Elizabeth Warren's kamikaze blitz of South Florida in the run-up to the first Democratic debate shows why both frontrunner Joe Biden and Democratic-Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders are probably grateful they are not sharing the debate floor with her Wednesday night.
Beyond her rapid ascent in the polls – Warren has doubled her poll numbers since April – she has campaigned at a tireless pace, rolling out policy proposals, sponsoring legislation, and holding over a dozen town hall meetings to connect with voters.
In fact, it was at just such a town hall event Tuesday that opened the door to Warren's seemingly spontaneous decision to join a pro-immigrant, anti-border enforcement protest Wednesday morning at the Homestead Detention Center, located about 45 minutes south of downtown Miami.
Sources close to the campaign tell Newsmax, Warren had already decided to join the protester before the town hall in Miami. But when the first question that was asked focused on the plight of unaccompanied minors and families that have inundated border facilities, Warren seized the opportunity.
"I'm going to Homestead [Wednesday]," she announced, surprising a Newsmax reporter and other media members who knew the appearance was not on her published schedule. "Come with me."
And come they did: Two busloads of immigrants, volunteers, and pro-immigration activists. For about two hours, they stood outside the detention facility's gates, chanting and waving signs that declared "Vote As If Your Kids Live Here," and "Trump Tower, Children's Prison, Homestead Branch."
As a Newsmax reporter watched, Warren climbed onto a footstool to embrace a recent immigrant's child and wave to detainees on the other side of the fence, it was evident their champion had arrived.
"I would end all private incarceration systems," she declared to raucous applause. "Locking people up for money is not what the United States should do."
As with so many other proposals from the left this primary season, the cost of Warren's proposal to shut down private jail facilities went unaddressed. There are over 150,000 prisoners housed in privately run U.S. prisons, and the economic disruption caused by closing them would cost many thousands of jobs, not to mention the billions of dollars that would be needed to provide sufficient publicly operated prison cells.
But putting aside the practical questions that surround her proposal, there was no missing Warren's connection with the activists she seemed to win over. So far, in the view of many observers, Warren has reacted more nimbly and flat outworked her Democratic competitors. And the polls show it.
Warren will not share the debate stage with the likes of Biden, Sanders, Kamala Harris, or Pete Buttigieg. But as the only candidate on the stage Wednesday scoring in the double digits in the polls, Warren has an opportunity to shine and come away with a major boost. Given her decision to eschew high-roller fundraisers and donors, she needs to continue to climb the polls to garner enough small-dollar donations. And to do that, she will have to show why she would be the best choice on the stage to challenge Donald Trump for the presidency.
Two recent polls have shown Warren overtaking Sanders for the top spot behind front-runner Joe Biden, whose campaign has been rocked in recent weeks by flip-flops and gaffes. One of them, an Economist/YouGov poll showed Biden still leading with 26% of the vote in the Democratic primary, with Warren at 14% and Sanders at 13%.
Wednesday's debate will help determine whether she can establish herself as the leading Democrat able to challenge President Trump, and rouse the Democratic base by addressing hot button issues. So, look for Warren to continue to press the controversy over children detentions.
"I hope it comes up in the debate [Wednesday] night," she told the Homestead crowd. "I'm glad to have a chance to talk about what I've seen today, to talk about the proposal I've already put out to shut down places like Homestead."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.