Sen. Elizabeth Warren held a homecoming of sorts Tuesday — the one year anniversary of the start of her presidential campaign — gathering her most loyal supporters for a New Year's Eve rally in Boston's historic Old South Meeting House.
The meeting house is known as the incubator of the Boston Tea Party, and Warren used the historic backdrop to remind her followers of the power of imagination and determination to bring about improbable change.
"For half a century leading up to the American revolution, this place served not only for prayer, but also as a safe haven to test out our early ideas of freedom justice and equality," she said. "A hotbed of resistance and rebellion, a center of bold progressive dialogue."
Warren's optimistic speech comes at a challenging time for her campaign. After peaking in October, when she was neck-and-neck with front-runner former Vice President Joe Biden, Warren has seen her polling numbers drop to third place. Last week she told supporters that her campaign fund raising for the last three months of the year came in more than $7 million below her total for the previous three months.
Warren's speech was largely a list of progressive ideas she has pushed throughout the campaing, such as free college tuition and Medicare for all. She also offered a subtle jab at her opponents who have continued to collect campaign money from high-dollar donors.
"Imagine a country where no politician has to kiss the rings of the rich to win elected office," she said. "When I am president we will attack corruption in Washington head on."
Supporters waiting in a cold drizzle for for the speech to begin said they have optimism for the campaign but some acknowledged concern about Warren’s recent downturns in the polls and in fundraising.
“I have concerns about the way the polls have been going,” said Rachel McGhee, a longtime supporter from Somerset, Massachusetts. “I have concerns about who the assumed nominee appears to be. I’m not sure [Biden] will excite people enough to get out and do the work that needs to be done to get out the vote.”
Danielle Kempe of Quincy dismissed such concerns. “The fact that she’s trailing at this point doesn’t scare me,” Kempe said. “I think as more [candidates] drop out, there will be more people that jump on board” with Warren.
Jacob Strauss, who has canvassed for Warren in New Hampshire agreed. "She has a lot of support as a second choice candidate," he said, suggesting that she will continue to collect supporters as the field shrinks. Nevertheless, Strauss said, "My eyes are clear about the big challenge. Whoever we get in the general we're going to go all in for and all come together to make sure that we win in November."
Warren was embraced here by a bevy of local politicians. She was introduced by Rep. Ayanna Pressley. Sen. Ed Markey and his challenger, Rep. Joe Kennedy III, shared a pew but made every effort to ignore each other as they both cheered Warren.
