With ‘listening tour,’ Warren tests waters for a Senate run

August 17, 2011|By Noah Bierman and Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Warren sought to allay fears that she would run a dispassionate campaign,…

Elizabeth Warren, whose potential Senate candidacy has piqued national interest, began a “listening tour’’ this week, convening a set of invitation-only events where she has shown her fiery side to small groups of friendly Democratic activists desperate to defeat Republican Scott Brown.

Those in attendance at a Dorchester home Monday night said she sprinkled her answers with punchy words about her time in Washington, where she fought for legislation creating a consumer protection bureau for President Obama in the aftermath of the banking crisis.

“She either wanted to get the bill as it was written or she wanted to leave with no bill but with ‘blood and teeth on the floor,’ ’’ said Joyce Linehan, a Dorchester activist who hosted the event at her home, where about 60 people shared Italian sandwiches and beer. “And for some reason, my friends have glommed onto that one [line] like no other.’’

Warren, a Harvard law professor who has never run for political office, has told crowds that she has not made up her mind.

But the listening-tour strategy, common for many first-time politicians and popularized by Hillary Rodham Clinton when she ran for Senate in New York, allows candidates to test-market talking points and familiarize themselves with retail politics before submitting to the full glare of the campaign spotlight.

At the same time, Warren can build enthusiasm among the most passionate members of her party, many of whom have expressed dissatisfaction with the current field of six announced candidates.

Warren also made a stop on Monday at a private home in her hometown, Cambridge, and in Arlington yesterday. Later this week, she plans to visit homes in Framingham, Shrewsbury, New Bedford, Falmouth, Brockton, Springfield, and Pittsfield, according to a Democratic operative. Other locations may be added.

The events are being organized hastily by Doug Rubin and Kyle Sullivan, consultants who helped orchestrate Governor Deval Patrick’s two campaigns.

Warren has yet to speak to any Massachusetts-based reporters or hold any events for the general public, sparing her exposure to potentially confrontational audiences. She has not published the locations of the events, but several have leaked out from attendees who have posted photos and gushed on Twitter. Between the meetings, she is calling high-level Democrats in the state, including Patrick.

Several of those who attended the events said Warren sought to allay Democrats’ fears that she would run a dispassionate campaign, like the one many believe fellow Democrat Martha Coakley waged against Brown in last year’s special election.