Quick takes on the debate which just ended.
End Result — As with most of these things, people will see what they want.
I’d say while Brown won hands down the first debate, this one was more even. Brown won big on Warren’s personal problems, which took up the first 15 minutes or more of the debate (Cherokee and representing big companies)(the licensing issue was not raised). Warren supporters on Twitter were going crazy mad at Gregory.
Warren scored some points trying to tie Brown into Washington Repubublicans. She rattled off some votes where Brown was “lockstep” with Republicans, but she may have hurt herself because he was able to explain that some Democrats opposed the bills and a compromise eventually was worked out.
But Brown also drove home repeatedly and forcefully the same theme he drove in the first debate, no more taxes and he’s independent. He clearly is fighting for the independent vote, which actually is the narrow majority in Massachusetts.
I’d still give the win to Brown, because he wasn’t trying to win over liberals who never will vote for him anyway. On immigration he staked out the blue collar position, not the Cambridge liberal position.
Brown was going for what he needs, people in the middle who are not ideological.
In his closing statement Brown said “I’m from here” and talked about how “I married a Waltham girl.” Warren launched a class warfare and war on women closing. That pretty much summed up the difference. The hometown guy versus the shrill class warrior.
Line of night: “Excuse me, I’m not a student in your classroom, please let me respond.”
A similar line was used against Coakley (I’m not a defendant in your courtroom, or something similar) and it worked. At least one liberal columnist thinks it was preplanned.
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Some back and forth points. My paraphrases of some questions and some answers:
Started off with Native American issue. “Do you consider yourself a minority and if not is there any other reason to list yourself in the faculty directory?” Warren had the usual family stories.
Brown said the issue was integrity, character and trustworthiness. When she was asked by Boston Herald, she said she didn’t know. Brown points out that I can’t change who she is. Until 38 years old changed from White to Native American. At pinnacle of success at Harvard changed back to White. “If she says can’t change who she is, but she has done it twice.”
Gregory: “Are you hiding something?” Warren: “No I am not.” “The truth is the truth, I believe my mother.”
Brown said I don’t question what her parents said, the issue was why she misled the voters for over 5 weeks. Warren says “I misheard a question at a very noisy press conference.” Brown says this went on for 5 weeks.
Doesn’t bother her that he calls her Professor.
Gregory says Warren released a list of clients? Apparently she released it literally minutes before the debate.
Then switched to issue of her legal representation. I think she defended it better.
Line of the night “Excuse me, I’m not a student in your classroom, please let me respond.”
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Opening line of the just-up boston.com article: “Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown again demanded Democrat Elizabeth Warren release her personnel records at Harvard University even as he conceded she is ‘‘a qualified academic’’ who earned her title as law professor.”
Uh … pretty weak tea. With this argument, Brown is not convincing anyone who is not already convinced. He’s coming off as weak candidate, not a sitting Senator.
How is he coming across as weak?
Professor Jacobson: has the New Jersey Bar responded to your written request about when Warren’s license became inactive?
And why should I care what the Boston Globe says about anything?
I don’t like Granny Warren so I can’t be objective. She has an old, whiny voice that doesn’t help either.
I liked it when Scott said his favorite justice was Scalia. He realized his error immediately. Too bad Scott can’t be Scott in MA but I’m fine with that.
Since Brown did not raise the Mass. law license requirement, he must assume that those “in the middle” Mass. I and moderate D voters don’t care that Ms. Warren violated Mass. law. For me, that’s a sad state of affairs for that state, if true. I hope it’s not! I can’t see how it would have hurt Brown to have brought it up – rather than repeat certain other lines over & over. One could say, “Well, Mass. voters elect the pols they deserve.” BUT, when it comes to electing U.S. Senators, the whole nation gets the pols those D Mass. voters deserved – not us! Oh, well. “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” (Multiple cliche alerts.)
I believe he’s watiing for the Boston Herald to investigate. Politicians don’t usually attack unless the papers have done so first.
He has to be careful not to bring it up in a way that backfires. The MA Establishment will do their best to make it backfire.
For example, beware of a surreptitious “investigation” by the Massachusetts bar, culminating in a complete “exoneration” of Warren just before the election.
gs, I just posted in another thread why I understood why Brown didn’t bring up the license thing in tonight’s debate, including the possibility he’d be taking a risk since the story is still in development. That we are often independently in close agreement on things probably bodes ill for at least one of us and maybe both, lol.
Henry, I hope not because my toast has fallen butter-side down a damaging number of times since Y2K. (Of course the consequences go on my plate.)
Maybe we have similar biochemistry which facilitates rapport.
Did Warren make some factual slip regarding Lugar?
