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Scott Brown: From 41 to 51 … And Beyond!
When Scott Brown was elected to the U.S. Senate in January of 2010 to replace deceased Senator Teddy Kennedy in “the People’s seat” in Massachusetts, he quickly acquired the nickname “41” for being the 41st Republican member of the U.S. Senate – the one who would save us all from Obamacare. Alas, the People had not at that point reckoned with the reptilian resolve that characterized the President and his co-religionists when it came to doing what was necessary to force into law their conception of the good of all. Obamacare is, for the moment, a reality and Brown lost the subsequent election in 2012 to Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren, whose main redeeming characteristic is that she is going to save us from Hillary Clinton in 2016…but I digress.
Now, again, Scott Brown (truck and all) is on the verge of going back to the Senate not as number 41, but as number 51…and maybe higher. After months of being down in the polls to incumbent Senator and former Governor Jeanne Shaheen (first by 16, then, two months ago, by 12), the latest poll, conducted by New England College, of 1,081 likely voters, shows Brown ahead by one point. That is within the margin of error, but (as we physicists like to say) you have to love the derivative.
I was a proud Tea Party member of the Brown Brigade in January of 2010 during his first Senate campaign. I like to tell people that I got frostbite on my toes standing in the snow holding a Scott Brown sign in my hands. (The problem with that story, which is true, is that I was too stupid to put on boots instead of my standard deteriorating sneakers).
Brown had a rally in Worcester, Massachusetts, on the Sunday before the election that filled the enormous Mechanics Hall and two overflow rooms at nearby hotels as well. No one who was there had any doubt that Scott was going to win. It was Woodstock for conservatives. Meanwhile, President Obama was performing CPR on the candidacy of Brown’s rival (and 2014 gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley), making snarky, flat jokes about Brown’s truck.
With his meteoric rise to stardom, it was perhaps inevitable that Brown would, sooner or later, fall back to earth. His trajectory has all the hallmarks of a morality play and it would make for better drama if his decline could be attributed to hubris or some other moral failing. But, in fact, I think that the ultimate reason that Brown lost to Warren in 2012 was that his brand of ideology – which is basically quite conservative – was sufficient to energize the Tea Party when he was the King of Hearts and socialized medicine was nigh, but was not enough to keep them on board when Brown pursued his characteristically maverick ways in Washington.
I know several Tea Party folks (including one particularly strident talk radio host) who skewered, and continue to skewer, Brown for not towing the line on issues like Dodd-Frank. (Brown did, however, vote against the DREAM Act). While I’m in ideological agreement with most of these critics, I think they erred by projecting their own image of the good philosophy onto Brown and insisting that he betrayed them later. That Scott Brown is a politician and that he made political calculations as a part of his life in the Senate (as a Senator from Massachusetts, for Pete’s sake!) is undeniable. But to those who think that he does not have a core ideology or that he had one but abandoned it, I recommend his book, Against All Odds.
What his book reveals — and what is evident if you listen to him for a while — is that Brown’s greatest talent is the fact that he is preternaturally comfortable in his own shoes. He is the ultimate straight arrow, emerging from an upbringing that, while not the fourth circle of hell, was grinding, tough, and basically merciless. And he emerged with a sense of right and wrong that is embedded in rock – like the granite of the state where he now campaigns – while some of his more nobly-born followers might waver in their adherence to their principles.
Somehow, a childhood history of stealing records, playing basketball fanatically, and having, at age 13, to defend your mother and sister from a club-handed loser of a foster father has ironed into this guy not only moral standards (which you might not be surprised by) but also a wry satisfaction with what life has thrown his way and how he has turned out.
Paradoxically, what gives me the greatest confidence that Scott Brown is going to win his election in New Hampshire is that he will not be destroyed by losing. He seems to know that he has left it all out on the court – that the course he is following has got to be right because it has gotten him from over there to over here. And that kind of serenity and its attendant confidence (let’s be honest, its attendant cockiness) gives him a quality of trustworthiness that reveals itself to anyone taking the time to listen to him. Here we find not a hint of Hamlet and a little more than a hint of Henry V.
I will be very happy to see Scott back at work doing the People’s business. Perhaps he doesn’t spend time pondering what Madison was thinking when he wrote the Second Amendment. Quite possibly he does not keep Hayek or Ayn Rand on his bedside table. But I’ll bet he sleeps better than at least some of us who do.
To my Ricochetti co-religionists, please, do not take my own blithe confidence as anything more than rosy self-delusion. Brown is in the fight of his life and he needs your help. You can donate here.
Published in General
It is nice to hear cheering news. Thank you.
I just made a donation. As a Republican in California I’d be relieved to have Brown as a senator. He certainly doesn’t match my all my priorities, but he’s a much better fit than my current Senators.
Fascinating, Michael–and heartening.
Would you do us a favor? Give us updates on the races as new polls come in and new events take place. If Scott Brown beast Jeanne Shaheen, then an honorable centrist will have defeated a charming but committed lefty–and the GOP will have gained control of both Houses of Congress.
