Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren drew about 1,000 supporters Sunday at a rally in Boston.
"The daughter of a maintenance man who made it to be a fancy pants professor at Harvard Law School. America is a great country," she said to the audience, who had pledged to volunteer for her campaign at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury.
(Video of the event above from NECN.)
The turnout was remarkable for an election that is nearly a year away. The Boston Globe reported that her campaign said her opponent, Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), has been drawing crowds of 200 to 500 at recent events. The Huffington Post's Ryan Grim reported on another recent volunteer event where Warren was heckled by a Tea Party supporter.
Republicans, meanwhile, attacked Warren for her comments on Iran Sunday. When asked how serious Iran's nuclear threat is by Boston television station WCVB, she said, "This is serious. We're talking about the development of nuclear weapons by a state that is enormously dangerous." She added, "This is about as serious as it gets."
The interviewer asked what the U.S. response should be. "I think the answer is, we leave all options on the table, and we do what President Obama has been remarkably good at in foreign affairs over the past couple of years, and that is nuanced responses. No chest thumping and going over the top that could backfire," she said.
The Massachusetts Republican Party singled out the word "nuanced" and attacked Warren for it. "What is needed right now is not nuance, but a clear, consistent and unmistakable message from the United States that a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable and won't be tolerated," said Nate Little, the executive director of the state party, in a statement.
Warren also signaled that she wanted to take her case against Brown beyond his Wall Street ties in a New York magazine profile published Sunday. When asked about other reasons she wanted to replace Brown, she mentioned the environment, the DREAM Act and "family issues." She clarified that she was not talking about abortion:
"No, no, around LGBT," Warren said. "'Don't ask, don't tell' was how it was framed, but there's a whole, I hate to do it as just 'don't ask, don't tell.' Just kind of around the whole, you know, defense of marriage." She sighed. "I'll learn the way that politicians talk about these."
The Huffington Post's Amanda Terkel reported that the Massachusetts congressional delegation -- without Brown -- put out a video for the "It Gets Better" project, reassuring LGBT youth who may be getting bullied that their lives will get better. She said that Brown was invited but declined to participate. Brown voted against the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military.
