Tough new ad shows Sen. Brown going on offense in Mass. Senate race

By Alexandra Jaffe - 09/24/12 11:17 AM ET

Two new ads out from Sen. Scott Brown's (R-Mass.) campaign illustrate the contrasting two-part strategy the senator is launching as he remains behind in some polls just six weeks out from the election.

One ad, released on Saturday, is typical of his campaign thus far: It features Brown driving in his iconic truck to visit an average Massachusetts voter, Diane Gilfoy-Henry, and touts his bipartisan record in the Senate at the end.

But another ad, released on Monday, indicates he may be shifting into a more combative phase of the campaign. "Who Knows?" targets Democrat Elizabeth Warren's proclaimed Native American heritage with news clips spliced together, one stating "she's facing tough questions about whether she claimed to be a minority for professional gain."

Warren appears at the end of the ad, joking when asked whether there are other things voters don't yet know about her.

"I don't think so, but who knows?" she says.

The contrasting ads are characteristic of a two-fold strategy Brown seems to be launching at this point in the campaign — to maintain his favorables in the state, which remain his greatest advantage over Warren, while attempting to raise doubts in voters' minds about her character and trustworthiness.

The Native American heritage issue seems to be one the Brown campaign thinks will stick, as Brown cited it within the first 90 seconds of the candidates' first debate last week as an issue that should cause voters to question Warren's character. This new ad attempts to revive an issue that exploded during the primaries but has largely fallen off the radar since June.

Brown's campaign has accused Warren of using claims of her Native American heritage to advance her career and receive preferential treatment, and it asserts that there's no available independent verification that she has such a background. She has said before, and repeated during last week's debate, that she was merely repeating stories she had been told by family that she didn't think to question.

The most recent poll, out from WBUR and MassINC, gave Warren a 5-percentage-point lead over Brown, and President Obama's substantial lead over Mitt Romney in the state is likely to boost Warren on Election Day. But Brown remains well-liked statewide, while Warren is still combating the perception that she's aloof and professorial.