Elizabeth Warren’s Star Support Criticized
Nearly 20 percent of Ms. Warren’s itemized donations (those over $200) in the last quarter of 2011 came from California, where a number of actors and others in the entertainment industry are fired up about her race against a first-term senator, Scott P. Brown, to reclaim for Democrats the seat long held by Edward M. Kennedy.
And Mr. Brown is seeking to use their enthusiasm against her.
Last Wednesday — the day before Skip Brittenham, an entertainment lawyer, and Heather Thomas, an actress, held a $500- to-$5,000-per-ticket fund-raiser for Ms. Warren at their home in Santa Monica — the Massachusetts Republican Party released a Web video in the style of an old movie trailer, with an announcer proclaiming, “Hollywood has a new ‘It Girl’ — Hollywood has fallen for Elizabeth Warren big-time.”
The black-and-white video, called “The Elitist,” labels Ms. Warren the “biggest hypocrite in a political campaign” for raising money from wealthy celebrities while supporting populist causes. Ms. Warren, a Harvard law professor, built a national reputation in recent years as a dogged consumer advocate, testifying before Congress on economic issues and setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The Brown campaign has mocked not only Ms. Warren’s Hollywood support, but the considerable amount of money she has raised outside Massachusetts in general, arguing that Mr. Brown is the more authentic, homegrown candidate.
Gee, I wonder if Scott Brown has received any donations from out of state? Let’s take a look.
As he gears up for what could be a long and costly re-election fight next year, freshman U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is reaching out to donors in all 50 states to bulk up his campaign coffers.
Of the more than $2.25 million in itemized individual contributions Brown raised during the first half of the year, about 53 percent came from donors outside of his home state of Massachusetts, according to an Associated Press review of Federal Election Commission campaign records.
Those out-of-state supporters also made much larger individual donations on average than Brown’s Bay State backers, according to the review.
Who is the hypocrite, Mr. Brown?