Remarks from U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren at Massachusetts Democratic Convention
This is amazing. One year later, Springfield is back!
I never imagined I’d be here. As a kid, I had dreams: college, teaching, kids, a house.
But for decades now, the dreams of millions of other kids have moved further out of reach. Hard-working families have gotten hammered, while lobbyists run the show in Washington.
And that is why I am running for the United States Senate — and I hope everyone in this room is ready to run with me!
Two years ago, Massachusetts sent someone to Washington who seemed like a decent guy, but boy, did he let us down. In no time at all, he chose Wall Street over Main Street, millionaires over the middle class, and big oil over big ideas.
We need a senator who will stand up for hard-working people, who won’t sell out to Wall Street, who will fight for our future.
For so many years, our champion was Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Like so many of you, I was deeply blessed to have had the chance to support Sen. Kennedy in his fight for working families. To this day, I keep a voicemail from Sen. Kennedy thanking me for my help on consumer work. I wish I could thank him one last time. I wish I could tell him, “I’m doing my best to honor his memory.”
It’s a long way from Ted Kennedy to Scott Brown.
Look, I don’t care what kind of truck Scott Brown drives. I don’t care how he describes himself in his TV ads. I care about how he votes.
This election boils down to one question: Whose side do you stand on?
What happens when the chips are down and tough votes are on the line?
Does Scott Brown stand with working people? Or does he stand with big money and his Republican buddies?
Well, let’s look at how he votes:
Scott Brown voted against funding for summer jobs and voted twice to let the interest rate on student loans double — double.
Last fall, with almost a quarter of a million people out of work here in Massachusetts, Scott Brown voted against three jobs bills.
When some of us were working to rein in Wall Street, Scott Brown was personally negotiating to weaken the rules and to give the big banks a $19 billion dollar break.
Scott Brown co-sponsored a bill to let employers block coverage for routine cancer screenings and birth control.
And Scott Brown voted to limit the EPA’s authority and repeatedly voted to give billions in subsidies to big oil companies.
We know where Scott Brown stands — and it is not with the people of Massachusetts.
But we also know where we stand.
We stand for families. We believe in making investments in education and building a future for our kids.
We stand for jobs. We believe in putting people to work to rebuild our transportation system and investing in clean energy jobs.
We stand for working people. We believe in the right to unionize and in collective bargaining.
We stand for Social Security and Medicare. We believe in dignity and independence for all our seniors.
We stand for women, equal pay and access to birth control — boy, I never thought I’d need to say that in 2012.
We stand with our veterans. We honor our service members — by honoring our commitments to them.
We stand for small businesses, and for the millions of people who work hard every day to build a better future.
And we stand for accountability and a level playing field, so that no one steals your purse on Main Street or your pension on Wall Street.
And there’s one more thing we should not forget about where Scott Brown stands. He wants to see Mitt Romney get elected to the White House and Mitch McConnell take over the Senate. We have seen where the Republicans want to drive this country, and it is ugly.
We stand with President Obama.
So, Massachusetts, don’t be fooled by Scott Brown.
Whoever he once was, I can tell you who he is now.
Scott Brown is a Wall Street Republican; a big oil Republican; a Mitt Romney Republican.
So how does a Wall Street, big oil, Mitt Romney Republican plan to win? His answer is to talk about anything except how he votes on jobs, education, the environment, oil subsidies or special deals for Wall Street. His answer is to talk about my family and to tell me how I grew up.
Well, I say this, if that’s all you’ve got, Scott Brown, I’m ready.
And let me be clear: I am not backing down. I didn’t get in this race to fold up the first time I got punched.
I got in this race because people are getting hammered — and they are counting on me to stand up for them.
I’m ready.
I’m here to ask for your vote.
Are you ready?
Are you ready to take on Wall Street?
Are you ready to take on big oil?
Are you ready to stop the Republicans from taking over the United States Senate?
Are you ready to tell Scott Brown to put on his $675 dollar barn coat and go home?
Are you ready? Are you ready?
This is our moment. This is the People’s Seat. And we will bring it back to the people of Massachusetts!
