Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren regularly circles back to the word “persist,” a reference to when Mitch McConnell cut her off from speaking on the Senate floor in 2017. | Ethan Miller/Getty Images 2020 Elections How 'I got a plan' became a thing: Warren nerds out and the crowds go crazy The unlikely making of a campaign slogan.

The Twitter exchange played out over several hours on April 11: “Many profitable companies pay nothing in corporate income tax. Elizabeth Warren has a plan to stop that,” Vox wrote, linking to one of its wonky explainers. “You bet I do,” Warren tweeted back.

Then a woman named Keely Murphy — a self-described bookworm, space enthusiast and feminist — replied back to the Massachusetts senator: “I would certainly buy a shirt that said ‘Elizabeth Warren: She’s Got a Plan for That.’”


Within days, the tweet — along with many others the campaign had been noticing expressing unbridled enthusiasm for Warren’s policy-heavy approach to her presidential candidacy — prompted the campaign to embrace the nerd-tastic meme. “I got a plan” has become a staple of her stump speech, often drawing loud applause. And Warren fans like Murphy can now purchase “Warren has a plan for that” T-shirts and tote bags from her website.

The bottom-up evolution of the slogan is a source of encouragement for the Warren campaign, perhaps a sign that the former Harvard professor’s policy-heavy bid is breaking through. Since January, she’s rolled out plans to break up tech companies, forgive over $600 billion in student loan debt, enact a 2 percent wealth tax, provide universal child care and more — lapping the Democratic field on both the volume and scope of policy proposals.

She regularly goes into the weeds when taking questions at town halls and sometimes cautions voters that she’s going to “nerd out” for a bit. Some of her supporters see the approach as a way to distinguish her as a heavyweight in a crowded 2020 field. And Warren’s embrace of “I got a plan” has coincided with a rise in her poll numbers over the past two weeks.

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Some Democrats say it’s unclear whether voters will ultimately care about the policy rollouts. They point out that Hillary Clinton also had a well-staffed policy shop and that the flood of white papers didn’t always resonate with voters.

But for now, at least, Warren and her campaign think they might be on to something.

In Salt Lake City on April 17, Warren told a crowd: “We need big, systemic change in this country. Big change.”

“And I got a plan!” she said, raising her arms in the air triumphantly as the crowd applauded.

A week later in Houston, Warren spoke at the “She the People” forum for women of color. She was discussing her ideas to address racial disparities in maternal mortality before pointing out, “I got a plan.” The audience erupted.

You bet I do. https://t.co/mocJ8d6w30 — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 11, 2019

“Every time she said, ‘I got a plan,’ you could hear cheering and, ‘She ready!’” said Mari Urbina, national political director for the progressive group Indivisible who attended the Houston event. “It was audibly clear the audience connected with Warren’s ‘I got a plan,’ because they were eager to hear specific solutions to the real pain points facing women of color.”

Warren’s campaign told POLITICO her steady clip of policy proposals would continue over the next few months, including one next week. All of which suggests that “I got a plan” could further define her candidacy.

It wouldn’t be the first rallying cry inspired from outside the campaign. Warren regularly circles back to the word “persist,” a reference to when Mitch McConnell cut her off from speaking on the Senate floor in 2017.

The Republican leader chastised her: “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”

Naturally, Warren’s website currently has “We Persist” hoodies and T-shirts and “Pint-Sized Persister” onesies for sale.