Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) is shadowboxing his way through the early stages of his 2012 reelection campaign, fundraising against a candidate who isn't even officially in the race.
Brown's team Tuesday sent a fundraising message targeting consumer advocate and , who has not formally entered the race.
According to the fundraising plea posted to Brown's campaign site, Massachusetts Democrats "are so obsessed with winning this seat back that Washington elitists are trying to push aside local Democrat candidates in favor of Professor Warren from Oklahoma."
Warren has lived in the Bay State for more than two decades.
Kevin Franck, communications director for the Massachusetts Democratic Party, told Raw Story that he didn't think Brown's framing of Warren as an elitist, outsider "liberal professor" would ring true with voters.
"That might be the pitch for the Koch brothers, but it's not going to play very well in Massachusetts," he said.
Brown also accused Democrats of trying to "win back a seat that they think belongs to them by right."
Brown, who was elected in a special election to fill Sen. Ted Kennedy (D)'s seat after his 2009 death, was the first Republican elected to represent Massachusetts in the Senate since Ed Brooke was elected in 1972.
"No political party owns that U.S. Senate seat," Franck said. "Scott Brown is absolutely correct that that seat belongs to the people, but unfortunately while he's held that seat he's done the bidding of Mitch McConnell and D.C. Republicans more than the people of Massachusetts and their families."
Franck said that Brown had not hosted any public town halls since he was elected.
"Scott Brown is on the run from voters and his constituents because he can't answer questions about why he votes against them at every turn," he said.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is leading a charge to "draft" Warren to run, and the petition on their website has more than 53,500 signatures pledging support for Warren. The PCCC has also raised $100,000 to support a Warren senatorial campaign.
Brown raised around $2 million in the second quarter of this year, and his campaign war chest is stuffed with around $10 million in cash on hand. He is also enjoying a 56 percent approval rating.
PCCC spokesman Neil Sroka told Talking Points Memo that a significant portion of Brown's fundraising had come from the financial sector, Warren's political foes.
"Scott Brown's 'grassroots' fundraising email is hilarious, given that his core financial support comes from Wall Street and other big corporations who own his vote," Sroka said. "The genuine grassroots uprising for Elizabeth Warren is testament to how hungry Massachusetts voters are for someone who will fight for them."
Warren is currently testing the waters for a Senate run by conducting a "listening tour" around the state and meeting with Democratic strategists.
Brown's campaign staff had not responded to Raw Story's requests for comment as of publication time.
