CHARLOTTE — Elizabeth Warren delivered a trademark full-throated defense of working Americans against what she said are Republican plans to make the economic ladder much harder to climb for members of the middle class.
Warren took direct aim at Mitt Romney in her speech Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention. But another Massachusetts Republican — the one she’s running against for Senate this fall — went unmentioned.
The words “Scott Brown” appeared exactly zero times in Warren’s remarks. Romney and the GOP get numerous shout-outs.
Returning to the theme that made her a Democratic Party star, Warren said America’s working class and middle class are on the ropes — and Republicans are ready to land the knock-out blow.
“I’m here tonight to talk about hard-working people: people who get up early, stay up late, cook dinner and help out with homework,” Warren said, according to prepared remarks. “People who can be counted on to help their kids, their parents, their neighbors and the lady down the street whose car broke down; people who work their hearts out but are up against a hard truth — the game is rigged against them.”
She pushed hard against the Republican theme that Democrats and President Obama don’t value individual success or know how it works, embodied in the Republicans’ out-of-context “you didn’t build that” hit against the president.
“We’re Americans. We celebrate success,” Warren said. “We just don’t want the game to be rigged.”
She directed her own tough hits against Romney, claiming it’s the GOP nominee who doesn’t respect middle class success.
“The Republican vision is clear: ‘I’ve got mine, the rest of you are on your own,’” she said. “Republicans say they don’t believe in government. Sure they do. They believe in government to help themselves and their powerful friends. After all, Mitt Romney’s the guy who said corporations are people. … No, Gov. Romney, they’re not people.”
Brown, the incumbent Warren’s locked in a tough battle with in the Massachusetts Senate race, was spared direct attack. But Warren did give reference to her own election by name dropping the man Brown replaced, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D).
Warren first emerged as a national figure, and her candidacy in the Bay State has fired up Democrats across the country. Speaking at a convention focused on Obama’s reelection, Warren returned to the national spotlight.
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