Keller @ Large: Republican Candidate For US Senate Works To Differentiate Herself
BOSTON (CBS) -- Three Republican candidates are vying to challenge Elizabeth Warren for her Senate seat this November. Candidate Beth Lindstrom joined Jon Keller Sunday to share more about herself.
Lindstrom is the first female executive director of the state Republican party and a former executive director of the state lottery.
Radio ads that Lindstrom is running say she "is not a politician" because this is her first time running for office. "I've been around politics. I've been a political activist. I've helped other people get elected through the years," she said.
"When you've been an elected official you look at things through a different lens. Especially if you're a political opportunist then you look at things in self-interest versus the interest of the people who you want to serve and I could subscribe that to a couple of my opponents," Lidstrom continued. "That's the difference. I look at it as a small business owner, as a mother of three children and somebody who wants to serve the people of Massachusetts and put their interests before my own."
Lindstrom says she is the only Republican running that has been with the party for 30 years. She pointed out that Jeff Diehl was a Democrat but saw the opportunity to run for a state representative seat as a Republican. "To me, that's a career politician."
Warren arguably made her name in Washington D.C. as the co-creator of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Lindstrom supports the agency.
"I would not get rid of it because having the knowledge that you need to protect some consumers because there are some bad actors out there but you also need to make sure that businesses can thrive. Now the interesting thing with Elizabeth Warren is she didn't get nominated to run that agency and for me, I think she is a rock thrower. She said she wanted to do three things in life: teach, write books, and throw rocks. And so, she wasn't able to land that position so she came here to Massachusetts just to run. And I think she's still campaigning as a candidate, rather than acting like a senator."
Lindstrom also commented on Trump: "I'll be with him when it's right for the people of Massachusetts and I will disagree when it's not. I will always respect of the office of the president, and I say, I've been on boards, I been on executive teams and when you always check the box or you never say anything then I don't think you're doing your job. But I do agree with him on a lot of policy, certainly tax reform."
She added, "on the tariffs, I say I believe in free trade, but fair trade...[tariffs] should be targeted, short, get to balance, and then go away."
"Tone, temperament, and Twitter," is where Lindstrom feels Trump and Warren actually have similarities, and she disagrees with both of them.
Visit Lindstrom's campaign website to learn more about her stance on the issues.
