Senator Scott P. Brown had hoped his limited time at the Republican National Convention might spare him from appearing too enmeshed in events that might not play so well with independent voters back home in Massachusetts.
But no sooner had Mr. Brown arrived in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday than he was spotted by a Boston Globe reporter having a tête-à -tête at a restaurant with Karl Rove, the former political strategist to President George W. Bush.
Mr. Rove is also co-founder of American Crossroads, the “super PAC†that expects to spend at least $300 million on behalf of Republican candidates this year. Mr. Rove had made a presentation earlier in the day to wealthy conservative donors at a forum described in detail by Business Week. At that presentation, Mr. Rove showed ads “aimed at such Senate battleground states as Massachusetts,†to prompt the donors to open their wallets.
Mr. Brown faces an intense campaign against Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat who has pulled in more money than he has, though he has more cash on hand.
After the Business Week scoop was published Friday, the Warren campaign raised the specter that Mr. Rove's super PAC was planning on invading Massachusetts with expensive negative advertising. The campaign wrote an open letter to Mr. Rove and the Brown campaign urging Mr. Rove to stay away and to respect the “people's pledge†in Massachusetts, in which the Brown and Warren campaigns have agreed to penalties if outside agitators come in on their behalf.
The letter, from Mindy Myers, Ms. Warren's campaign manager, said that the differences between the candidates were “best debated between the candidates and not via heavy ad spending from outside groups.â€
But just in case that letter does not work, the Warren camp has taken the extra step of using the threat of a Rove invasion to raise more money.
< p>“Donate $5 right now to help Elizabeth fight back against Karl Rove and his Republican friends,†says the fund-raising appeal.Follow Katharine Q. Seelye on Twitter at @kseelye.
