Scott Brown looks very good as the election goes into its last day in Massachusetts. He is a great retail politician and, I think, a coming star in the GOP. What has been behind his meteoric rise in Mass politics ?
Mitt Romney’s people.
Largely overlooked in assessing Brown’s prospects: the hidden hand of Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor headlined at a fundraiser for Brown last October. And Romney has helped Brown raise money outside the state as well. “I know Scott and how determined he is to win. I’ve campaigned for him, raised money on his behalf, and we’re doing all we can to help him over the finish line,” Romney wrote supporters last Monday. Brown, 50, raised $1.3 million that day.
The Brown campaign is filled with Romney associates.
Ever since he entered the race to succeed the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, Brown has been counseled by members of the Shawmut Group, a Boston-based consulting firm that acts as the Romney political brain trust in exile. Among the many Romney disciples running Brown’s campaign are Beth Myers, the campaign manager of Romney’s presidential run; Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney’s chief spokesman; Peter Flaherty, Romney’s “go-to-guy for conservatives”; and Rob Cole, Romney’s 2008 deputy chairman manager. Beth Lindstrom, another player in Romney World, is working as Brown’s campaign manager. Lindstrom’s ties to Romney go back years; she started working with him in the Massachusetts State House as director of consumer affairs.
The next decade, if the Republicans are smart, is going to see a merger of the libertarian approach to domestic policy with traditional Republican national security policy. Bush’s failure was the spending and the inept handling of Iraq after the invasion. A lot of the latter was the fault of Bremer and the former of Dennis Hastert. Still, the president gets the credit when things go well and the blame when they don’t.
The Scott Brown story is a big plus for Romney.
More from a mom in Maine who drove to Boston for the rally.
My prediction: If Brown wins, it will be because the average person tuned out the liberal media and the negative ads and listened to Scott Brown himself. They liked what they heard — key messages on stopping health care, keeping us safe from terrorists, and not raising taxes. If this happens, it will be reminiscent of another politician who had the ability to talk directly to the people — Ronald Reagan. But Scott Brown, as good a guy as he seems to be, is no Ronald Reagan. He has some commonsense instincts, but if he wants to stay in power from super-blue MA, he will have to stick it to the Republican leadership more than once to “prove” himself. On what issues he will do this is anybody’s guess. Not unlike Obama, many people are making Scott Brown into what they want him to be, but he will be his own person no doubt.
I disagree. Reagan was told 100 times that he had to modify some of his positions to be a viable candidate. The times are different now. Brown is genuine and it would be a mistake for him to start to trim. His abortion amendment is enough. That established his with the social conservatives. His task now is all economic and populist.
UPDATE: John Kerry is now smearing the Brown campaign as “out of state” and dangerous. I’m sure they look dangerous to Kerry.
UPDATE #2: Eleanor Holmes Norton, elected by DC which does NOT qualify for a voting member of Congress, says the health care bill will be pushed through no matter what. And those pesky voters think they matter. Huh !