Unscathed Warren still has obstacles to overcome

The new Suffolk University poll of the Massachusetts Senate race tells us that Elizabeth Warren has survived the unrelenting bombardment of stories on her self proclaimed American Indian heritage relatively unscathed.

Nearly three quarters of voters were aware of the controversy but 69 percent of those that knew about it just don't really care. Given how deeply this story penetrated the pool of likely voters and all the attention it received she has weathered it remarkably well.

Her critics have mocked her with a variety of nicknames that play on traditional American Indian names but the only nickname appropriate for Warren at this point in the race is Teflon Liz.

She still has problems though as Senator Scott Brown has shown a similar level of resilience.

The attacks on Brown that try to connect him to the always unpopular capitalists on Wall Street have had little impact. A majority of likely voters polled, 55 percent, do not think a vote for Brown is a vote for Wall Street. Plus, Brown is still well liked by a majority Massachusetts voters.

The other major obstacle for Warren: voters like the idea of having one Democrat and one Republican represent the Commonwealth in the Senate. Over 56 percent of voters said they think there is some benefit to the state by having a split delegation. Just 38 percent do not. Warren will get a statewide boost from the wildly popular Barack Obama in November but it may not be enough to help her with people who like the idea of bipartisanship.