Scott Brown touts independence in first general election ad

Newly minted New Hampshire Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown is up with his first general election ad, pledging to be an “independent senator that votes for New Hampshire first.”

{mosads}In the ad, Brown sits at the counter at MaryAnn’s Diner in Derry, N.H., an iconic eatery known for attracting political candidates of all stripes on their visits to the Granite State.

He tells viewers that he’s running for Senate because he wants a “strong America with good jobs you can count on and a foreign policy that once again leads the world.” And Brown wastes no time in tying Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) to President Obama, charging in the ad she’s voted with him 99 percent of the time.

“What does that mean for you? Fewer jobs, higher taxes and debt, a healthcare law that doesn’t work, and an unstable world,” Brown says.

Brown’s campaign told the New Hampshire Journal, which first reported news of the ad, that it’s meant to set up the contrast for the election — between Brown, “a truly independent voice for New Hampshire,” and Shaheen, “an Obama rubber stamp.”

Shaheen kicked off her general election campaign with two of her own ads, one touting her work for the state and the other charging Brown’s protected Wall Street and the oil industry at the expense of voters.