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Political Hay
Has Massachusetts Become a Brown State?
Sure looks like it, if Scott Brown holds on to the “people’s seat.”
Nearly fourteen months have passed since Scott Brown shocked the political establishment when he captured “the people’s seat” in the U.S. Senate. This, of course, was the seat that once belonged to Ted Kennedy. The question that remains is whether Brown will be but a footnote in Massachusetts political history or become the face of politics in the Bay State for years to come.
Well, at the moment, the winds appearing to be sailing with Brown. According to a poll done by Western New England College earlier this month, if an election were held presently Brown would win by double-digit margins over such prospective Democratic contenders as Rep. Michael Capuano and Obama adviser Elizabeth Warren. Brown also has a favorable to unfavorable ratio of nearly two to one, with 53% of registered voters in Massachusetts viewing him positively compared to only 27% who view him negatively. These favorability ratings have certainly been augmented by his recently released autobiography Against All Odds,which this week entered the New York Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers List at number four.
Frankly, these results don’t exactly come as a surprise. Back in January, Boston Mayor Tom Menino raised eyebrows when he spoke about Democratic prospects against Brown in 2012. Menino, who was elected to an unprecedented fifth term last November, told the Boston Herald, “There’s nobody that can beat him.” While it is one man’s opinion, let us bear in mind that these are the words of one of Massachusetts’ most prominent Democrats in the bluest of blue states. I think it would only be a slight exaggeration to say that Menino has probably walked on every street, road, and public alley in Boston. While Menino might not represent the entire Bay State, he does know the public mood of a substantial part of it.
Make no mistake. Ted Kennedy might be gone, but Massachusetts Democrats still consider that Senate seat theirs and want it back. Let us also consider that this seat might be all that stands between Democrats and retaining control of the Senate in 2012. So this means Democrats will need to put up their heaviest hitter against Brown. From where I sit that would be Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. After all, Patrick has already indicated he will not seek a third term in 2014. While Patrick also says he will serve a full second term, he might change his tune if his old friend President Obama were to twist his arm. Besides, Patrick wouldn’t be the first Massachusetts Governor to seek higher political office.
Yet Patrick might not prove to be Brown’s biggest obstacle. Brown has undoubtedly disappointed some of his conservative supporters with his votes in favor of the tax cut compromise, in favor of the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and his support for the START Treaty. Last December, Christian Varley, president of the Greater Boston Tea Party, warned that he could face a Republican primary challenger in 2012. In late January, the National Republican Trust PAC (a group that had given money to Brown in the 2010 campaign) publicly stated it would use its resources to defeat Brown in the 2012 GOP Primary.
But it isn’t exactly as if Scott Brown had set out to be Jim DeMint or Tom Coburn much less a Tea Partier. Shortly before the vote in 2010, Brown did an interview with the FrumForum in which he was described as “a moderate, New England Republican; and, if he is elected, a senator that will be sorely disappointing to the tea partiers currently backing him.” For his part, Brown said, “I’m a Massachusetts Republican…. I look at the issues and make a determination based on the facts. I’m the closest thing [Bay Staters] will get to a Reagan Democrat.” In retrospect, perhaps Tea Party activists ought to have familiarized themselves with Brown’s worldview before giving him their support.
Take it from someone who has called Massachusetts home for a little over a decade. I can tell you that it will not turn into a red state anytime soon. Like it or not, the best conservatives can hope for is that it becomes a Brown state.
About the Author
Aaron Goldstein writes from Boston, Massachusetts.
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 3.16.11 @ 6:10AM
Brown is simply another collectivist which is evidenced by the fact that he has voted twice to endorse racial and gender federal mandates.
Who needs him or any collectivist?
Erling| 3.16.11 @ 7:23AM
And Brown voted to repeal DADT- with friends like this, who needs enemies?
catman| 3.16.11 @ 7:35AM
RINO!
LiveFreeOrDie| 3.16.11 @ 4:44PM
Right, so let this be a lesson for the conservative R's. If you become a RINO your re-election is almost certain...
MassCon| 3.16.11 @ 8:48AM
I don't think Massachusetts conservatives were especially exercised by Brown's support for the tax compromise. However, his earlier vote for the 2,000-page monstrosity that was the Dodd-Frank banking reform bill was disheartening to many on the right.
Harry the Horrible| 3.16.11 @ 9:13AM
Brown is about the best Republican we can expect to see coming out the Democratic People's Republic of Massachusetts.
Which ought to give pause to anyone who is thinking of voting for Romney...
Anommynous| 3.16.11 @ 2:20PM
Haha, bingo!
Michael L. Hauschild| 3.16.11 @ 8:44PM
I think that anyone who is considering voting for Romney should move to Massachusetts.......and then get sick.
Petronius| 3.16.11 @ 9:36AM
Like the "brown state" reference. We call it Massatwoshits. Kick 'em out of the union, along with NY, NJ, VT, DE, and MD in the east and the California megopolis on the left coast.
Silver Streake| 3.16.11 @ 8:32PM
How about you leave instead? Ya know, as a Mass resident, I have no love lost for the brainless liberals and leftists that continually get elected. Brown is a disappointment only to people outside of MA who were unaware of his voting record in the MA legislature.
