Tonight incumbent Republican Scott Brown debated Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren once again, and the exchanges were a bit more hostile this time. (David Gregory, as the moderator, was spotty at best.)

What I continue to find interesting about this race is how different the tenor — and how much lower the production values — are in comparison to the national presidential race. Tonight, for example, both candidates really whiffed in key situations: Scott Brown named Antonin Scalia as his model Supreme Court justice (a huge no-no in overwhelmingly Democratic Massachusetts), Elizabeth Warren clearly knew nothing about the Red Sox when asked (she should be at least marginally prepared for the obvious questions at this point; and no one should underestimate the importance of the hometown team in shaping Mass. elections), and then — perhaps most inexplicably — Brown missed on the same question when he had a clear chance to showcase his blue-collar, sports-aware Mass. roots (cue images of his pickup truck here).

On a side note, I ran across this video of Scott Brown greeting his supporters after the first debate several weeks ago, which aptly demonstrates his aisle-crossing, nice-guy appeal:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3FHx0i8f9M]

I’m still rooting for Warren, but it’s usually hard not to like this guy at least a little bit. Except for when he does this:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAIMc_U1F8M]

Related articles

• Watch: Scott Brown, Elizabeth Warren Go Head-To-Head In First Senate Debate (mediaite.com)
• Elizabeth Warren Takes Slim Lead Over Scott Brown In Massachusetts Senate Race (themoderatevoice.com)
• Elizabeth Warren appears to inch ahead of Scott Brown in new Globe poll, 43 – 38 – Boston.com (boston.com)
• In Mass., Senate race takes negative turn (cbsnews.com)