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At first glance I thought it said purge. Neat story.
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/0...tt-brown-surge
The Scott Brown Surge
By W. James Antle, III on 1.12.10 @ 6:09AM
The American Spectator
Sometime last week, the breathless e-mails started. The urgent pleas to work the phone bank at Democratic National Committee headquarters. The desperate cries for donations. The stern warnings that any day now the sky just might fall.
Here's a representative missive from MoveOn.org: "In 11 days, we could lose progressive hero Ted Kennedy's Senate seat -- and with it, any hope for passing major progressive legislation this year." The subject line asked incredulously, "A Republican in Ted Kennedy's seat?"
The idea seems absurd even by Chicken Little standards of mass fundraising appeals. Massachusetts is one of the most Democratic states in the nation. Republicans hold about a tenth of the state legislative seats and represent only a slightly larger percentage of the commonwealth's registered voters. Barack Obama won Massachusetts -- the only state to vote for George McGovern in 1972 -- by 26 points.
Massachusetts has no GOP statewide elected officials and hasn't sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate since Edward Brooke was last re-elected in 1972. The late, sainted Ted Kennedy's Senate seat doesn't seem like an au ious opportunity to reverse that trend.
National Democrats are nevertheless a little worried about the Jan. 19 special election to fill out the remainder of Kennedy's term. Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley cruised to a primary win based on her high name recognition and hoped to run out the clock on the way to the general. But that frontrunner strategy seems to have backfired as Republican state Sen. Scott Brown has gained momentum among independents -- now a plurality of Bay State registered voters -- who are angry at the way the Democrats have been running both Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill.
With the Democratic base less than fully engaged, Republicans on fire, and independents unhappy with a mostly Democratic status quo, the race may have become surprisingly compe ive. First, the evidence was anecdotal. Driving through the Greater Boston suburbs over Christmas, one could spot Brown signs among the glow-in-the-dark reindeer and snowmen dotting many a lawn. The closer to Brown's senate district you got, the more his signs began to predominate -- something you almost never saw with the the sacrificial lambs the GOP has run for Senate in recent cycles.
Then came two successive polling bombs s: Rasmussen released a poll that showed Brown within nine points of Coakley, trailing just 41 percent to 50 percent. Later, Public Policy Polling -- a Democratic firm -- showed the race a statistical dead heat, with Brown actually leading 48 percent to 47 percent. Soon, my inbox runneth over.
Even the Boston Globe survey -- which doesn't use the controversial automated polling methodology of the other two polls but does at least arguably oversample Democrats -- showing Coakley clinging to a 15-point lead over Brown found the two candidates tied among the people most enthusiastic about the race. Special elections figure to be low-turnout and are notoriously hard to poll because it is difficult to know what the electorate will look like.
Unlike the recent GOP recruits for Senate in Massachusetts, Brown has a track record of winning elections. He won his first as assessor in the little Republican-leaning town of Wrentham in 1992, going on to serve on the Wrentham board of selectmen before begin elected state representative in 1998. Brown won his state senate seat in a special election in March 2004, replacing liberal Democrat Cheryl Jacques, and managed to win a full term as state senator even as native son John Kerry was carrying the state in that November's presidential election.
In 2006, Brown further secured his hold on the seat by running for re-election unopposed -- a rarity among Republicans in Massachusetts. While Obama fever was sweeping the commonwealth in 2008, Brown managed another term with 59 percent of the vote. A good-looking (he once posed as a centerfold in Cosmopolitan magazine after winning its "America's Sexiest Man" contest) and articulate candidate, Brown is one of the Massachusetts GOP's few success stories in the past six years.
Even so, few observers gave Brown much of a chance to win Ted Kennedy's Senate seat when he announced he was going to run. By Massachusetts standards, he is a fairly conservative candidate. Although pro-choice, Brown opposes partial-birth abortion and favors other abortion restrictions. He has promised to be a 41st vote against the Democratic health care bill, considered a major part of Kennedy's legacy. Brown is against same-sex marriage, for Obama's decision to send additional troops to Afghanistan, and a supporter of the Iraq war -- the last two unpopular stances, but ones where Brown has some credibility as a 30-year veteran of the National Guard and lieutenant colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps.
Brown has once again proved to be a clever campaigner. Handling the Kennedy legacy issue gingerly, he has run ads touting John F. Kennedy's support for tax cuts. Brown has alternated between reaching out to Massachusetts' beleaguered conservatives by hammering away at Coakley's liberalism and also reassuring jittery moderates that he won't automatically be "a filibuster senator." Liberals aren't buying his promises of moderation, however: they are already talking about delaying Brown's certification should he win to keep him from blocking health care.
Contrasted with Coakley's pedestrian campaign, it's easy to see why Democrats and liberal activists are worried. But for a Republican to win in Massachusetts, even in a special election, everything has to break the right way. When Republicans won four consecutive gubernatorial races between Bill Weld's election in 1990 and Mitt Romney's victory in 2002, the GOP took nearly two-thirds of independents, 90 percent of Republicans, and a significant slice of Democrats. Only during Weld's 1994 re-election did that translate into anything better than the low 50s.
Republicans who have run strong in some polls only to come up short on election day are more common. Ray Shamie against John Kerry in 1984, Jim Rappaport against Kerry in 1990, Romney against Kennedy in 1994, Weld against Kerry in 1996, Dan Grabauskas against Tim Cahill in 2002, Jim Ogonowski against Niki Tsongas in 2007: these are all cases where the Massachusetts GOP was able to break 40 percent but not able to clinch the win. All but the last two were Senate races.
