In interviews, Democratic senators said they’re prepared for millions in ads linking them to Warren, whose office declined to comment for this story. “To suggest that we’re Elizabeth Warren is ridiculous, especially when you look at voting records and where we’ve been,” said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.). “They need a boogeyman, and they’re trying to turn Elizabeth into a boogeyman. And I think maybe what they should worry about more is actually doing America’s work.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was similarly dismissive: “It’s not going to work,” he said bluntly.

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This GOP gambit likely won’t amount to much of anything, even against Democrats running in red states, for a number of reasons.

First, many Americans have no idea who Warren is. In national polling about 50 percent of voters don’t know who she is or don’t have an opinion about her. Second, the point of targeting one opposition leader is to claim others support his or her agenda. But Warren leads nothing, She’s 1 of 48 senators. Moreover, what she is saying — no unqualified billionaires in the Cabinet, don’t repeal the Affordable Care Act and don’t give rich people a tax cut — hardly qualifies as controversial. Finally, no one is going to think Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) or Heitkamp is “just like” Warren. In fact, the comparison to the Massachusetts liberal may help not hurt moderate Democrats.

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More important, this is not how a majority party behaves. A party in control touts its record, its accomplishments and its progress in improving the lives of its fellow Americans. But wait. Aside from confirming some good national security figures to fill Cabinet slots, what have Republicans in Congress done? Nothing much. And that will become a problem if in fact Republicans do not pass a health-care plan people like better than Obamacare or a tax plan that lowers ordinary Americans’ taxes and not the taxes of the rich. And even then, the central theme of many Republicans and the critique of the Obama administration was that the economic recovery was tepid. Solving the problem of a sluggish economy won’t be easy because contrary to what the right-wing has been saying, it is not the result of illegal immigrants stealing jobs or the trade deficit or Obamacare. We have a problem with productivity — output per worker. Until we grapple with the nexus of factors that could boost productivity (infrastructure, education, worker training, etc.) the lives of the unemployed steelworker in Ohio or the hamburger flipper in Pennsylvania will not change all that much.