Massachusetts Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren, in her first press conference after defeating Sen. Scott Brown, was noticeably curt with reporters asking about her campaign and the issues voters elected her to solve.
When reporters asked her about the fiscal cliff, Warren could only say, “right now, the parties are in negotiations,” and, “well, I think that’s where it is.”
When asked which Senate committees interested her, Warren refused to answer.
Warren spoke for four minutes during her 11-minute press conference, and she often deflected questions to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who was at her side.
When asked about defense spending, Warren turned to Patrick and said, “that question is you.” And Patrick then answered the questions about sequestration on her behalf.
When asked to discuss the support she received from women voters in a state where women candidates have had trouble being elected statewide, Warren only responded, “I’m glad.”
When reporters asked her to elaborate, Warren simply stated, “I’m glad that women turned out to vote for me. I’m delighted.”
She then asked Patrick to answer the question — about women voters — for her.
“You want to try this?” Warren asked Patrick.
According to the Boston Globe, Warren, after her aides presumably realized how much of a disaster the press conference was, came back and told reporters — many of whom were present at the original press conference — that she had to be more careful in making public pronouncements during her transition period and attributed her awkward answers to her desire to be “discreet.”
Then, Warren turned to an aide — in front of reporters — and asked, “Can I say that? Maybe it’s indiscreet to talk about discretion.”
In her do-over session with reporters, Warren answered the question — on presumably her fourth attempt — about how significant women voters were to her campaign by spouting talking points:
Let’s get serious here: This is 2012, and we’re talking about 20 percent of the United States Senate is female. That’s not an overwhelming number. The fact that in this campaign and in this Congress, there were debates about equal pay for equal work, over insurance for birth control, tells us that there’s still a lot of work.
Warren aides then blamed Warren’s awkward press conferences on campaign “fatigue.”
Before the press conference, which started 40 minutes late, Patrick told reporters that he was hopeful Warren would be a good Senator because she had “conviction.”
Warren is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C. this week to begin her transition process.