Elizabeth Warren's closing argument to caucusgoers: 'Women win'

DES MOINES — During a round of campaign stops Sunday, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren leaned into the argument that women are even more electable than their male counterparts — a message that has become a key part of her closing argument days before the Iowa caucuses.

"Can we just address it right here? Women win," she said at a stop that drew about 300 people in Davenport. "The world changed in 2016. ... Women candidates have been outperforming men candidates — since Donald Trump was elected — in competitive elections. And just one more — because you know this one in Iowa — we took back the House and we took back statehouses around the nation because of women candidates and the women who get out there and do the hard work to get it done."

Mary Atkins, a Davenport resident and retired John Deere employee, came into the rally preferring former Vice President Joe Biden.

"She convinced me a woman can win," Atkins said, saying she now plans to support Warren at the caucuses.

In their desperation to defeat Republican President Donald Trump, Iowa Democrats routinely say in interviews that the idea of “electability” matters more than anything else. Des Moines Register polling consistently shows likely Democratic caucusgoers care more about finding a candidate who can win than finding a candidate who agrees with them on all the issues.

Talee Mabe, a 27-year-old Marion resident, is still trying to choose whether to support Warren or former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. She attended the rally in Cedar Rapids with her friend Jennifer Johnson, a 35-year-old social worker from Cedar Rapids who is all in for Warren.

Johnson said she's confident a woman can win.

“I think Elizabeth is definitely one of the most qualified candidates, and if she was a man, it wouldn’t be a question as to who would be the most electable person. But we live in an imperfect world. But I’m choosing to believe in her and to believe in change.”

But Mabe said she worries.

"I don’t know if I just have less faith in people — people backbiting and the things that people try and attack her with," she said. "But they’ve been doing that all her life, I gather. So she’s stood up to people so far. Maybe she can reach out to enough people."

Warren’s focus on gender follows a dust-up earlier this month in which Warren accused competitor and friend U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of saying a woman could not win in 2020. Sanders has denied saying that.

But at both of her stops Sunday in Davenport and in Cedar Rapids, Warren repeated a line she unveiled during the last Democratic presidential debate.

“I am the only person in this race who has beaten an incumbent Republican anytime in the past 30 years,” she said.

► More: Elizabeth Warren said she doesn't have 'anything else to say' on dispute with Bernie Sanders

She told reporters that the focus on women winning elections is "a big part" of her closing argument to Iowans.

"It’s important to get it out there," she said. "This can’t be a hidden question. People ask in different ways. ... I’m glad to talk about it right up front. Because you know what, women win."

Also new to her typical stump speech is an argument that "fighting back" is an act of patriotism.

“We built this nation by fighting back against a king,” she said in Davenport. “We saved this nation by fighting back against the scourge of slavery. … We protected this nation by fighting back against fascism. That is when Americans are at their best — when they take on the big battles and fight back for their country and their planet.”

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa caucus: Elizabeth Warren's closing argument to Iowans: 'Women win'