US Senator Scott Brown’s first radio ad of campaign emphasizes his independence

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

US Senator Scott Brown is launching a statewide radio campaign Monday in a spot highlighting his “independent voice” in Congress.

Brown, a Republican, is facing a strong challenge from Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard professor, consumer advocate, and the likely Democratic nominee. Warren’s emergence has forced Brown to the airwaves faster than he might otherwise have chosen in advance of the November election. Warren has already gone on television with a biographical advertisement introducing herself to voters.

The Brown campaign would not say how much the ad buy costs or how long it will remain on the air.

Spokesman Colin Reed said the ad is the first in a series of “Scott Brown Radio Reports.”

Other than a brief introduction and a quick conclusion, the ad is in Brown’s voice. Brown does not directly address Warren in the ad, but he alludes to the impression he has already tried to draw of her -- that she would be a divisive figure.

“When I was first elected, I told the voters that I wouldn’t be another loud and angry voice, because Washington has too many of those already,” Brown says in the ad. “I promised to be an independent voice, and a problem solver because Washington needs more of those.”

Brown also says in the spot that he doesn’t have “the political establishment behind me.”

That’s accurate in the sense that the state’s dominant Democratic Party, along with national Democrats, have made his defeat a priority. But he has strong fundraising support from Senate republican leaders, who have lent him more than $250,000 in fundraising support.

Brown does not mention his party affiliation in the ad -- he is trying to woo independents and conservative Democrats, whom he will need to win election in a state that leans Democratic.

“When I vote, I don’t worry about the party line; I look at each issue on the merits,” he continues.

Brown officially launched his reelection campaign last week, employing similar themes in a speech at Mechanics Hall in Worcester.