The Boston Globe

Metro

Brown, Warren fire away over voting, work records

Heritage issue argued again in combative second debate

Senator Scott Brown, in a fast-moving, highly combative debate Monday night, vigorously attacked Elizabeth ­Warren’s legal work on behalf of corporations, while she blasted votes he took in lock step with the Republican leadership.

The hourlong debate, the second of four, skipped quickly from issue to issue, bouncing from immigration to Afghanistan to whether Bobby ­Valentine should be ousted as the Red Sox manager. At times, policy took a back seat to sniping over some political flash points that have animated the nation’s most expensive, most fiercely fought Senate race.

Comments

So now we know the real Scott Brown even with his filibustering engendered by poor management of response time and poor questioning by David Gregory.  First his rudeness was on display when after prattling on allowing precious time to pass by.  He then turns around and castigates Prof Warren for trying to get a word in edgewise.  However we did find out a few things.  Scott Brown favors Antonin Scalia as a model Supreme Court Justice.  Scott Brown selects the most reactionary anti-woman, anti small business, and anti-worker jurist.  We also learned from Elizabeth Warren that Scott Brown runs around the country advocating for a filibuster proof Republican majority.  Scott Brown answered a student who had concerns about the job market with the usual right wing Republican mantra.  Lower taxes on big business and loosen up on laws that protect consumers from predatory financial institutions.  Elizabeth Warren's answer was to create infrastructure jobs and put teachers, police, and firefighters back to work so there would be money back in people's pockets to spend and create job demand.  Scott Brown also had the chutzpah to tout his union credentials because he belongs to the Entertainer's Union.  Paraphrasing, "I am the only union person in the race."  Maybe but as Elizabeth shot back she is endorsed by most labor and service unions in the state.  In other words she stands for worker's right to a decent life while Scott Brown thinks cheap labor is an asset to the economy.  The word independent is mightily abused by Scott Brown.  First he doesn't mean it.  Second what it is suppose to mean is finding common ground and then crafting legislation to put it into action.  There is absolutely no evidence that given the opportunity he has done so in any consistant manner.  His voting record is consistant with a backward conservative Republican agenda.  So we do not need someone who takes the Grover Norquist no tax pledge and then raises taxes on 98% of people through the backdoor or continuing subsidies that require essential program cuts.  

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WOW - it looks like Warren's campaign folks were very busy this morning! 

Massachusetts should be embarrassed to have a senator that is so petty and who simply cannot give a direct, truthful answer to any question.  This is what you get, unfortunately, when youselect an empty-headed centerfold.

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Who is 'salemreader' referring to with the comments of 'a senator that is so petty and who simply cannot give a direct, truthful answer to any question.' I agree, it would be very embarrassing for Massachusetts to have Prof.Warren in Washington. Her comment about, 'blood & teeth on the floor" and claiming she was a 'minority' for all those years.

Now the issue about her truthfulness with presenting herself as a licensed attorney. If she was billing clients without a license - this scenario would rise to the level of perjury.  

Cant: http://www.businessinsider.com/elizabeth-warren-law-license-2012-9

Scott Brown supports Justice Scalia, Really ? Women in Massachusetts, head for the hills. Also, Scalia gave Brown a huge advantage by supporting Super Pac funding. Scott Brown got boatloads of Cash from Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson.Rich people can now own a share of a candidate and sway their votes.

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Come on now - Don't you remember it was your very own President Obama who agreed to campaign finance reform - oooops - then he flip-flopped and put the keebosh to campaign finance reform.

Scott Brown consistently reminds us that he is a candidate who studies both sides of every bill he signs. However, his consistent support of the Republican agenda of tax cuts for Corporations, removing equal rights for women's pay and health care rights, and the repeal of the same health care he subscribed his daughters, should be enough to show you where his loyalties apply. I know he is pretty, but he is not a candidate of working people.

Warren released a partial list of her legal clients. She has had impressive clients, having practiced law in Massachusetts for a decade, without a license.

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Even the Senator isn't harping on this non-existent license thing.

Only Rob Eno in the NECN after coverage.  He came off looking like an idiot.

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Why does she always look as though she is about to bust into tears?

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Maybe she simply couldn't believe how bad Gregory was as a moderator!

Please, then, consider an similarly irrelevant comment from the other side of the aisle:  why does Scott Brown always look like an air-headed centerfold? 

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This dedate had too much of a circus atmosphere. The crowd and David Gregory played too much of a part for my taste.

