Elizabeth Warren joined five other Democrats on Tuesday night to compete for Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown’s Senate seat. Warren participated in a UMass-Lowell/Herald debate with Alan Khazei, Tom Conroy, Bob Massie, Marisa DeFranco and Herb Robinson.
Warren, considered the frontrunner in the race to replace Brown, is a Harvard law professor. Brown, the target during most of Tuesday night’s debate, replaced the late Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy in 2010. When Brown won, he became the first Republican Senator elected from Massachusetts since 1972.
During the debate, Warren pointed to the impact of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the US Treasury as evidence that federal spending needs to be better managed. “We should never go to war if we’re not willing to pay for it now,” Warren said.
Warren also used humor to appeal to voters during the debate. In response to a question about how the candidates paid for tuition bills, Warren said “I kept my clothes on.” Warren’s response was a reference to Brown’s nude photo shoot for Cosmopolitan magazine while in law school.
The other candidates directed their criticism at Brown. “Scott Brown raised $14 million in the last 18 days of his campaign because he was able to appeal to the tea party who wanted to slap Massachusetts in the face for 47 years of Teddy Kennedy,” Democratic candidate Robert Massie said.
According to a UMass-Lowell/Herald poll, Warren would tied with Brown in a general election. The poll gave Brown 41 percent of the votes and 38 percent of the votes to Warren, but the margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
