Elizabeth Warren To Kick Off 2020 Campaign With Visit To Iowa
Just the day after announcing that she will be throwing her hat into the ring to take over the presidency in 2020, Senator Elizabeth Warren has already planned her first stops on the campaign trail.
On Tuesday, Warren announced that she will be going on a four-city tour through the crucial state of Iowa, according to a report by Business Insider. The Democratic senator will be visiting the cities of Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Storm Lake, and Sioux City.
These four stops will be the first visits Warren will be making since she announced on Monday that she will be setting up an exploratory committee for a presidential campaign. The events she is planning to attend include three open meetings at a large bar, a theater, and a community center in Des Moines, Council Bluffs, and Sioux City. The fourth event in Storm Lake is being described as a roundtable discussion.
Warren’s setting up of the committee does not mean she will definitely be running for president, but is definitely the first step to “staking a claim to be the Democrats’ leading candidate.” Another option for the Democrats could come in the form of Beto O’Rourke, who met with former President Barack Obama in November last year, suggesting he may also have presidential ambitions.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will visit Iowa this weekend, making her first trip to the state that begins the Democratic presidential nominating process, days after taking a major step toward a 2020 run https://t.co/OzEuLW3cpM pic.twitter.com/jlnpCERY9h
— CNN (@CNN) January 1, 2019
Iowa is one of the swing states that frequently changes its allegiances when elections come around and could be crucial for Warren to take an early lead if she makes an impact with her visit this weekend. In 2004 and 2016, the votes went to Republicans George W. Bush and President Donald Trump, but in 2008 and 2012 Democrat Barack Obama took the state.
The state is also scheduled to host the first presidential primary election on February 3, 2020. For the past four elections, Iowa’s allegiance has ultimately come down on the side of the winning candidate.
Warren is the highest profile Democrat to hint at an election run in 2020, posting a video to Twitter and launching a website that went live on Monday morning to coincide with the tweet. The video saw her describing her vision for “defending the middle class,” who she believes is “under attack.”
Every person in America should be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules, & take care of themselves & the people they love. That’s what I’m fighting for, & that’s why I’m launching an exploratory committee for president. I need you with me: https://t.co/BNl2I1m8OX pic.twitter.com/uXXtp94EvY
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) December 31, 2018
President Trump has, of course, been critical of Warren, calling her Pocahontas to mock her claim that she has Native American ancestry. Speaking about her chances at winning the presidency, he responded by saying, “Well, that I don’t know. You’d have to ask her psychiatrist.”
