Many Massachusetts students, including Brandeis students, are working to support Massachusetts’ two candidates for United States Senate, Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown.
Warren is a first-time candidate who worked as a law professor at Harvard University for 20 years. Brown is the current Massachusetts junior senator who took over the late Sen. Edward Kennedy’s seat. Before getting elected in 2010, he served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and State Senate.
Jake Weiner ’13, is taking this semester off to work full time at Warren’s campaign headquarters in Somerville, about 20 minutes away from campus. In a letter to the editor of the Waltham Patch, Weiner applauded Warren for supporting the upholding of the Affordable Care Act. She said that “every American should get access to high quality, affordable health care and fair treatment from insurance companies.”
The Brandeis Democrats (Deis Dems) have been active in supporting Warren this year.  According to Adam Rabinowitz ’14, secretary of Deis Dems, the group is working closely with Gabe Frumkin, the field organizer for the Warren Campaign in the Waltham area, in addition to Brandeis organizers in order to stage canvassing efforts, phone banks, and other opportunities throughout the Boston area in the next three months.
The night of Sept. 5, when Warren spoke at the Democratic National Convention, ’Deis Dems brought a group of students together to watch the speech. Many other colleges in the Boston area, such as Boston College and Boston University, also hosted viewing parties.
This past Saturday, Sept. 8, they displayed strong support for her campaign effort as they sent a contingent of members to Warren’s kick-off rally in Waltham Common to celebrate the Democratic Party’s Day of Action.
When asked why he supports Warren, Rabinowitz responded, “I think that Elizabeth has a primary interest in addressing the concerns of the middle class in Massachusetts. She brings a wealth of fiscal experience from federal and academic work to the table in addressing chief economic concerns. Warren understand the onerous burden of college and will work rigorously in Washington to alleviate this burden for students after college. She is a firm advocate for women’s rights, further improvements to our health care system, and other key social issues that are in our best interests as Brandeisians.”
Sara Fried ’15, who interned for Warren this summer said, “I am the campus organizer for Brandeis, so I am coordinating our team of interns and volunteers. We are working to register students to vote and get more people interested in volunteering for the campaign. We have so far hosted registration drives outside Usdan, and we’ll continue to work on helping students get information on how they can vote. We have also contacted a lot of students to let them know how they can help out the campaign by volunteering now and on election day to get out the vote.”
Fried added that Warren has a personal connection to college students.
“Brandeis should support Elizabeth Warren because she is looking out for students. She put herself through college and law school on her own, so she knows how difficult it is for students to afford their education. She is also dedicated to creating jobs here in Massachusetts—a major concern for me and a lot of other students after graduation.”
Meanwhile, the Massachusetts College Republicans are working to support Sen. Scott Brown’s reelection. Last week, a few members of the Brandeis Libertarian-Conservative Union (BLCU) tabled for Brown outside of the Shapiro Campus Center, in an effort to gain volunteers for his campaign. Brown has a campaign field office in Waltham, and Waltham City Councilor Joe Giordano recently endorsed him.