Local Dems attack Brown on ties to GOP

Local Democratic state senators blasted U.S. Sen. Scott Brown during a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning, saying victories by Brown and other Republican leaders would be disastrous to women.

"He wants the Republicans to take over the Senate," state Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said during the call Wednesday. "If you look at what their agenda is, it would be devastating to women and families."

Spilka was joined on the call, which was organized by the state Democratic Party, and included state Sen. Katherine Clark, a Melrose Democrat.

Spilka and Clark criticized votes Brown has taken against the Paycheck Fairness Act and a Senate Democrat tax plan that included tax breaks that would have benefited mothers and families, but also criticized him for supporting a national GOP with what they characterized as an agenda that's dangerous for women.

Clark said the Republicans want to rehash the health care debate and replace it with a system that will not include the same services for women and their families.

"Senator Brown, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to drag us back through the mud and refight this heath care battle all over again," Clark said.

Spilka and Clark also criticized Brown for his support of the Blunt amendment, which would have allowed employers to opt out of paying for birth control or other medical services if they had a moral objection to it.

"It really is hard to believe we are talking about birth control in a campaign during the year 2012," said Clark.

Spilka criticized Brown for voting against the Paycheck Fairness Act, which she said would have brought pay for women closer in line to what men make.

"Women earn 70 cents on the dollar compared to men," Spilka said. "That's plainly wrong and we need to stop it."

Brown's camp Wednesday afternoon sent out several press releases and wrote off the Democratic attacks as a sign of desperation on the part of Elizabeth Warren, who, according to a recent Public Policy Polling survey, is trailing Brown by five points. Other polls taken in recent months have had the two at a dead heat.

"Warren's deteriorating image and inability to connect with voters is forcing her to resort to desperate and disingenuous negative attacks," Brown campaign manager Jim Barnett said in a statement.

Brown's campaign Wednesday also said the Democrats were trying to build sentiment against Brown by tying him ideologically to members of his party with harsher stances against women's issues.

Brown, who bills himself a pro-choice Republican, on Tuesday sent a letter to GOP leaders asking for a more inclusive party line on abortion. The GOP party platform being drafted includes language seeking a ban on all abortions with no mentions of exceptions in case of rape or incest.

"Someone should remind Professor Warren that she's running against Scott Brown and not Mitt Romney," campaign spokesman Colin Reed said during a phone interview Wednesday. "He's an independent thinker. He's the second most bipartisan senator in the country. He has a proven record of reaching across the aisle to get things done."

The Brown camp also pointed to his list of accomplishments on women's issues, like his support of the Violence Against Women Act, Roe V. Wade and his opposition to cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood. Brown also said in a statement that he supports fair wages for women, but thought the Paycheck Fairness Act was overreaching and cumbersome for small businesses.
?

Source: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x2118934081/Local-Dems-attack-Brown-on-ties-to-GOP

real housewives of disney awakenings phantom of the opera agoraphobia andrew lloyd webber obscura grok