Elizabeth Warren at the New York rally: "Corruption breaks our democracy"

Elizabeth Warren delivered an important speech on the devastating effects of corruption at Washington Square Park, New York. In the background was the former site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where a fire broke out on March 25, 1911, killing nearly 150 people, many of them immigrant women and girls.

"It took 18 minutes for 146 people to die. Especially women. Mainly immigrants – Jews and Italians. Especially people who earned as little as $ 5 a week trying to make their American dream come true, "said Warren to the crowd, who occupied most of Lower Manhattan's park. "It was one of the worst industrial disasters in American history. One of the worst, but that should not have been a surprise. "

She made the speech the same day she unveiled a broad package of anti-corruption measures, which she said will be her first legislative priority if she is elected president. For years, workers complained of dangerous conditions and asked for better hours and higher wages, but they did not get it. The tragedy was probably avoidable: the doors of the factory being locked, the women inside could not escape.

Warren does not just believe that corruption is bad for democracy, it considers it a deadly threat to all aspects of society. The Massachusetts Democrat presented his case against the opposing forces against ordinary citizens. This is essentially the case of his candidacy.

Warren sought to place the urgency of the present moment and the argument of his candidacy for the White House in his historical context with his speech.

"Climate change, gun safety, health care … At first glance, these three issues are totally different," Warren said, "despite being the strongest and richest country in the world." world history, our democracy is paralyzed, why, because giant corporations have bought our government. "

She also criticized President Donald Trump as "corruption in the flesh," but stressed that the problem was far more serious than his own. "We must take a deep breath and recognize that a country that elects Donald Trump already has serious problems."

Washington Square Park is in a very busy part of the city, which means that the gathering crowd was made up of Warren's supporters, people trying to hang out in the park, and people trying to walk around it. . Ben, a 24-year-old student from New York University, heard of the rally earlier in the month, but he had forgotten that it was happening until he returned home after classes. (I felt like it was part of Warren's team plan: people see the event unfold and decide to stay.)

Ben said he has not chosen the candidate for 2020 yet, but Warren is probably his best choice so far. "Elizabeth Warren is a strong, policy-oriented candidate who has not only clearly reflected on various policies in detail, but has come to believe that I think I am a good position for most of them," she said. he declared. "I did not particularly consider his policy proposals because they are 100,000."

Warren has plans – but the most important is the ferocity behind them

Warren's litany of plans on virtually everything and anything has become a signature feature of his presidential candidacy. "Warren has a plan for this," is one of his campaign currencies. His speech is expected to accompany Monday's anti-corruption package. (You can read Vox's full explanations Ella Nilsen about this here.)

The senator, unsurprisingly, Monday praised his plans. She mentioned her plan to impose a wealth tax, end lobbying and strengthen unions, among others. The former Harvard professor and bankruptcy expert has placed the image of a rigged system at the center of her presidential candidacy, but it is a belief she has held for years. She gained national fame in American politics for her virulent criticism on Wall Street and politicians on both sides of the aisle in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

"Corruption has put our planet in danger. Corruption has broken our economy. And corruption breaks our democracy, "Warren said Monday. "I know what's wrong, I have a plan to fix it and that's why I'm running for president of the United States."

Yoruba Richen, a 48-year-old documentary filmmaker, said she's been a fan of Warren since the time of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the government agency created by Warren and pushed to create one . "We have to rethink all this system, some of us, especially people of color, people of the working class, have always known, this is not new. And it's really the first time I've seen in a real way what she's modifying or trying to change, or trying to change, "she says.

She conceded that she also loved Bernie Sanders, the other progressive of the 2020 race, but he's not quite what she's looking for. "I've always loved Bernie," she says. "But I think with Elizabeth, she has real world experience. In addition, quite frankly, these whites have screwed up this country in so long.

Warren told the story of a woman with a historic ferocity in history – carefully choosing a historical figure with a special place on the left.

Warren spoke of Frances Perkins, a labor rights activist who became the first woman to sit in a presidential government led by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Perkins witnessed the fire of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and it was a pivotal moment for the course of his life. While she was already an activist at the time, the tragedy prompted her to fully engage in politics, first at the state level in New York, then at the national level.

"What's a woman – a very persistent woman – supported by millions of people across the country could do?" Warren asked the crowd. "Social security, unemployment insurance, abolition of child labor, minimum wage, the right to join a trade union, even the very existence of the weekend, a great structural change, a woman and millions of people. to second it.

It's not hard to see the parallel between Perkins and herself that Warren was trying to draw here.

She cited other historical comparisons of Americans "who were told that it was not possible to make big structural changes" and fought back – abolitionists, suffragettes, union organizers, human rights defenders civic and LGBQ. "But they did not give up. They organized. They built a popular movement. They persisted. And they changed the course of American history, "Warren said.

The use of the word "persist" by Warren is not accidental. "Nevertheless, it persisted," a phrase used by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), about Warren in 2017, has become a reflection of Warren's battle, broadly speaking, for many American women. Alanna, 28, a psychologist from the Upper West Side at the rally was wearing a shirt "Nevertheless, she persisted". She said that she had seen a sign for the rally in the Upper West Side and had decided to come to the park to check it.

"I think we saw her doing incredible things," she said. "She speaks with such calm and calm, and I think it's something I'm looking for in a candidate who can talk about his projects and experiences very calmly and eloquently."

Warren, the first major candidate to enter the 2020 primary, has grown throughout the summer. At this point, the Democratic race is largely a three-way competition between Warren, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. On Monday, Warren garnered support from the grassroots political activist group, the Working Families Party, which was supporting Sanders in 2016. WFP National Director, Maurice Mitchell, presented it at the New York Rally. .

Warren did not create a popular movement behind her that competes with Sanders', but it seems she's trying to change that. "I'm not afraid," she told her supporters on Monday, "and you can not be scared either."