My theory, in other words, is that Scott Brown is worth watching not just for the sake of the New Hampshire race, but because he can win only if a nationwide tide lifts him another point or two–and such a tide could produce a Senate with 53 or even 54 Republicans, and a House with as many as 240 to 244.
I am moving to New Hampshire on October 31. There is same day voter registration.
Thanks Peter!
Shaheen and Brown had their first debate on October 6 and things have looked up since then. Breitbart has a report on the New England College poll here. I’ll keep the Ricochetti faithful up to date as things roll forward.
I like to think my absentee ballot from last Friday helped.
And as an aside, I’ve only contributed to two political candidates in my life – Scott Brown in late 2009 and Scott Brown last month (I had the good sense to do the former; Ann Coulter prompted the latter).
If the GOP can run the table where they currently lead and snag New Hampshire and North Carolina, I think we can be reasonably happy with the election. What’s more important than the extra seat in those marginal races is the power of incumbency. This is why it’s so important to win in places like Kansas and Alaska and all the red states that still have democratic Senate incumbents. The democrats really should be locked out of all these states.
Scott Brown may be an example of Bill Buckley’s dictum about voting for the most conservative person who can win the election. And where is Frank Meyer when we need him to help bridge the gap?
That said, I hope that if the Republicans win the next few cycles that they will attempt actually to change the direction of the country – and not simply tap the brakes as we head toward the cliff.
Welcome
If I were in New Hampshire, I’d have to give real consideration to Scott. I don’t believe that he is as conservative as I am, but…
When I lived in Minnesota, I voted for a moderate Republican (who certainly seemed to be pro-life) as preferable to any Democrat. It was a decision that did not keep me up nights. I was sorry when the Minnesota Democrat Secretary of State validated his opponent by accepting the invalid votes of felons.
Sometimes we do the best we can based on the place we are at.
I am cautiously and increasingly optimistic about Scott Brown‘s chances for success. I live in a blue area of the purple Granite State, and am often in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts for business.
I have long-sensed the momentum building for Brown in the state since he won the nomination. The carpet-bagger accusation had zero effect. Even in Democrat-friendly regions of the state I have seen large numbers of Brown signs on lawns (not the “sign-gardens” at highway intersections, but on private property). A number of these have been the big 3′ x 5’ proclamations. This contrasts favorably with most of the Shaheen signs I’ve seen being of the “sign-garden” variety. Signs don’t vote, but the number of signs on private property are a useful indicator of enthusiasm. In short the Dems appear to be dispirited and unmotivated, while Republicans are energised. It reminds me of the reverse of Obama in 2008. Then I saw Obama signs at the homes of people I was surprised to see supporting him. Now, it’s the opposite for Brown.
Obama is unpopular in NH. Even with the large number of colleges in the state, NH’s population is older and not happy with Obamacare. Shaheen has imported Clinton, not Obama, to stump for her. The best he can do is rally the base, but that’s not enough in NH, you also need a lot of independents.
Lastly, when I speak to fellow conservatives who might wish Brown more conservative, they all say some variation of “I just want to win” and they find him personally likeable. His primary opponents were clobbered because the NH Republican voters just want to win. From the Tea Party to RINO Squishes, we all Just. Want. To. Win.
Neighboring Republicans, come volunteer to help push Brown to victory. Let’s make NH a Red island in the Blue New England pond again! (Also, it would be a nice turn-about on what the Dems did to us in 2012.)
Also help Marlinda Garcia in her race against Anne Kuster for the Second Congressional District. Along with being a Pelosi-Democrat, Kuster is truly dumb. I mean that literally. Make this Kuster’s last stand.
Being a veteran also helps Scott Brown in NH. This state is second-highest in veterans as a percentage of the population (after SC).
I have a house in NH, but only live there ~4 days a month right now, so about 15% of the time. We would rather be voting there, than in NJ where Dems will continue to hold onto both Senate seats. Maybe by 2016. Just need way for wife to make her income there, and we move. Hope Scott beats Jean!
Know that feeling!
Really Scott Brown comes off as a regular guy because that’s what he is. I think that as the media star sheen wears off New Hampshirites will come to identify with him.
Here’s hoping!
Scott Brown was featured in what is perhaps my favorite auto-tune-the-news.
Brown is somewhat like Snow in Maine – a republican in a blue section of the nation. I would be most pleased to have him join the republican ranks, even though he doesn’t vote straight conservative. From that part of the nation, one cannot expect that.
This is a lot like Christy. He, too, is a republican in a blue state. He certainly doesn’t fill my definition of a conservative, but he’s conservative enough, and for NJ that’s about all you can ask.
Don’t expect me to support either of those two – Brown or Christy – for president, though.
PS: Just donated to him. I gave money to his MA run also back when he won.
Snow retired, but you can still use Collins for the example.
No one who’s read Patrick O’Brian would ever say “Towing the line.”
“Dragging a line,” maybe.
Until you can’t and a second democrat locks it up.
6 of one, half a dozen of the other. You got my sense.