I saw a brief mention of it at I/P, but no details.
I believe she named Lugar as a Republican she could work with in the Senate. Of course, Lugar, lost his primary and leaves office Jan ’13, so it’s impossible for a victorious Warren to ever work with Lugar.
Brown won, and won easily
Warren was evasive and was lying
She has a problem, her voice. She reminds of my sister who always cried when Dad made her eat her veggies.
Vote in the http://www.boston.com poll
Who won the debate?
Right now:
Senator Scott Brown 44.3%
Challenger Elizabeth Warren 43.04%
They both performed about the same 12.66%
What’s going on? Is the Boston Globe’s traffic down tonight? We sure know its circulation is.
The globe survey is worthless because you vote as much as you like. I voted about 15 times. machine Dema are out in force tonight
Forget the Globe. Here’s the latest results of the Herald’s poll:
Who won tonight’s debate?
79% – Scott Brown
17% – Elizabeth Warren
4% – It was a tie
[…] Read William Jacobson’s analysis here. Share this:TwitterFacebookEmail from → 2012, Debate, Elizabeth Warren, Legal Insurrection, […]
[…] Brown Crush Warren? Posted on October 1, 2012 6:15 pm by Bill Quick » Brown-Warren post-debate analysis – Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion End Result – As with most of these things, people will see what they […]
1. Line of night: “Excuse me, I’m not a student in your classroom, please let me respond.”
The shocked gasp from the Enlightened Ones in the audience signifies a direct hit.
2. In his closing statement Brown said “I’m from here” and talked about how “I married a Waltham girl.”
To the Cambridge and Berkshire types, that’s a negative although they can’t come right out and say that.
3. Whatever happens in this race, the likelihood of an eventual shudder President Elizabeth Warren is far smaller than it was a few months ago.
I’m an independent, a former democrat, if I lived in MA, I would vote for Brown over Warren.
And I’ll be honest, I was rooting for Warren in 2010 (she was not running for the senate yet at that point) when she started proposing the re-installation of glass stegal… but then when she started with the class warfare, the whole “we built the roads for YOU to use”, I lost all respect for her. Lady, the people who use the roads are the ones who built it & paid for it! I don’t like pitting one set of people against another. I’m a middle income person, I do not begrudge for a second those who are self made rich people, like romney or others, more power to them for working hard, and getting rich. I do not like class warfare one bit.
She is far too left for me, and I’m sort of left of center. I’m not as far left as Warren. Plus she’s a hypocrite, she says she’s against bailouts, yet collects massive fundraisers from Wall Street. Where is she when it comes to the crime Jon Corzine committed, she’s completely silent on it.
So, as an independent, I know from my perceptive, Brown appeals to me more. As for that prick David Gregory, what can be said, the man’s a lefty, he is part of the DC elitists, trying his best to make sure the power continues to be centralized in DC.
Alex, dude, you are not an independent. Your heart knows and accepts this, but your mind still lags behind. Come to the dark side, Alex. You are 99% here……
LOL. If by “dark side” you mean a republican. No, I will probably never register as a republican, actually I don’t see myself registering as a democrat either ever again, they’ve gone too far radical left for me.
I am fiscally more conservative, limited govt, but socially I do lean left, libertarian. I do support the tea party on most fiscal limited constitutional issues.
Appreciate your honesty. I stand somewhat close to your views. Until they launched their Gaystapo tactics and let the mask slip, I was gay sympathetic. No longer. I have never voted for a Democrat in my life up til now. Now?
No. Way. In. Hell.
That party, that I could at least see eye to eye on Defense Issues, is long dead now. I’m not overly ecstatic about the Republican Party right now, but the alternative is oblivion.
Uh oh, be careful Alex, you sound like you are to the right of the mainstream Repubs!
(aka RINOs)
Nooooooooo. I not a registered Republican either. I’m registered as Unaffiliated, as it’s designated here in NC. Both major parties constantly flux between their extremes and I’ll be damned if I’ll constantly change with ’em just to be loyal.
I’m alluding to conservativism. Like it or not, you are more than halfway here. Come to the daaaaaaaaark, Alex.
I’m a conservative, I have my base principles, and they have not and will not change. If the Democrat candidate best matches them, vote Democrat I will. If it’s the Republican, that’s where I’ll vote. I think you proceed pretty much the same way.
The Boston Herald’s Joe Battenfeld said Warren lied on this question:
And Warren’s claim that she initially said she didn’t know why Harvard Law School had listed her as a minority because she “misheard” the question at a noisy press conference is just not true. The Herald’s Hillary Chabot posed the question earlier this year, and Warren seemed to have no trouble hearing it.
Brown squashed her like the little bug she is.