalf of our neighbors, a fight on behalf of our planet, a fight on behalf of our future, I'm ready to lead that fight."
Speaking to what her campaign said was 7,000 people at the Seattle Center Armory, Warren picked up the combative stance that drew her praise and millions of dollars in campaign donations at last Wednesday's debate.
After congratulating Sen. Bernie Sanders for winning the Nevada caucuses _ which she said "kept us in the fight" _ Warren shifted immediately to a fierce attack on former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg, Warren said, has a history of harassing women and supporting racist policies like redlining and stop-and-frisk policing.
"A billionaire who hides his taxes, has a bad history with women, let me put it this way, Warren said. "We're not substituting one arrogant billionaire for another."
Bloomberg, who touts his electability, "is not the safest candidate," Warren said. "Michael Bloomberg is the riskiest candidate."
Warren arrived straight from Nevada where early results had her in fourth place.
Warren's stop in Seattle comes at a far different moment in her campaign than her last visit, when she drew 15,000 people to the Seattle Center lawn on a sunny August afternoon _ at that point the largest crowd of her campaign. Then, she was just beginning a rise in the polls that would see her briefly emerge as a Democratic front-runner. Now, she's trying to turn her campaign around after a months-long slide in the polls and disappointing showings in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
And while ballots have already been mailed to voters for Washington's March 10 primary, the Democratic field may look far different come primary day. Next Saturday's South Carolina primary and Super Tuesday, March 3, when 14 states including California and Texas vote, could winnow the once-sprawling field to just a few candidates.
Warren has been preparing for a long campaign. She's had paid staff in Washington since December, and last month had more staff in the state than any other campaign.
"She's been walking her talk for years," said Crystal Novak, a general contractor from Seattle, who lined up hours early to see Warren. "She is well organized, she's thought of different ways to affect change and has come up with plans to implement that."
Warren earned strong reviews for her debate performance Wednesday night, when she forcefully attacked Bloomberg in the same terms she did Saturday night.
Her supporters loved it. In the three days since, she said Saturday night, her campaign has raised $9 million.
"I'd been waiting to hear that spark from her," said Lucy Autumn, a nurse from Bellingham. Autumn, however, remains undecided. "I would like to hear a little more of her commander-in-chief side."
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"She killed it, it was amazing," said Lisa Wilson, 30, an Amazon employee from Seattle. "She's already proven she can get things done. Fighting for consumers, for the credit bureau, that was a big deal."
Warren stressed herself as a fighter in recounting the story of that agency and how she got involved in politics following last decade's financial crisis.
"The government said we've got $700 billion to bail out the banks and we've got nothing for families who were cheated and I saw how wrong it was and I said 'I will get in this fight,'" Warren said.
She recounted going to Washington with her idea that would become the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She got two answers, she said. One, that it was a good idea and, two, that it would never happen.
"All I could hear was 'fight harder,'" Warren said. Eventually, despite banks spending millions of dollars lobbying against the creation of the new agency, it was passed into law.
"I learned two lessons from that in Washington," Warren said. "The first one I learned was you don't get what you don't fight for. And the second was we can make government work for the people, we can do this. So yeah I am a fighter, but I am a fighter who gets things done."
