Mass. Candidates Say VP Choice Could Impact Their Races

Political candidates in Massachusetts are expressing mixed reactions to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's choice of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate.

Elizabeth Warren, who is running for Senate against incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown, says Romney's announcement will influence the state's U.S. Senate race.

"Scott Brown says there is no one he trusts more than Mitt Romney on the economy," Warren said. "When Romney and Ryan are leading the Republicans in this direction, that's got to have an impact on the Senate race right here in Massachusetts."

Rep. John Tierney, who is running for reelection from the 6th Congressional District, says the differences between him and his challenger, Republican Richard Tisei, will become sharper once voters more fully understand Ryan's budget proposal.

"I think it just sharpens with a laser-like precision the differences between the parties," Tierney said, adding that Ryan's budget proposal would "eviscerate Medicare and give huge tax cuts to people who are already doing extraordinarily well at the expense of the middle class. The question will be how fast it takes for my opponent to backpedal away from it."

However, Tisei says he has never claimed to endorse Ryan's budget completely. Rather, he says that Ryan's proposal, along with the Simpson-Bowles proposal put forth by the Obama administration, represent good starting points.

"Do I agree with everything in the Ryan plan? No. Do I agree with everything in Simpson-Bowles? No. But they're both serious plans. They're the only plans that are on the table right now that are legitimate to move the country forward," Tisei said.