One of the thing that struck me most about Elizabeth Warren’s performance in tonight’s debate was something she didn’t say. In a tense back-and-forth about Brown’s vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act (a bill I wrote about a few moths ago), she insisted that his vote against the legislation demonstrated disregard for women, poor people, the working class, etc. Brown made a pretty sensible response: The legislation was bad news, it wouldn’t really help women, and it would be a huge giveaway to trial attorneys. 

Warren didn’t respond with any sort of defense of the specifics of the defeated bill, which was probably a good move, since the legislation was pretty indefensible. That non-response wasn’t surprising, and suggests that a Senator Warren would take the classic Democrat approach to presumed social ills: reflexive government intervention. It’s a good thing Brown was in the Senate to vote against Democrats’ strategic politics and terrible policy.