Yesterday, Brown attended a Palm Beach luncheon whose hosts were listed as Pepe Fanjul and Darlene and Jerry Jordan, along with Rubio. Last night, Brown went to a dinner hosted by Rubio and Ned Siegel, the former ambassador to the Bahamas.
The Florida senator is one of the leading proponents of hot-button legislation that would let employers deny workers birth control coverage if they object on religious grounds.
Brown is being slammed by women’s groups for cosponsoring a similar “conscience clause” introduced by Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri.
But his stance has delighted conservatives, as well as Catholic groups and abortion opponents who see mandatory contraceptive coverage as an encroachment on religious freedom. They had blasted President Obama’s announcement that Catholic universities and hospitals would have to provide contraception as part of their health coverage. (The president has since recanted, saying the employers could bow out, but their insurers would have to pick up the cost.)
Brown articulates his position in a statement on his campaign website that says the issue isn’t political, but about religious freedom.
Meanwhile, Brown’s challenger, Democrat Elizabeth Warren, is headed to Hollywood next week for a fundraiser. A spokeswoman confirmed Warren will appear at a March 1 fundraiser at the home of entertainment industry lawyer Skip Brettenham and his wife, actress Heather Thomas, with ticket prices beginning at $500 for a general reception and soaring to $5,000 for a reception with co-hosts.
According to imdb.com, Thomas, who was on the 1980s show, The Fall Guy, is also slated to appear in the forthcoming movie, “Girltrash: All Night Long,” which is billed as “the story of five girls and one epic night. The girls will find love, lust, girl-fights, rock and roll, and a whole lot of stoned sorority girls.”
A Globe analysis of the candidates’ campaign contributions in the last quarter of 2011 found that more than 61 percent of Warren’s donations came from out-of-state, including 20 percent from California. By contrast, Brown got about 66 percent of his itemized donations from Massachusetts. Only contributions of $200 or more must be detailed in Federal Election Commission reports.