The fact that the Boston Globe has said in the aritcle there were no clear winners last night means that Brown won the debate. 

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EXACTLY!

I agree with some of the other comments here, Gregory appeared to be debating with both candidates, and specifically with Brown at times. Despite Gregory's declaration, it wasn't "Meet the Press." It was supposed to be an opportunity for voters to compare and contrast candidates. Scott Brown was snarky and aggressive. His manor, perhaps it was his heavy Mass accent got in the way of his delivery at times. The classic moment was whn he couldn't name his "model" SC Justice. When he finally said "Scalia" and the crowd boo'd, he began to tick off a list of other Justices, which was just ridiculous. In that moment, choosing the most ultra conservative SCJ was revealing and was illustrative of what he actually thinks about pending issues in the court and most likely how he would vote on simlar issues in the Senate. Those who disparage Warren over her NA heritage are msising the point. When it comes down to women's issues or big oil, he does vote in lock step with Republicans.

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It's hard to have a perfect format but I liked this one better than most.  Gregory seemed to press both candidates at multiple points and there did seem to be some paragraphs spoken rather than just sound bites.  If I had my druthers I'd have Gregory do it again and to keep on pressing.  My wife and I did scream at the first question.  This has been beaten to death.  I heard that they spent about 9 minutes of a 55 minute debate on this.  It is over.  Let's get more detail on whether we should be getting ready to take our troops out of Afghanistan and then shift them over to Iran...because, militarily, there is no way to stop the Iranian nuclear program without troops on the ground.  Sanctions, by completely fouling up their economy will lead the Iranian people to revolt and do the job for us.  I'd prefer that option.

Scott Brown,a union member who has no union endorsements, a Republican who is not a Republican, Pro lifer who supports a woman's right to choose, his favorite justices are both right and left wing. A vote for this guy means you get everything at once!

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Prof. Warren claims she is an attorney: That is another questionable myth!

 

Cant: http://www.legalethicsforum.com/blog/2012/09/elizabeth-warren-and-upl.html Give it up already.

With the exception of stumbling over the model supreme court justice, Brown handled himself well -- much better than the first debate where he came across as not ready for prime time.  In contrast, Warren, who was excellent in the first debate, was shrill, pouty, and bitter. She once again fumbled when asked about claiming minority status as a native American, though there is really no good answer she could give at this point to her claim.  I don't know what was worse, however, her endless repitition that she's in this race for "working families," or Brown's insistence that he's the most bipartisan senator.  Despite their efforts to make us perceive them otherwise, Brown is a principled, closet conservative and Warren is a know-it-all ultra liberal who will place her own interests ahead of her principles.

Warren is not qualified for the job.  She should have been a selectman first and a state rep first.  The lies about her heritage were disqualifying before the race even began!  Democrats should have been the first to say so!!

'Combative' appears to be one of Prof. Warren's characteristics: She claimed the ability to colaborate & work with peers, but, after a stint in Washington - she could name ONLY 1 person_ ONE person from the GOP that she could collaborate and work with????!!!!


Not the kind of person we want to send to Washington to embarrass us and "leave blood and teeth on the floor" (Warren, 2012). YECK . . . not someone I want to represent me. I also agree with Senator Brown when he states that Warren will be an ideological foot soldier for President Obama.  

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You might want to keep in mind the warm welcome she received from the other side of the aisle during the consumer safety nomination process.  Being a partisan watchdogs' chew toy probably didn't make it particularly easy for her to name a close Republican friend.  I personally find a certain amount of ironical justice in this:  it would not be a surprise to see the same people who villified her earlier now having to interact with her as an equal colleague and member of the Senate majority.  

Channel 7 showed its obvious BIAS and disrespect for the debate forum by airing a Warren commercial at a break in the debate.

Cantabrigian01 - Scott Brown is funded by the big banks and Wall Street, and they got what they paid for...He gutted the insider trading bill before he signed it. He is there for the wealthy Republicans when they need a vote. When they don't the let him do what he wants. He consistantly lies when he calls himself "Independent". He is a Republican.

Not a student in Professor Warren’s class?  Probably not.  Brown instead got a Juris Doctor degree, not an LL.M, from BC Law, and specialized in real estate law. This is a far cry from  Harvard law and the practice of corporate law. Brown probably wouldn’t have qualified to be in her class, and probably wouldn’t have passed the course, what with his modeling career and all.

Scott Brown is an empty suit trying to keep the discussion to things other than the details of the most important subjects and to keep his opponent on the defensive by being aggressive and accusatory about minor issues.