Elizabeth Warren: Not Just a Ball-Busting Advocate

It’s on. Last week, attack ads against Elizabeth Warren kicked off with a spot by the conservative PAC Crossroads GPS, which portrayed the Democratic Senate candidate as the inspiration for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Today, Warren comes back with an ad of her own, which attempts to define her positions before she’s further maligned by Republicans:

The spot discusses Warren’s childhood, her young marriage, and her family’s military service. It briefly mentions her time at Harvard (which her opponents love cast aspersions against) and outlines her work to create and install the Consumer Protection Bureau. The tone is easygoing and informal, but is also sets out to establish her as a person, not just a ball-busting consumer advocate. This is somewhat understandable, but let’s be honest, her no-nonsense attitude is her best asset, and the main reason why Republicans are quavering. Is it any surprise that they’ve recently latched on to her recent statements about how she’d use a “nuanced” approach to dealing with potential Iranian nukes? The more they can make her appear calculating and professorial instead of decisive (as they do with another well-known law professor), the more they can distract voters from realizing she’s actually kind of a badass. So I’m looking forward to seeing her tough-talking, no-holds-barred approach to fighting big business come through in future ads.