The national punditocracy continues to salivate over a presumed Elizabeth Warren-Scott Brown match-up.

The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne rushes to Warren’s defense after George Will’s full-throated broadside against her as “modern liberalism incarnate.” However, Dionne, a fan of Will’s, can’t quite bring himself to come down too hard on his conservative colleague, so he splits the difference. “That Warren has so inspired Will, our premier conservative polemicist now that William F. Buckley Jr. has passed to his eternal reward, is an enormous tribute to her,” he says.

Unlike Dionne, economist Paul Krugman of The New York Times isn’t willing to hand out style points to Warren’s conservative critics. He assails GOP assault tactics, proclaiming that the “frantic sliming” of Warren stems from her ability to demystify complex economic issues that the wealthy one percent would much prefer to keep mysterious for the other 99 percent.  

In the true blue Bay State, having the liberal commentariat in one’s corner can only be a plus. But Warren shown has she can raise money and generally fend for herself, thank you very much. Her ability to give as good as she gets leads Bloomberg’s Margaret Carslon to place Warren, along with Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, in the pantheon of powerful women who “bug men.”  

How Warren managed to earn the everlasting hatred of powerful men in Washington like Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is the subject of a fascinating Vanity Fair profile. Warren made enemies precisely because she understands the workings of Wall Street as well as they do and she wasn’t afraid to skewer Geithner or anyone else in public over policies that placed the interests of bankers over the needs of the average American, writes Suzanna Andrews.  US Rep. Barney Frank sums up the case against Warren this way: “How dare this woman criticize the free-enterprise system?”  

In this telling, Geithner is just one of the men (former senator Chris Dodd is another) who wanted to prevent the outspoken Warren from acquiring a power base, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where she could promote such heresies. Though President Obama bowed to political realities and passed over a woman who was never going to get through a Senate confirmation process, he doesn’t fare well here, either. The president also failed to install Warren in the agency via a recess appointment, which just gives more ammunition to those who believe that women advisors were frozen out in the White House.

The “David versus Goliath” storyline is one beloved by opinion writers everywhere, and the “Elizabeth versus the guys” theme probably serves up enough red meat for them to gnaw on for another year and three weeks.

                                                                                                                                                                          –GABRIELLE GURLEY

OCCUPY BOSTON

The Suffolk District Attorney reached agreement with 49 arrested Occupy Boston protesters to drop charges in exchange for a $50 fine while a judge dropped the charges against 14 others if they paid similar fines. But eight protesters refused the deal and opted to fight the charges at a criminal trial. Meanwhile, Greater Boston wonders if Occupy Boston has overstayed its welcome. In New York, Occupy Wall Street protesters march to the homes of five millionaires, the Daily News reports. The Lynn Item reports on two city councilors, one Democrat and one Republican, split on the Occupy protests. Radio Boston examines the First Amendment implications of the arrests early Tuesday. The New York Times looks at police reactions to the protests. Mayor Tom Menino assures the protesters, “I’m not going to go out there and break heads. That’s not my style.”

BEACON HILL

An amendment to the casino bill adopted by the Senate and sponsored by Sen. Robert Hedlund, who’s part owner of a Braintree restaurant, could signal the return of happy hour and reduced drink specials at local bars and restaurants, which have been banned in Massachusetts for nearly 25 years.  The Senate also adopted a amendment similar to one passed by the House that would require a warning label on slot machines that shows the dismal odds faced by players and provides the phone number of an addiction hotline.  

A Lawrence company seeks a change in state law to limit its liability in asbestos-related lawsuits, the Eagle-Tribune reports (via State House News Service).

Peter Lucas, writing in the Lowell Sun, says the governor is just plain wrong about Secure Communities.

A year after the 40B affordable housing law survived a repeal effort on the statewide ballot, the Legislature hears proposals to modify the law.

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Cape towns rake in extra dollars from Beacon Hill.

NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON

The president’s jobs bill goes down to defeat in the Senate.

Brian McGrory bumps into George H.W. Bush at a Kennebunkport farmstand and gets all misty for the more civil times in which Poppy presided.

ELECTION 2012

It’s all over but the shouting: To no one’s surprise Mitt Romney debates away the rest of the Republican field, leading to the inevitability question.  A round-up of reactions is here. Meanwhile, in his endorsement of Romney yesterday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said it is “intellectually dishonest” to compare the Massachusetts health care reform law Romney signed with President Obama’s health care package.

Gov. Rick Perry channelled a bit of John Belushi at last night’s debate when he declared a centralized government like that in Washington “was actually the reason that we fought the Revolution in the 16th century.” Give or take a couple hundred years. The Atlantic says Perry is now officially in free-fall mode, but wonders what he’ll do with all his filthy millions. Herman Cain finds that being close to the top can be a lonely spot.

Introducing the Elizabeth Warren revenge voucher! (This may be too much for the Puritans among you.)

CHARITY

State regulators around the country are grappling with how to protect consumers from fraud and abuse as nonprofits increasingly use social media for fundraising.

FISHING

GOP Sens. Scott Brown and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire have filed a bill to scrap the controversial “catch share system” that many commercial fishermen say is killing the industry here in the Northeast.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

An auction of the Evergreen Solar plant in Devens is scheduled for Nov. 1, the Lowell Sun reports (via AP).

Interest rates are at record lows, but few are refinancing their homes, WBUR reports.

The Upper Crust Pizzeria is the focus of a federal grand jury looking to allegations of worker exploitation by the chain, the Globe reports.

Two Chinese buffet restaurants in Somerset and Raynham were fined by the attorney general’s office for violations of the state wage and child labor laws.

AIG knows how costly awful press can be. So now it’s offering a new line of crisis communication insurance.

Paul Volcker officially convinces the White House to clamp down on banks’ stock market bets.

EDUCATION

A National Council on Teacher Quality report blasts Springfield’s teacher hiring and evaluation processes.

A study finds that child care centers serving low-income clients are in poor condition.

HEALTH CARE

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts says it will remain a nonprofit public charity.

Boston moves to ban smoking in public housing.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

A Wareham high school principal was placed on leave after he was arrested and charged with sexual assault after he allegedly broke into a woman’s apartment in Norwood and attacked her.

Police in Essex are conserving funds by issuing warnings instead of arrests in some cases, the Gloucester Times reports.

Peter Gelzinis says that Whitey Bulger’s Icelandic tipster has more to fear from money-hungry relatives than she does from the aging gangster.