The Massachusetts Senate election is a referendum on the Kennedys, in which proxies for Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Martha Coakley) and President John F. Kennedy (Scott Brown) are squaring off. And this time, at long last, President Kennedy will win.
I say at long last because Massachusetts hasn’t had a bona fide JFK-like senator since the 1950s when Jack himself occupied that seat.
JFK, of course, was a champion of tax cuts, economic growth, and what he rightly called “limited but effective government.” Teddy, by contrast, was a champion of tax hikes, public-sector growth, and big (if not unlimited) government.
Ditto with regard to defense and national security. JFK was a hawk who championed “a military that is second to none” and a strong and assertive U.S. foreign policy. Teddy, by contrast, advocated for defense cuts, isolation and appeasement, and retreat and withdrawal around the globe.
Indeed, though they were brothers, Jack’s and Teddy’s positions could not have been more diametrically opposed. And ever since Teddy was elected to fill brother Jack’s Senate seat in 1962, his more statist, dovish, and leftist brand of politics has dominated the Bay State.
Until now. Until an unknown, unheralded, and unassuming GOP state senator decided to pick up JFK’s mantle and challenge the dominant and all-powerful Democratic Party machine. And so it is that in Massachusetts, the torch is about to be passed to a new candidate, a new generation, a new political party, a fresh agenda, and real hope and change. Listen.
[My opponent] has it exactly wrong: We need to get job creation up, and taxes down. I will work in the Senate to put government back on the side of people who create jobs — and as John F. Kennedy taught us, that starts with a tax cut for the American people.
As a lieutenant colonel and 30-year member of the Army National Guard, I will keep faith with all who serve, and with our veterans, too. I will work in the Senate to defend our nation’s interests and to keep our military second to none.
In our debate, my opponent insisted that there are no longer any terrorists in Afghanistan. Maybe the president can pull her aside today and explain the basics: There are still many terrorists in Afghanistan, Martha! They are at war with the United States, and for the safety of this nation we must defeat them
As an attorney, I believe that our Constitution and laws exist to protect this nation — they do not grant rights and privileges to enemies in wartime. In dealing with terrorists, our tax dollars should pay for weapons to stop them, not lawyers to defend them.
Raising taxes, taking over our health care, and giving new rights to terrorists is the agenda of a new [far left] establishment in Washington. And they think you’re on board with all of it. They think they own your vote. They’re sure they can’t lose. But on Election Day, the Bay State will set them straight.
Pundits who can’t understand how unknown State Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts is poised to effect one of the greatest upsets in American political history need to realize one thing: Brown is heir to a great Kennedy legacy — not Teddy’s but Jack’s — and in this race, at this time, in this state, that’s making all the difference in the world.
