Stonewalling 101

I did not intend to do any more Elizabeth Warren stories for a while until this happened: Fox 25 Boston Reporter Sharman Sacchetti did what no other news reporters have done so far in the Massachusetts Senate race, directly confront Liz Warren about her claims to be a Cherokee. And she did not give up. Watch the video and if you are an aspiring politician, take a lesson from La Liz on how NOT to stonewall a reporter. Her stumbling answers show that even though she's been coached to deal with this,she's not ready for prime time. She got knocked off the rails quite easily.

Watch the video here

And here's a transcript of the exchange between Warren and Sharman Sacchetti.

Sharman Sacchetti: Elizabeth, can you put this issue to bed and tell us whether or not you are in fact a member of a minority group?

Elizabeth Warren: (Smirking and looking rather annoyed that someone dare ask her this question directly) So,  I..uh, middle class families are getting hammered. I’ve been out talking to people about this all across the Commonwealth.  And what they care about are what Washington is going to do about that. My Republican opponent, um, has made it clear what he will do. He voted to double the interest rate…

SS (interrupting the rehearsed answer): Members of the Cherokee Nation want to know. They say you should come clean.

EW: (Exasperated at the audacity that the reporter hasn’t shut up and adored her magnificently rehearsed retort) I..I have made the facts clear. And what I’m trying to do is talk about in this Senate race what matters to America’s families. What matters to the families of the Commonwealth Of Massachusetts.

SS: So will you tell us whether or not…

EW: Scott Brown has hammered on my family at the same time that he, that now, middle class families on this is the issue and it’s my job in this campaign to talk about those issues. This is what matters to the families.

At this point the reporter tries to ask another question and Warren, clearly flustered turns away and tries to engage another reporter to ask her a question asking “Do you have something?”

The man she turned to says “I can’t…I can’t’ stop her when she’s in this sequence” (pointing to Sharman Sacchetti)

And if you look closely, there is another reporter to the right of Warren who is openly laughing about the whole exchange as if this is some sort of joke. Apparently, it's funny that Sharman Sacchetti had the gall to keep questioning Professor Warren about the silly heritage question when she clearly wants to talk about the issues...

SS: Why do you claim you are a minority..

EW: I’ve told you. I have answered these questions. I am going to talk about what’s happening to America’s families. It’s what people across  the Commonwealth Of Massachusetts is important to them and I’m going to

SS (interrupting): Don’t you think it’s an important issue to address?

EW: I have talked about the issues that are most important to the families of the Commonwealth Of Massachusetts. The families themselves have made this clear. I have answered the questions about my background, about my family and I’m talking about what matters to the people of Massachusetts. They have said what they care about is that middle class families are getting hammered. This election will be decided based on whose side you stand on. Scott Brown has hammered those families harder, he just voted to double the interest rate on student loans and I have worked for middle class families for all of my life. I’ve spent the last 30 years out there advocating on behalf of America’s middle class. And that’s what I’m gonna talk about (shaking her head for emphasis)

SS (calmly): You’re not answering the question.

EW:  (Now totally pissed off) It’s what I got in this race to talk about and it’s what I’m going to continue to talk about.

Then she abruptly turns away.

Warren has made her bed and the mainstream media is finally starting to question her about this. A poll was released on Wednesday that shows her and incumbent Senator Scott Brown are in a dead heat. Warren supporters claim this shows the heritage question is a non-issue. The reason this hasn't damaged her so far is because The Boston Herald was virtually the only news outlet giving this story the weight it should. The Boston Globe, New England Cable News, local news Channels 4 5 and 7  have not given this story the attention it warrants. Therefore, it would stand to reason that the average voter would not see this as a big deal.

Today, the Globe actually had this as the lead story:

"US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren has said she was unaware that Harvard Law School had been promoting her purported Native American heritage until she read about it in a newspaper several weeks ago.

But for at least six straight years during Warren’s tenure, Harvard University reported in federally mandated diversity statistics that it had a Native American woman in its senior ranks at the law school. According to both Harvard officials and federal guidelines, those statistics are almost always based on the way employees describe themselves.

In addition, both Harvard’s guidelines and federal regulations for the statistics lay out a specific definition of Native American that Warren does not meet."



Another lie.

And Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr reported today that Warren has failed to pay a state excise tax on her vehicle for months.

Warren is in BIG trouble.