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It was Brown’s ability to connect with voters, and his genuine enthusiasm for hand-pumping, back-slapping retail politics, that carried the Republican to a surprise victory in a 2010 special election to fill the term of the late US Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Brown has cast himself as the common-sense everyman, who rolls his eyes at the crazy partisanship in Washington, just like you do.

But 2012’s tight campaign against Democrat Elizabeth Warren has forced out another side of Scott Brown. Facing a determined opponent with an uncanny ability to raise cash, Brown has pressed a relentless assault on Warren’s character and integrity, a departure from the likeable-guy image central to his appeal.

In TV commercials, at debates, and on the campaign trail, Brown directly goes after Warren’s identity: “She’s not who she says she is.”

Warren, a Harvard Law professor and consumer advocate, hasn’t fired back in such a personal way. Instead, she whacks away at Brown’s voting record, while the incumbent preaches moderation in Washington, and bets on his greatest political asset: “A lot of people, I’m very similar to them,” says Brown. “I can always find some common ground.

Source: Boston Globe