Elizabeth Warren in The New York Times 2010s

On Civil Rights: We need a reliable vote for equal pay for equal work

As in their previous two debates, Warren cast Brown as an unreliable vote on women's issues, though she did so more crisply than before. In a direct appeal to women, she said that when Brown had the chance to vote for equal pay for equal work, he voted no; when he had the chance to vote for employers and insurers to pay for coverage for contraception, he voted no; when he had the chance to vote for a Supreme Court justice who supported abortion rights, he voted no. "The women of Massachusetts need a senator they can count on--not some of the time but all of the time," she said. Whether abortion remains legal, she said, "may hang in the balance."

Brown shot back that "I didn't vote for your boss," a reference to Justice Elena Kagan, who was dean of the Harvard Law School. He said Kagan didn't have the requisite judicial experience.

Source: N.Y. Times on 2012 Mass. Senate debates Oct 11, 2012

On Homeland Security: Reduce size of standing army to reduce deficit

Warren portrayed herself as someone who was being honest and realistic when she said she would "raise revenues," a euphemism for taxes, and would even cut the military budget and redirect spending to education programs and improvements in the nation's infrastructure.

Only late in the debate did Warren try to explain why and how she would cut the military budget. She said that Brown's determination not to raise taxes meant that the budget would not be balanced and the deficit would not be reduced, which would lead to across-the-board cuts in all agencies. She would rather make planned cuts, such as by reducing the size of the standing army, she said, than allow across-the-board cuts that could hurt needed programs.

Source: N.Y. Times on 2012 Mass. Senate debates Oct 11, 2012

On Technology: Push for spending on infrastructure

When pressed on what kind of formidable legislation she would actually pursue in the Senate, Warren's organization served up a snoozy list of the priorities that Democrats have been talking about for years: she will push for spending on infrastructure, education and renewable energy. She will work to strengthen labor unions and advocate for the reregulation of the big banks while easing regulations that make it difficult for small businesses and community banks to compete with giants.

These are fine notions; there's a reason they've long been the mainstays of an imagined liberal revolution. But they're also the ideas that cause Congress to immediately grind to a halt and that, when packaged in nonspecific campaign-speak, are quickly drained of meaning.

Source: By Rebecca Traister in New York Times on 2012 election Nov 18, 2011

The above quotations are from Media coverage of political races in The New York Times, 2010-2019. Click here for other excerpts from Media coverage of political races in The New York Times, 2010-2019. Click here for other excerpts by Elizabeth Warren. Click here for a profile of Elizabeth Warren.
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Page last updated: Dec 02, 2021