Scott Brown sidesteps poll tie with Elizabeth Warren

By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff

US Senator Scott Brown today sidestepped a poll showing him in a statistical tie with potential Democratic opponent Elizabeth Warren, saying more than a year before the general election, “I’m not worried about polls.”

Speaking with reporters after a congressional hearing at the State House, the first-term Republican said: “I’m going to have an opponent in November (2012), and I’m going to continue to do my job, and working on the very important things that people care about, and that’s jobs, job creation.”

He added: “It’s, what, 13 months away? I’m not worried about it.”

Warren, a Harvard Law School professor who recently left the Obama administration, would get 36 percent of the vote among Democratic primary voters, while none of her five opponents would get more than 5 percent, according to the poll, conducted by University of Massachusetts Lowell and the Boston Herald.

The poll of 1,000 registered voters said Brown would lead Warren by 41 percent to 38 percent, which is within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. It was conducted in advance of a debate tomorrow night at UMass Lowell between the Democratic candidates.

Warren’s early strength in the poll is surprising, considering that 37 percent of respondents said they had not heard of her. The poll suggests also Warren’s message to middle-class voters may be an effective campaign strategy, as 48 percent of voters said Brown is not doing enough for the economic interests of the middle class.

Brown shocked the state Democratic establishment in January 2010, when he won the special election to fill the remainder of the term for the late US Senator Edward M. Kennedy. In November 2012, he will be seeking his first full, six -year term.

The senator was in Boston to attend a fisheries hearing convened by his Democratic colleague, US Senator John Kerry.

Brown repeatedly emphasized his commitment to job creation, as well as bipartisanship.

“I don’t work for Harry Reid or Mitch McConnell,” he said, referring to the Senate Democratic and Republican leaders. “I work for the people of Massachusetts, and I’m going to continue to just that. I’ve been disgusted with what’s been going on down (in Washington) and very, very vocal about it. And we need to work together, because we’re all Americans first. We need to stop putting partisan politics and personal agendas ahead of what’s important, which is putting people back to work.”