National Dems plotting 2012 strategy to oust Scott Brown

Capuano, who lost a 2009 Democratic primary in the special election that brought Brown to the Senate, and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) are both near the top of the list of rumored contenders. 

Other Democrats looking at the race include activist Robert Massie, Newton Mayor Setti Warren, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll and businessman Alan Khazei. 

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Some Democratic leaders are hoping to lure more experienced candidates or public figures who could raise large amounts of money here and nationally or who have a strong background in electoral politics and media relations. One who has been courted, former US Representative Martin T. Meehan, now chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, has told party leaders he is not interested.

Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor and an outspoken Wall Street critic who heads President Obama’s newly created Consumer Protection Bureau, is also being courted by some Democrats. Two senior political strategists said she has signaled interest in considering a run against Brown.

Cecil makes his trip just days after release of a poll that showed Brown, who is the arguably the most popular political figure in Massachusetts, getting just over 50 percent vote against potential candidates. Democrats feel that Brown’s standing in the poll shows some weakness because he barely gets a majority.

They think a good grass-roots campaign, similar to that used to reelect Deval Patrick and the state’s entire House delegation, will blunt the advantages that Brown has in money and his strong appeal to independents and conservative Democrats.

Meanwhile, Brown is sitting on a war chest of more than $7 million heading into the 2012 cycle, meaning it will likely take plenty of investment from national Democrats to defeat him in a year when the party already has 23 seats to defend.