The Atlantic

Elizabeth Warren’s Big Night

The senator’s plea that voters set aside their fears and back the candidate they believe in helped her stand out on a crowded stage.
Source: Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty

Updated on July 30 at 10:48 p.m. ET

Senator Bernie Sanders often positions himself as the political heir of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but tonight in Detroit, Senator Elizabeth Warren was the candidate who borrowed the 32nd president’s dictum that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Anxiety stalks the Democratic Party. From the grass roots to the candidates, the party is haunted by the specter of allowing President Donald Trump, whom they underestimated in 2016, to win a second term. For long portions of tonight’s debate, several of the candidates onstage warned that the

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