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Sen. Brown Kicks Off Campaign Re-Election Bid

WORCESTER, Mass. — U.S. Sen. Scott Brown has officially kicked off his re-election campaign, casting his chief Democratic opponent Elizabeth Warren as an ideologue and pledging to be an independent voice in a deeply partisan Congress.

Brown, speaking to a crowd of cheering supporters here, said he would continue to oppose the health care law signed by President Obama and would fight against wasteful government spending.

Brown timed his Thursday evening event to coincide with the anniversary of his special election win in 2010 that catapulted him into the office once held by the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Brown also criticized what he called "establishment candidates" who wage class warfare by pitting one group of Americans against another and attacking the country's free enterprise system.

Warren called those remarks part of the "standard Republican playbook."

Meanwhile, Brown and Warren aides have a meeting Friday in an effort to keep outside groups from airing attack ads during the campaign. That's something Warren finds encouraging.

"If a third-party group comes in trying to attack one of us, the one who supposedly is being helped would make a significant contribution to a charity, would give up some of their own money," she said, "saying to the third-party group, 'You're going to be hurting the very person you're trying to support.' "

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom

This article was originally published on January 19, 2012.

This program aired on January 19, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

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