Endgame

As the Massachusetts senate race is drawing to a close, I am examining the closing strategy of the Elizabeth Warren campaign as she attempts to break away in this tight race. While much of Warren's campaign rhetoric remains the same due to her continued focus on protecting the middle class, Warren has made an interesting and seemingly effective tactical move in her campaign. The campaign has released a new add shifting the focus of the senate race to a national level, arguing that Scott Brown could be the senator needed to provide the Republicans with a senate majority. The add continues saying that this could lead to continued tax cuts for the wealthy or possibly the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Warren uses this national strategy to stir up her liberal base capitalizing off of their fear and anxieties. This campaign move seems to be working as Warren's lead in the polls is growing, gaining a 5.7 point lead in the polls as of October 26th according to Real Clear Politics.

The Warren campaign also released another ad called "Momentum", claiming that the momentum of the campaign was leaning in her favor. Much of the add tries to focus on Warren's personal connection with her supporters, showing her at various campaign events interacting with everyday people. The ad drives home her platform of helping working families, but makes a distinction between herself and her opponent, claiming that Scott Brown's vision for America is to let the rich get richer as the rest of America falls behind.

On her campaign blog, Warren also tries to draw attention to the attack ads about her released by Brown supporters and Karl Rove's robocalls in order to establish Scott Brown's campaign as out of touch, driven by a few extremely wealthy and powerful supporters, whereas her campaign is all about her supporters and middle class, hard working families.

Massachusetts Senate Debate

      I watched the second debate of the Massachusetts senatorial race between Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren. While much of the beginning of the debate was mostly focused on extraneous issues like Elizabeth Warren's native American heritage or the argument regarding which candidate represented who when they  were both lawyers, the debate eventually shifted to actual political issues. The debate was close throughout, but it seemed as if Elizabeth Warren more effectively able to appeal to likely voters. Despite Brown's consistent efforts to display his bipartisanship, citing that he is the second most bipartisan senator based on his record, Warren was able to dispel his attempt at portraying himself as an independent by claiming that Brown's rhetoric is very different once he leaves Massachusetts. Warren argued that Brown signed an agreement with other Republicans that if he indeed won the Massachusetts Senate seat, that he would work to oppose Barack Obama's agenda. While Brown made some sound arguments and continued to try to appeal to a generally democratic Massachusetts, Warren seemed to have the edge, sticking to her guns as the defender of the middle class who will stick up to the special interest groups and big banks unlike Scott Brown.

      The media after the debate generally concluded that it was a draw, as most who attended the debate came out believing that the candidate they supported going in won. In general I agree with this conclusion, however I do believe that in the context of the race as a whole, considering the left-leaning Massachusetts population, Warren's rhetoric and persona give her the W in this debate.

Political Artifacts

I am looking at the campaign of democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren and two of her campaign artifacts. The first artifact is from Elizabeth Warren's campaign blog regarding her appearance at a human rights campaign dinner. In the blog post, Warren is established as a candidate who will fight for gay rights, saying "Elizabeth would be more than just another vote for marriage equality and a fully inclusive employment non-discrimination law. She will help lead the charge, to be an LGBT ally not just some of the time, but all of the time". This attempts to portray Warren as a defender of civil liberties and rights for all.

The second artifact is Warren's campaign video, entitled "No One". In this ad, Warren continues to portray herself as the champion of the middle class. The video shows Warren fighting against large banks and cites her work in consumer protection. This campaign ad falls very much in line with the rest of the rhetoric of Warren's campaign, as she, above all, wants to establish her image as being on the side of the little guy.

Both of these artifacts are attempts by Warren to target the generally democratic population of Massachusetts, hitting her main talking points of equality and fairness.