Elizabeth Warren has officially received the warm embrace of democrat socialists – she scored the endorsement of the Working Families Party. This is a slap to Bernie Sanders, who received the party’s endorsement in 2016.

Warren had a really good day Monday. Not only did she get the bragging rights of the Working Families Party endorsement but she also held a campaign rally to roll out her latest policy on fighting corruption in government. The rally was attended by more than 20,000 people – Warren is now in the Trump universe of huge crowds and mega-rallies. Ironically, the only other candidate that scores those kinds of numbers is Bernie Sanders.

The location of the rally was Washington Square Park near the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. That fire in 1911 killed 146 people, mostly immigrant women workers. It led to union organizing and labor reforms. Warren calls for that kind of mobilization of working-class people. Warren doesn’t call herself a socialist, as Bernie does, but she justifies her calls for heavy-handed government take-overs of private industries as all in the name of what is best for the little people. Socialist policies kill free markets and entrepreneurial spirits as they keep working people under the thumb of corrupt leaders. Sounds like a labor union to me.

The Working Families Party may not be a major political party nationally but this endorsement sends a strong message to Democrat primary voters. There are active chapters in New York, Connecticut, Oregon, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Nevada, West Virginia, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, and Illinois. The Working Families Party of New York was organized in 1998 by labor unions and community organizations. It’s early for such a notable endorsement to be made, and a blow to the Sanders campaign.

Warren is on the rise in polls and essentially fighting Bernie for second place after Biden. Biden, Warren, and Sanders are the only three candidates with a shot at the Democrat nomination, at least for now. Some early endorsements by elected officials are beginning to shift a bit as the top candidates shake out in the polls. Biden has remained the frontrunner since he announced his candidacy. The same happened in 2016 with Trump in the Republican primary but the certainty of Biden’s nomination is in question.

Biden is proving to be a really bad candidate on the campaign trail. He may have been able to brush off criticism in the early days of his campaign as the result of being rusty and out of public office for a couple of years but he sure hasn’t improved. It is impossible to not note that he is not energetic or passionate in his speeches to supporters. Elizabeth Warren, in contrast, is like the Energizer Bunny. She bounces on stage, she runs through crowds, she almost yells while delivering speeches, and is always fired up. She has the energy that Biden lacks and frankly, that Hillary Clinton never had in 2016.

Warren’s anti-corruption initiative is all about big structural change, you see. She used the example of Frances Perkins who fought for labor rights after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and became FDR’s labor secretary, the first female Cabinet member in U.S. history as the way forward. One persistent woman. For Warren, like Hillary, persists is the message. (Warren is getting advice from Hillary.)

“What did one woman — one very persistent woman — backed up by millions of people across this country get done? Big structural change,” Warren said. “Social Security. Unemployment insurance. Abolition of child labor. Minimum wage. The right to join a union. Even the very existence of the weekend.”

She called President Trump “corruption in the flesh” but she admits that he didn’t start corruption in government.

Donald Trump is corruption in the flesh. But our problems didn't start with Donald Trump. A country that elects Donald Trump is already in serious trouble. #WarrenNYC pic.twitter.com/9BYOtFmn1R

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) September 17, 2019

The Working Families Party endorsement is a nod to a “mass movement” to turn the United States into a socialist wonderland. Their early announcement of an endorsement is meant to send the message that voters can’t sit on the sidelines in the primary.

“Senator Warren knows how to kick Wall Street kleptocrats where it hurts, and she’s got some truly visionary plans to make this country work for the many,” said Maurice Mitchell, the Working Families Party’s national director. “We need a mass movement to make her plans a reality, and we’re going to be a part of that work.”

Her anti-corruption plan is extensive, as you might expect from a policy wonk. She envisions lots of bans on lobbying and restricting elected officials from stock purchases, for example. There are a lot of don’ts. She wants automatic tax return disclosures of all federal candidates and officeholders.

The irony is that Warren was delivering this speech – meant to get the attention of working people, especially women – in an area where the median income is well above that of most working-class people.

Warren’s take-on-the-elites speech happened in the wealthy and highly educated neighborhood of Greenwich Village with a median household income of $120,000

Sanders’ Iowa state director, Misty Rebik, responded to Warren’s endorsement.

There is one movement politics presidential candidate. One. It's @BernieSanders.

that's all. that's the entire tweet. #Bernie2020

— Misty Rebik (@mistyrebik) September 16, 2019

Warren has plenty of support from educated, upper income women. I’m not so sure that this event moved the needle with the big demographic she needs to crack – African-American voters. That group is in Biden’s camp right now. This primary race continues to be between the safe choice to beat Trump – Biden, or the swing from the rafters with big change candidates, Warren and Sanders.