Mass. Democrats find they have much to agree on at first US Senate debate

By Noah Bierman and Frank Phillips, Globe Staff

LOWELL -- Elizabeth Warren’s opponents for the 2012 Democratic Senate nomination did little to knock her off her stride tonight in the first debate of the primary, as the candidates hoping to face off against Republican Scott Brown agreed on nearly every fundamental issue.

On war, taxes, regulation, and stimulus spending, the Democrats are almost universally to the left of President Obama -- urging a quick military withdrawal, higher taxes on the rich, a broader crackdown on Wall Street, and more government spending to jump-start the economy.

Alan Khazei, the candidate viewed as Warren’s closest competitor, took only a veiled swipe at her, criticizing the “Washington establishment” and the political action committees that are backing Warren without mentioning her by name.

“If you think Washington PACS should call the shots, then the Washington establishment will get [its] way, then this election will be over before it starts,” Khazei said.

Warren, who declined Khazei’s challenge to reject PAC money last month, said after the debate that she has spent her career fighting big money interests and banks.

“No one has any question where I stand,” she said. “I fight for middle class families and nothing, nothing will change that.”

Throughout the 90-minute debate at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Brown was seldom mentioned, but the candidates were eager to demonstrate that each was best-equipped to defeat him.

“Next to me he will come across as nothing more than an empty suit with an empty list” of accomplishments, said Thomas P. Conroy, a state legislator from Wayland.

Bob Massie, a former candidate for lieutenant governor, said “we need a locomotive in the Senate like Teddy Kennedy” rather than a “caboose like Scott Brown”

All of the candidates expressed support for the controversial protesters who are part of the “Occupy Boston” movement downtown. They also backed medical marijuana use, money for Planned Parenthood, abortion rights, and the rights of the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public universities.

Though the election is still a year away, the UMass Lowell/Boston Herald debate brought a sense of excitement to the campus today, with red, white, and blue bunting adorning Durgin Hall, media trucks lined up, and supporters of Warren and Alan Khazei arriving hours ahead of time to wave signs.

Rather than confront each other directly, the candidates used the debate as an opportunity to introduce themselves.

Warren demonstrated her ability to combine a professor’s command of the economy with the plain language of a populist fighter. Khazei, co-founder of a national service program, spoke about the importance of building coalitions to advocate for important causes and solve problems. Conroy offered anecdotes about the people he met while walking the state this summer, saying their stories illustrated economic problems in this state

Bob Massie, a former candidate for lieutenant governor, said he is in the race “to see capitalism move to a next step...to be sustainable and just.” Marisa DeFranco, a little-know immigration attorney, may have offered the night’s biggest surprise, punctuating her responses with fiery appeals to fight Washington. The sixth candidate, engineer Herb Robinson, made the crowd laugh with a few one-liners about his girth and his marijuana use, but otherwise looked nervous and uncertain on many questions.

Warren had the most to lose. Just weeks after getting into the race, she has taken on a front-runner’s role, with support from Democratic establishment groups and a commanding lead among Democrats, according to a poll released this week.