"These moments are going to happen that are a touchstone for how we talk about things," Buttigieg said. | Getty DNC forum roars over GOP silencing of Elizabeth Warren

BALTIMORE — The Democratic National Committee candidate forum Saturday was ostensibly about the future of the party. But it ended up sounding more like a testimonial to Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

In the wake of Warren’s recent silencing during the Senate debate over the nomination of Jeff Sessions as attorney general — a moment that has galvanized the party at every level — the field of 10 candidates vying for the DNC chairmanship knew in advance it was an opportunity to rally the party.


"It's a great example as the resistance starts to take shape and find its voice," Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said Friday. "These moments are going to happen that are a touchstone for how we talk about things. And, what we have here is a clear instance where you have a Democrat speaking up for democratic values and who was shut down. Even the language from the other side, this 'Nevertheless, she persisted,' just furnished a great way for us to explain how our happy warriors are going to rally together. I think it won't be the last time that you see one of the party rallying around one of their own when there's a defining moment like that."

"The Senate is full of talented, tough, progressive women, and I applaud Sen. Warren's efforts," said former Labor Secretary Tom Perez in a Friday interview. "I was proud to work side-by-side with her on so many issues of importance to what it means to be middle class in America. It was really a bellwether of how Republicans are falling in line with Donald Trump's pattern of disrespect for women. That seems to be pretty clear to me."

Aside from talking about the Massachusetts Democrat, who was not present, the forum here was all about visibility. The Baltimore Convention Center was filled with sign-carrying volunteers who cheered during TV interviews, and each candidate set up a booth with food to attract supporters.

With less than two weeks left before the 447 DNC members gather in Atlanta on Feb. 23 to elect the next chairman, the sprawling field of candidates has been scrambling to sway undecided members. Buttigieg was endorsed Wednesday by former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley — a blow to Perez, himself a Maryland native. Perez has the backing of top Maryland Democrats including state Democratic Party Chairman Bruce Poole. And Perez recently picked up endorsements from two top state chairs who had been witholding support for much of the race — David Pepper of Ohio and Marcel Groen of Pennsylvania.

But Warren's treatment by Senate Republicans was the common thread Saturday, with the Rev. Tracy Blackmon delivering a fiery opening call to action with a speech centered on Warren.

"It was not only Sen. Warren that was asked to take a seat at that moment, but it was also justice herself," Blackmon said.

"We gotta stand in solidarity with our sisters and fight back," Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison said at one point.

All 10 candidates participated in the forum: Buttigieg, Perez, Ellison, South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jaime Harrison, Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director Sally Boynton Brown, Democratic strategist and former Fox News analyst Jehmu Greene, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley, Washington D.C. Ward 5 chairman Robert Vinson Brannum, Wisconsin Democrat Peter Peckarsky, and Ohio Democrat Sam Ronan.

Harrison promised to battle for congressional Democrats if elected chairman.

"I support anybody that will give us the gavel to fight back against these crazy Supreme Court justices that Donald Trump has given, anybody who gives the gavel back to Nancy Pelosi and do the agenda for the American people," Harrison said.

After the forum, which didn't break any new ground, those in attendance explained why it was important for the party to talk about Warren and other Democratic efforts to resist the Trump administration.

"The outrage of it, of being silenced, of a United States senator being silenced under what was really false pretenses," Democracy for America chairman Jim Dean said during an interview Saturday at the forum. "I think it just gives people a sense that there isn't a democratic process. That the so-called comity of the Senate is not only an illusion but also points to the calcification in terms of being able to do anything."

New Mexico Democratic Party Chairwoman Debra Haaland said a party unified in its defense of Warren, a favorite of the party's progressive wing, is something that can unite the liberal and establishment-aligned wings of the party.

"Every time they do something like that, I feel like it makes the Democrats work together," said Haaland, who is undecided in the chairmanship race. "I know we were horribly divided in this past election, so maybe this is the thing to make us realize that we need to be together."

