Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) criticized Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren's "elitist attitude" and called her challenge of his decision to insure his 23 year-old daughter under his congressional plan under an Obamacare provision "sad," speaking to reporters Wednesday after a Boston speech calling for bipartisanship.
Brown was asked about a recent campaign release headlined "ELIZABETH WARREN: ELITIST HYPOCRITE?" that attacked his likely Democratic opponent for not paying Massachusetts' optional higher income tax rate. (Brown didn't pay the voluntary 5.85 rate either and opted for the 5.3 flat rate.)
"The way she is approaching things in terms of knowing better than others, how to do things, the fact that the federal government can do things better than individual businesses and individuals," he answered, according to AP. "There is an elitist attitude there in the way she is communicating to us as citizens and telling us how do things, who should be taxed, who should not be taxed."
The Brown campaign has sought to portray Warren as an elitist for being a Harvard Law School professor.
Brown also hit back against the Warren campaign's criticism over his tapping a provision letting parents enroll children younger than 26 on their health care plans to insure his daughter even though he had campaigned in 2010 against the health care law and voted for its repeal.
"For her to call me a hypocrite as to how Gail and I provide for our family -- it’s sad," he said to reporters, referring to his wife. The Boston Globe reported that the Warren campaign, not Warren, called him hypocritical, but on Tuesday she called use of the provision while opposing the law "wrong."
During his Bunker Hill Community College speech, Brown struck a familiar tone, lamenting Washington partisanship. "But unfortunately, too many people in Washington would rather have a good brawl than pass a good bill," he said,
The Massachusetts Senate race is turning out to be the nation's costliest during this election cycle, with donations to all sides surpassing $30 million. The race is also extremely close, according to recent polls.
Both candidates have tried to tie themselves to President Barack Obama, with Brown releasing a radio ad boasting of his "great experience" standing with Obama at a bill signing and Warren airing a TV ad with the president praising her life story and work setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.