BOSTON - If President Obama is pleased by Mitt Romney's selection of Representative Paul D. Ryan as his vice presidential running mate, Elizabeth Warren is ecstatic.
Ms. Warren, a Democrat challenging Senator Scott P. Brown, a Republican, says that Mr. Ryan's budget proposals are so harsh that they will spook voters here in deep blue Massachusetts into realizing that keeping Mr. Brown in office would only provide a rubber stamp for a draconian Romney-Ryan administration.
“Scott Brown and the Republicans are doubling down on policies that will hurt seniors, make it tougher for families to educate their children, and leave small businesses struggling,†Ms. Warren said in a statement. “The Republican vision of the future is tax breaks for billionaires and repeal of reforms for Wall Street.â€
At the same time, the Massachusetts Democratic Party released a video in which it seeks to link Mr. Brown with Mr . Romney and Mr. Ryan.
It shows a clip of Mr. Brown saying there is no one he would trust more on the economy than Mr. Romney and another in which he says “thank God†that Mr. Ryan has released his budget proposal. (Mr. Brown initially praised the Ryan budget proposal but ended up voting against it.)
“Brown, Romney and Ryan,†reads the tagline of the Democrats' video. “Wrong for Massachusetts.â€
The Warren-Brown race, already the most expensive in the country, is one of a handful that could determine which party controls the Senate next year.
Mr. Brown has not yet commented on Mr. Romney's selection of Mr. Ryan as his running mate.
But the senator portrays himself as an independent, not as a Republican. He has tried to create some distance between himself and Mr. Romney, though Mr. Romney's campaign is based here and they share some political advisers.
Though a former governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Romney is trailing in state polls to President Obama, and the relatively popular Mr. Brown needs to keep Mr. Romney from dragging him down here in November.
Mr. Brown was already planning to keep a low profile at the Republican National Convention later this month in Tampa; the expected celebration of Mr. Ryan by conservatives could send Mr. Brown running for cover.
Follow Katharine Q. Seelye on Twitter at @kseelye.
