Elizabeth Warren, Scott Brown turn Richard Cordray appointment into election fodder in Massachusetts

The Ticket

President Barack Obama's decision Wednesday to nominate former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sparked anger from Republicans who oppose the president's decision to sidestep the Senate with a recess appointment.

But in Massachusetts' Senate race, the decision has turned into bipartisan election fodder that both candidates hope to use to their advantage.

Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren, the president's first choice to lead the bureau, by Thursday had already purchased Google advertising connected to the appointment. "Obama Appoints Cordray/ElizabethWarren.com" is one of the advertised Google search results for a combination of "Cordray" and "Appointment." Warren also issued a fundraising email related to the president's decision.

On the Republican side, Sen. Scott Brown bucked his party by expressing support for the appointment. Brown said in a statement:

I support President Obama's appointment today of Richard Cordray to head the CFPB. I believe he is the right person to lead the agency and help protect consumers from fraud and scams. While I would have strongly preferred that it go through the normal confirmation process, unfortunately the system is completely broken. If we're going to make progress as a nation, both parties in Washington need to work together to end the procedural gridlock and hyper-partisanship.

Human Events' John Hayward cried foul over Brown's reaction, writing Thursday that the senator's stance makes him a "coward."

"Shouldn't we expect even the most liberal Republican to offer at least a minimal defense of the Republic?," Hayward wrote. "Once again, we are reminded that the Constitution will receive no defense from cowards."

Hayward conceded that Brown is running in a competitive re-election race and suggests that situation prompted Brown's party-bucking decision in this instance and others.

Brown's stance on Cordray coupled with his public flogging of Newt Gingrich this week in an opinion column in the Boston Globe (in which he called Gingrich's stance on the federal judiciary "dangerous") paints a very moderate picture of the Senator--which happens to be just the type of candidate who could run strongly in a Massachusetts Senate general election.

Conservatives have been dismayed by Brown's independence, including his support for the repeal of the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy and for the nuclear START treaty in Dec. 2010. The conservative National Republican Trust PAC has switched allegiances from Brown to whomever challenges him in a primary.

But Brown's staff rejects the suggestion Brown's independence is about politics.

"Scott Brown promised to be an independent voice when he ran in 2010, and he is keeping that promise," Colin Reed, a Brown spokesman, wrote in an email to Yahoo News. "He looks at every issue on the merits and does what he thinks is best for Massachusetts and America regardless of partisan politics."

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