Warren Ties Brown to National GOP Throughout Debate
By Julie Sobel // October 10, 2012 | 8:48 p.m.
In the third Massachusetts Senate debate, on issue after issue, Democrat Elizabeth Warren was much more aggressive about tying Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., to Mitt Romney and the national GOP agenda.
On health care: Warren said Brown "made it clear" that his first job if reelected will be to help repeal President Obama's health care bill
She also tied his stance on health care to Romney's during last week's presidential debate, saying they were out of "the same playbook."
"It was wrong then, it's wrong tonight," she said, getting the first round of cheers in a debate in which audience members were instructed not to applaud.
On education: Warren said that no matter what Brown says, she wants to make it clear that if GOP takes over Senate, there will be education cuts.
On taxes: Warren hit Brown and Republicans on taking Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge, which she cast as a pledge to work for Norquist rather than the people of Massachusetts.
On women's issues: When answering a question on his stances on women's rights, Brown emphasized areas where he and Warren agree -- and she again tied him to the national GOP agenda. "What matters here is how senator Brown votes," she said.
She hit him for votes against equal pay for equal work and Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's confirmation, as well as his vote for the Blunt amendment.
On military/foreign policy: Warren again brought it back to Brown and other Republicans taking Norquist's pledge, saying it reveals a lack of seriousness about making the necessary cuts and will result in across the board cuts that will hurt the military bases.
And talking about Obama's foreign policy record, she noted that she doesn't want to see Romney in the job.
Meanwhile, the debate was the first in which the controversy over Warren's claims of Native American heritage were not brought up, either by the moderator or by Brown. Warren's work for Travelers Insurance, for which Brown has recently released television ads attacking her, was brought up only by the senator and was much less of a focus than in past debates.
The debate, sponsored by a media consortium, was the only one of four that will be held in Western Massachusetts. The final debate is scheduled for Oct. 30.
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