Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., runs through a large crowd of supporters Monday, during a house party in Hampton Falls. [Rich Beauchesne/Seacoastonline] ▲ Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks to hundreds at a house party in Hampton Falls on Labor Day. [Rich Beauchesne/Seacoastonline] ▲ Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., talks about the issues during a one-on-one interview in Hampton Falls Monday. [Rich Beauchesne/Seacoastonline] ▲ Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks to a house party crowd in Hampton Falls on Labor Day. [Rich Beauchesne/Seacoastonline] ▲

HAMPTON FALLS — At a campaign event Labor Day afternoon, Sen. Elizabeth Warren literally ran for president, racing through a crowd estimated at 800, high-fiving supporters and embracing the young couple who had introduced her before taking the stage.

After her speech, Massachusetts' senior U.S. senator stayed outside in the rain, taking selfies with every supporter who wanted one.

Between the run and the selfies, she pressed the main arguments of her campaign to a receptive audience.

"When you see a government that works great for the rich and powerful and not so much for anyone else, that is corruption, pure and simple and we need to call it out for what it is," Warren said.

She said Democrats need to push for "big structural change in our government." If elected, she said she would champion "the biggest anti-corruption plan since Watergate."

"I've got a plan for that," she said, to laughs and applause.

In her stump speech, Warren said that the American government is working well for drug companies but not people who can't afford to fill their prescriptions; for big oil companies but not communities struggling with the threats posed by climate change and sea level rise.

Recalling her family's financial struggles as she was growing up in Oklahoma, Warren noted her mother was able to save their home by landing a full-time minimum wage job at Sears.

"Today a minimum wage full-time job in America will not keep a mama and a baby out of poverty," she said. "That is wrong and that is why I am in this fight."

Before her speech, Warren spoke with Seacoast Media Group about why she thinks the country is polarized at this moment and how she would bring the country together if elected president.

"Donald Trump wants to divide people, turn them against each other as a way to increase his power, because so long as people are divided and attacking each other they won't notice that a corrupt government and corrupt leader are sucking more and more of the value out of this country," she said. "I see 2020 as a chance to put all that aside. ... We're going to make this government work not just for a thin slice at the top, but for everyone. If you think about it, that really is the heart of my campaign."

While Warren acknowledged the heated national debates around issues such as gun violence, abortion and immigration, she said Americans of all political beliefs share many of the same values.

She said she has three older brothers and only one is a Democrat.

"When we talk about our values, the things that matter most to us, we all four agree. We don't want anybody to go bankrupt over a medical problem. We want all of our kids to get a good education and not be crushed by student debt. After a lifetime of hard work, we want everyone to be able to retire with dignity. There may be differences in how we get there but when we remind ourselves of our basic values, I think we have a lot more in common than people like Donald Trump want to admit."

Warren pushed back against rivals who have suggested Medicare For All, student loan forgiveness, the construction of millions of new affordable housing units and tuition-free public college are not affordable.

"It's just math," she said, adding that her proposed 2 percent tax on the super-wealthy on assets in excess of $50 million would generate $2.75 trillion.

"That produces enough money to pay for universal childcare, universal pre-K for every 3- and 4-year-old .... Pays for technical school, two-year or four-year college for anyone who wants to get an education. Puts $50 billion into historically black colleges and universities, cancels student loan debt for 95 percent of students, put $100 billion into beating back the opioid crisis .... And that would still leave about $100 billion left over."

She said she would fund her affordable housing initiative by restoring the estate tax to the level it was when George W. Bush took office.

After her speech, Warren was asked by Linda Rhodes of Indivisible New Hampshire how should would beat Trump in a general election.

"I know how to fight and I know how to win," Warren said.

Warren said Democrats won't win if they try to play it safe.

"You've got to give people a reason to show up and vote and that's what I'm doing."