Marisa DeFranco vs Lieawatha In Massachusetts Democratic Senatorial Primary

By Rob Janicki
We (okay me) here at CP have been reporting on Elizabeth Warren, aka Sitting Duck, Running Scared, Lieawatha, and Fauxcohontas, with all her trials and tribulations in her bid to gain the Democratic Senate nomination to face off against incumbent Scott Brown (R-MA) this November.

Warren has had a devil of a time trying to escape her past, in particular her claim of Native American ancestry.  We've all heard her original claim of being 1/32 Cherokee based upon family lore.  We now know there is no basis in genealogical facts to support that old family lore.

What hasn't been reported is that there is a Democratic primary and although Warren is currently favored to win the nomination, there is a hitch in Ms. Warren's get along and that would be Marisa DeFranco.

[...]  DeFranco, a North Shore immigration lawyer, has lagged severely in polls but said she’s hoping to pull off the same kind of political miracle against Warren and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown that Brown managed against Martha Coakley more than two years ago. She said Warren’s increasingly awkward and rote responses to questions about her claims of minority status underscore her flaws as a candidate.  [...]

[...]  In a head-to-head matchup with Brown, DeFranco trails by 21 points, according to a Suffolk University poll released last week. But she notes she was down by 33 points in mid-February. Warren still remains far better positioned in the poll, with 47 percent to Brown’s 48 percent, while beating DeFranco 72 percent to 5 percent among likely Democratic primary voters.  [...]

Now, why do we even report on an unheard of primary challenger who is polling so poorly?  Because there are rumblings from grassroots Democrats who are disenchanted with Elizabeth Warren and the Massachusetts Democratic establishment.  This Democrat primary campaign could make DeFranco look good while further revealing Warren's many shortcomings.  Warren could be looking at another Martha Coakley debacle in November.

DeFranco has challenged Warren to four debates and Warren's campaign committee is considering the challenge.  Debates usually help the challenger rather than the leader of the race.  However, Warren needs the challenge of debating the issues to sharpen up her skills for the campaign against Brown.  DeFranco needs the coverage she will receive from the debates.  If Warren doesn't engage DeFranco in any debates she, Warren, will look weak as if she is afraid to debate the issues.  If Warren does debate DeFranco, she exposes her own weaknesses to Brown in advance of the head to head competition to come this fall.

Another test of sorts will be to see whether the DNC will participate in Warren's campaign and/or to what degree and what politicians on the national scene will come in to campaign for Warren.  This is a campaign to watch for several reasons.  It's already proven to be entertaining in a perverse sense and it is an opportunity for Democrats to pick off a senate seat, albeit from a less than conservative Republican incumbent.  It will also possibly portend the fortunes for Obama this Fall should Warren pull ahead of Brown going into the November 6 election.  If it appears that Brown is pulling ahead of Warren, you can be certain that Obama and the DNC will distance itself from Warren's campaign.