The fact is the National Republican party wrote off MA years ago. Those of us who uphold true Republican values are a small group, but with no support from the national organization, what would anyone expect? If you don't cultivate the garden, weeds grow and choke off the good plants.
With dozens of universities and colleges, and more union members than virtually any other state, the Dems will have a stronghold here for years. That's OK because as soon as my last kid is out of high school, we're outta here. Then you can cut the state loose.
JP| 3.16.11 @ 9:48AM
Brown has his uses. But with senior GOP members like Lugar there is no one there to crack the party whip. Obamacare, certain agenda items like taxes, fiscal restraint, and perhaps defensce would be areas where Brown could vote with the GOP. Otherwise, he will side with the President and Reid. As far as DADT is concerned, Brown is a BabyBoomer from Mass. - I don't think anyone should have expected him to vote otherwise.
The problem comes in the future. If Brown is able to keep his seat, and the GOP eventually retakes the Senate, Brown could become very dangerous due to seniority rules. We've seen this play out before with Snarlin' Alreln, Jim Jefford, and Lincoln Chafee and John Heinz. Funny, how you rarely see moderate or conservative Dems who have senoirty get important committe chairs. But, the GOP seems to give these senior positions out to RINOs like candy.
I Survived Arlen Specter| 3.16.11 @ 10:01AM
More words of wisdom from the Michael Smerconish of American Spectator on line commentators. If the thought processes of Pennsylvanians like myself worked the way your own thought process does Mr. Goldstein, Arlen Specter would still be a U.S. Senator "representing" the state of Pennsylvania as a "Republican". I guess if the natives of Massachusetts prefer the insanity of modern liberalism & RINOism, modern liberalism's Stupid Party counterpart the natives deserve the pathetic "leaders" they get. Enjoy your "nanny" state & Scotty the RINO Mr. Goldstein. I've been to Massachusetts once & will never return. The state reeks of modern liberalism. Just don't count on this conservative's support to re-elect your favorite RINO. Also, don't be surprised when he becomes a Democrat in the very near future. He's dreaming if he thinks he will get the conservative dollars he got last time out. God bless!
Sam Levi| 3.16.11 @ 12:15PM
Massholes
Shermans riding again!| 3.16.11 @ 2:14PM
I supported him from the Northwest being a fellow Guardsmen. Never again.
Tim the Enchanter| 3.16.11 @ 2:37PM
Brown State? More like Brown Note!
Clint| 3.16.11 @ 6:46PM
"Now, because of his stance on these and other issues, the Teaparty is trying to unseat Brown.
Scott Wheeler, a Republican activist whose Political Action Committee invested “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in Brown’s election campaign is livid! In a recent article Wheeler wrote called, “Why Scott Brown Must Be Defeated,” Mr. Wheeler said;
An organization I run, The National Republican Trust PAC, raised and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Scott Brown win the Massachusetts special election to fill the seat vacated upon the death of Ted Kennedy. That organization will now do everything possible to see that Brown is defeated by a primary opponent when he faces reelection in 2012. Why? Because there is no difference between him and a Democrat.
Brown is caught between a rock and a hard place. His party is turning against him, his Teaparty supporters are turning against him, and with his re-election coming up in 2012, Democrats will prefer seeing one of their own reclaim the seat once held by Ted Kennedy. Mr. Brown is feeling the uprising from all sides."
PCP Smoker| 3.16.11 @ 7:03PM
He won't. I don't know of any tea partier who would vote for this creep again. START II and (Gross) Homosexuals in the Military.
This idiot knows how to throw away his one source of true support.
Dee See| 3.17.11 @ 12:33AM
"The 'Right Wing' has been lying to
the American people for decades now."
-Charlotte Isserbyte
(former Reagan education official)
'The Dumbing Down of America' website
RE: the above article ---Empty suits ----surely.
AS we behold Murdoch's Globalist front
FOX News basically cover-up the now week
old, and ever deepening Japan catastrophe
AS the trade winds are due to arrive tomorrow
AS we'll soon be breathing in more than the
usual Barium, Cadmium and Aluminium Oxides
from those CHEM-trails we're not supposed to
notice
AS it is a FACT that, among other 'uses', CHEM-trails enable HAARP seismic event technology
AS there's been not a whisper of RED China,
which has been handed our entire economy in broad
daylight by the Free Traitors ---UH ---we mean
'Traders'
AS the earlier Tsunami in Thailand, Indonesia,
itself unprecedented, isn't once referenced
---or the FACT that it occured on MAO's
Birthday
AS we SURELY move toward Obama's re-election,
in a replay of Clinton ---
AS we're moving on to our third
decade of the Globalist front-job administrations.
HUAC meets NUREMBERG ---with all possible
speed.
Jeff Krasney| 3.20.11 @ 10:17PM
Senator Brown is the most conservative person the Tea Party and other conservatives can hope for in a senator from Massachusetts. It would be sheer insanity to challenge him from the right. The GOP loses that seat if Scott Brown doesn't hold it. These people should concentrate on liberal Republican politicians who represent conservative states such as Senator Lugar from Indiana. The GOP will win in Indiana with whoever its candidate might be, and it need not be satisfied with a weak sister like Senator Lugar.
Creative Recreation | 8.11.11 @ 12:21AM
is good