Scott Brown touts Democratic endorsements in Massachusetts

By Rachel Rose Hartman | The Ticket – 7 hrs ago

Scott Brown (Steven Senne/AP)

Few Republican senators are aligning themselves with Democrats as strongly or as publicly as Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown is this year.
In his latest move, the freshman lawmaker is spending much of Monday touting endorsements from Democratic mayors in his home state. That comes in addition to the advertising and messaging he's already used to link himself to Democrats.
"Honored to have the support of former Boston and Worcester Democratic mayors Ray Flynn and Konnie Lukes," the senator wrote on Facebook and Twitter. The two Democrats hail from the state's largest cities. Brown is scheduled to appear with each supporter at a separate campaign event Monday in the lead-up to a highly competitive general election contest against Elizabeth Warren.
Democrats are dying to oust Brown, who was first elected in a 2010 special election for Sen. Edward Kennedy's seat, which had been held by Democrats since 1953. In an unexpected victory, Brown arguably became the first major tea party candidate to gain election to Congress—though he has since pushed back against that label and the partisanship it suggests, saying he has always advocated a bipartisan platform.

Republicans make up just 11 percent of registered voters in Massachusetts, with the largest group of voters choosing to remain unaffiliated.

Democrats successfully recruited Warren, a Harvard law professor and President Obama's top pick to run the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), for the 2012 Senate race. (She was passed over for the CFPB spot following fierce Republican pushback in Congress.)

Meanwhile, Democrats have been actively attacking Brown's bipartisan persona. "A vote for Scott Brown is a vote for President Mitt Romney, the Republican Party, Wall Street, and the big corporations," Warren campaign manager Mindy Myers stated in an email message to supporters last week.