After announcing her bid for president last week, Elizabeth Warren wasted no time in getting to Iowa, site of the first 2020 primary, to start campaigning. My colleague Astead Herndon traveled with Ms. Warren through the state over the weekend, and he sent us this dispatch:

In her five city Iowa tour, Senator Elizabeth Warren gave a preview of what figures to be her defining message throughout the campaign season: a broad defense of government intervention, and the overarching belief that Washington corruption is the must-solve problem of our time.

Across the state, Ms. Warren told voters that the country’s politics had been corrupted at its core, even before President Trump, and that the next president must work to undo the harm. She seemed comfortable in settings big and small, including a larger Des Moines rally where she lost her voice from a lingering cold but, to paraphrase the T-shirts at her merch table, persisted nevertheless.

Key applause lines: when Ms. Warren calls for ethics reform in Washington and a mandate for all federal candidates to release their tax returns. The crowd also sits at ready attention when she talks about black-white wealth disparities and tells more of her personal story of humble beginnings. Unlike other politicians, who may begin with a joke to put a crowd at ease, Ms. Warren begins with the story of her family’s near foreclosure, and how that informed her political thinking.

Attendees, some of whom did not consider themselves supporters of Ms. Warren at the outset, often told me they left feeling positively about her candidacy. Many said it was the first time they had heard about her family’s struggles with poverty.

One worry, though: Several Iowans mentioned fears that Republicans had already branded her as too far left, and one audience member asked Ms. Warren about her decision to take a DNA test to prove her native ancestry. Ms. Warren again avoided apologizing or acknowledging the criticism from some Native American groups, who remain livid at her decision.

Read Astead’s latest story from Iowa: With Warren Visit, Iowans Get the First Taste of 2020: ‘I’m Ready to Be Convinced’

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2020 Watch