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During Final Weekend, Brown, Warren Vie For Votes

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Sen. Scott Brown's campaign bus pulls up to "Grumpy's Restaurant" in East Dennis, Mass., on Saturday. (Stephan Savoia/AP)
Sen. Scott Brown's campaign bus pulls up to "Grumpy's Restaurant" in East Dennis, Mass., on Saturday. (Stephan Savoia/AP)

Republican Sen. Scott Brown and his Democratic rival, Elizabeth Warren, are crisscrossing the state in this, the final weekend of the election campaign.

Brown Says He's Not A 'Partisan Ideologue'

On Saturday, Brown began his day on Cape Cod, at a charity walk in Hyannis, then a breakfast in Dennis. Then it was on to Plymouth, where dozens of enthusiastic people overflowed from a pavilion at Plimoth Plantation.

As Brown stepped outside to get onto his tour bus, people crowded around him. It was almost as if they did not want him to leave. Then, it was on to Fall River and Taunton, where another enthusiastic crowd awaited. Brown tried to set up a contrast between him and Warren.

“You didn't send me down there to be a partisan ideologue,” the senator said. “You sent me down there to be a problem solver. If you want a partisan ideologue, you can send the other person down there.”

He raised another point on which he's tried to establish a difference between Warren, who moved to Massachusetts 17 years ago, and himself.

“As you know, I'm from here," Brown said. "I've been here since I was 1.”

And he finished with a review, from his perspective, of what Warren's campaign has been all about: “You know what the difference between my opponent and me is? Us vs. them. Haves and have-nots. Men vs. women. Rich vs. poor. What about, like, in the middle? How about like me? Let's go have a beer. Sit down, have a pizza. Let's work on things together.”

Warren Joined By Civil Rights Activist

U.S. Rep. James McGovern applauds as Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren speaks to supporters at a rally in Auburn. (Elizabeth Brown for WBUR)
U.S. Rep. James McGovern applauds as Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren speaks at a rally in Auburn. (Elizabeth Brown for WBUR)

Meanwhile, in Springfield, Boston and Lawrence, Gov. Deval Patrick warmed up already enthusiastic audiences made up of diehard Warren supporters. The main message to the faithful this weekend is to keep on canvassing, to ensure friends and neighbors also make it out to the polls.

That message was amplified by Georgia Rep. and civil rights icon John Lewis.

“Elizabeth Warren will never, ever give up," Lewis said. "She will never, ever let you down. You can depend on her. She will look out for all of us. Go out and vote like you never, ever voted before. Vote for Barack Obama. Vote for Elizabeth Warren. Send her to the United States Senate.”

Warren's campaign is banking on an effective get-out-the-vote effort. According to senior campaign adviser Doug Rubin, they have built on the grassroots successes of Patrick's campaigns.

“I actually think that Elizabeth's effort is bigger than that,” Rubin said. “We've got thousands of people around the state who have been working for over a year, talking to their friends and neighbors, and now focused on identifying and getting people out to the polls on Tuesday.”

In the parking lot of a steelworks union hall in Auburn, the candidate herself made a personal appeal to several hundred supporters not to let their guard down.

“So are you ready to get out there? We got four days," Warren said. "Are you ready to knock on doors, make the phone calls, make the plan, to get yourself to vote, your family members to vote, your friends to vote, your neighbors to vote? Remember, it's about persuasion, but it's also about getting all those folks to the polls.”

For Warren supporters, like Emily Schatzow of Cambridge, the message seems to be resonating.

“People are pouring in to canvass and make phone calls," she said. "We realize that in Cambridge, we have to have 100 percent of voters out who are for Elizabeth Warren.”

Warren supporters are expected to knock on hundreds of thousands of doors this weekend, right through Election Day.

This program aired on November 4, 2012.

Headshot of Fred Thys

Fred Thys Reporter
Fred Thys reported on politics and higher education for WBUR.

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