SOUTH HADLEY -- Progressive leader Elizabeth Warren said America can once again become a land of opportunity for ordinary people, but that it's going to take a fight.

The Democratic U.S. Senator delivered her message of left-wing populism to an enthusiastic sold-out crowd at Mount Holyoke College Friday night. Warren's latest book, "This Fight is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America's Middle Class," was released earlier this week.

From 1935 to 1980, America "invested in opportunity" and created a stable middle class, but in recent decades, most resources have gone to the top ten percent, she said. Since then, spending on education, infrastructure, and research have plummeted in favor of an economy that "works for the millionaires and billionaires."

As for President Donald Trump, he has "delivered one gut punch after another to working families across this country."

Warren told stories from her book ("Mike," a man with early-onset Alzheimer's who asked her to fight for medical research; "Gina" a Walmart worker who despairs of her economic future) and said what happens in Washington matters to real people.

Warren said Alzheimer's presents "a perfect example" of the need for more research funding in the federal budget. In 2016, Americans "spent $236 billion on Alzheimer's care," but the National Institutes of Health spent only a tiny portion of that on scientists trying to understand and cure the disease.

"By 2050, Alzheimer's spending alone could bankrupt Medicare," said Warren. She said Trump's budget cuts for basic medical research will end up costing more in the long run.

Women's rights "are not up for grabs," Warren said.

She told of attending the women's march in Boston, and witnessing a massive crowd, including "women wearing pussy hats, men pushing strollers," and a child riding on her father's shoulders with a sign saying "I fight like a girl."

Warren was introduced Friday night by Mount Holyoke College acting president Sonya Stevens, who compared Warren with Frances Perkins, an alumna who served as U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933-1945. Perkins helped craft and implement many of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" policies.

Warren and Perkins share "something of the fighting spirit," said Stevens.

Democrats, now the minority party with a Republican president and GOP majorities in the House and Senate, will need that spirit if they hope to turn things around in the 2018 mid-term elections.

Kirsten Hughes, chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, said in an email Friday that Warren's book tour won't help her prospects outside of the liberal left.

"Sen. Warren's stock is sinking fast in Massachusetts, but it will take more than a book tour of liberal enclaves to reverse her rising negatives. From the typical DC tactic of asking for another term but refusing to commit to serving it out; to her vote against more funding to fight the opioid crisis, she's dug herself a deep hole. More appearances in front of friendly audiences won't solve her problems with regular voters," said Hughes.

Warren said she is not launching a 2020 presidential bid, but will run to retain her Senate seat in 2018. She said she plans to do so with "optimism, hope, and fiery determination."