Scott Brown Is Ready To Drop The Gloves Against Elizabeth Warren
(Updated 1/1/12 11:50 a.m.)
BOSTON (CBS) - It looks like Senator Scott Brown has a New Year's resolution: to directly take on his leading Democratic challenger, Elizabeth Warren.
Brown was in the WBZ studios Wednesday for an interview with political analyst, Jon Keller, and the interview seemed to mark a change of political tactics for Brown.
For months, Brown has been reluctant to personally engage Warren, insisting he's too busy with his work in the Senate and there would be plenty of time for campaigning later. But after seeing his poll numbers tank under withering criticism from Warren and her allies, it appears Brown is ready to drop the gloves.
Jon Keller's Interview With Sen. Brown (Part 1)
Jon Keller's Interview With Sen. Brown (Part 2)
"I'm the most bipartisan member of the delegation if not the most bipartisan person in the entire Senate, and Professor Warren is a self-proclaimed rock thrower, she wants to leave blood and teeth on the streets," says Senator Brown.
It looks like the race is on. And no wonder after watching TV ads from Warren's political allies drive his approval ratings down sharply.
WBZ-TV's Jon Keller is At Large
Brown says he's had it with being tagged as Wall Street's favorite candidate.
"She's also getting support from Wall Street, and don't forget, I was the deciding vote on the financial regulation bill that Wall Street hated," says Brown. "If you remember also, Professor Warren was out in the Rose Garden saying this is the best piece of legislation in three generations. And now all of a sudden to say somehow I'm the golden boy of Wall Street is disingenuous and isn't based on any facts."
And Brown is demanding Warren join him in a call for outside money to stay out of the Senate race.
But it's OK, he says, when local partisans are delivering the sharp elbows.
"There's a big difference between running web ads and taking potshots at the person based on what you think is appropriate. But to have all these super PACs come in and spend upwards of $50 million against me and, potentially, her, it's just way out of line.
Forget the qualifier; a conservative PAC has already sunk a ton of money into ads attacking Warren. So while you won't be seeing a Brown-Warren debate until after she dismisses her remaining primary opponents and clinches the nomination next September, get ready for plenty of back and forth in a Senate race with national implications.