Now Brown is also missing the element of surprise. Democrats were always unlikely to look past a candidate of his caliber. Polls showing him possibly compe ive make this doubly unlikely -- the statement accompanying the PPP survey was practically written as a wake-up call for Democratic get-out-the vote organizers.
Liberals are nevertheless right to feel nervous. If Brown won, it would actually be as damaging to their agenda as MoveOn.org's fundraisers fear. Even if he runs well but ultimately loses, the popularity of the Obama agenda -- already in question after the 2009 off-year elections -- will have been tested even in the bluest of states.
A strong showing could also set Scott Brown up for a future run for statewide office, following the Romney precedent. After all, Deval Patrick isn't looking too good and if Coakley wins the state will need a new attorney general.
Last edited by Marcus Bryant; 01-12-2010 at 02:45 PM.
At first glance I thought it said purge. Neat story.
One of the best lines ever. Way to slap down that liberal dimwit, David Gergen.
Last edited by DarrinS; 01-12-2010 at 02:55 PM.
Seems to be offering "conservative" management of the warfare-welfare state. That's been the GOP's central tenet for the last however many decades, actually since the 30s - I think Landon was offering that back in 1936. And of course in many respects Hoover started the modern American welfare state before FDR.
He may poll well, but it's hard to see him winning the seat, especially under these cir stances. While the GOP has won statewide races, those have been at the state level.
It's hard to see him winning the seat, because the people of Mass. would vote for Teddy's rotting corpse if they could.
This probably didn't help Coakley:
Ah, the specter of the Taliban will keep defense contractors happy for a long, long time.
It happened in Missouri. Mel was elected, Jean took the seat.
Would be nice though. After the girl wins the dems will say "see, America wants healthcare"
Man, what a major upset if would be if Brown won Teddy's seat. It might even cause Teddy to rise from the dead!
But boy, would I love to see Scott Brown win.
The terrorists the Taliban harbored are gone, presumably to Pakistan.
Jack I seem to remember you screaming that any election going forward would be a referendum on Obama.Would be nice though. After the girl wins the dems will say "see, America wants healthcare"
Electing someone because they have a (R) next to their name is stupid...
Moreover...Who is Scott Brown?A major drive behind Brown is psychological, the idea of "sticking it" to the Democrats in a deep blue liberal bastion like Massachusetts is so enticing that it is beginning to cloud judgment. However supporting an individual due to him being a Republican is as frustrating as Massachusetts citizens voting for anyone with a (D) next to their name. Another major drive is to stop Obama-Care with Brown depriving the crucial 60th vote, a reason so laughable as to hardly merit an explanation. Truth is, if the Democrats want to pass Obama-Care then they will do so whether Brown wins or not. Not only can Reid convince Snowe or Collins, but Pelosi can accept the current Senate version of the bill allowing Obama-Care to sail into Obama's office before Brown's jet lands in Washington DC. As the last remaining reason, regrettably persistent ignorance despite the mounting fiscal problems and cries of "throw the bums out". Most supporters outside this state have no clue about Brown's legislative record and it is imperative they discover the truth before it’s too late.
Of course there will always be a segment of the population falling for the song and dance, but the support being generated is coming from sources that claim to be experts on all things political!
A man who voted for a property tax hike in his town of Wrentham, purposely overriding proposition 2 ½ designed to keep property taxes limited.
A man who went on air to publicly speak out against ending the state income tax on the 2008 ballot and returning 12 billion dollars back into the pockets of Massachusetts citizens. Claiming that depriving 12 billion from the State coffers is reckless, despite knowing full well that the state spent almost 49 billion in 2008!
A man who proudly speaks of his involvement in RomneyCare, a plan widely endorsed by both Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton champions of universal single payer health systems. Yet virtually everyone from CATO to WSJ confirmed RomneyCare’s dismal failure.
In fact, Scott Brown in a debate just yesterday announced that he will go to Washington and bring RomneyCare with him.Right conditionRomneyCare forces individual mandates upon citizens of Massachusetts resulting in steep penalties for those refusing to pay.
RomneyCare has skyrocketed insurance premium costs doubling the national average while extending wait time for doctors by weeks and sometimes months!
This is what Scott Brown is proud of and this is what he is planning to bring to Washington DC. Ted Kennedy’s favorite claim was that health care coverage is a right, not a privilege. So does Scott Brown:
"I do believe everyone is en led to health care coverage"
To make such an assertion in a country where no one is denied treatment is truly disturbing. A right to health insurance is as much of an abomination as an individual mandate, a direct and immediate move to collectivism. Patriots and activists are you listening?
Who is Scott Brown? A big government Republican and a sellout posing as a conservative while riding on a wave of populism spurred on by the Tea Party movement.
Bla bla bla...moral issue....bla bla bla...Ted Kennedy...bla bla bla....I'll block healthcare.
Wait...what?
Sure hope he wins based on that alone. I am not holding my breath.
"Volunteering" for Coakley...
...Voting for Brown.
http://www.dankennedy.net/2010/01/10...e-senate-race/
It's all a mirage. Repuglicans are wetting themselves at the thought that they have chance. But really, they don't.
And Scott Brown is a bag who doesn't believe women have the right to be told about emergency contraception after they've been raped.
OH, oh....we have a problem...
CosmoCosmopolitan dug through their archives to find a June 1982 issue featuring a very naked chap by the name of Scott Brown playing centerfold model. Flattering, in a certain light, but possibly problematic for Brown, who is running for Ted Kennedy’s United States Senate seat in Massachusetts. “Vote for Brown. He Has One of a Stimulus Package,” the lady mag suggests as a slogan.
The appearance was part of that summer’s “America’s Sexiest Man” contest, which Brown won as “a 22-year-old law student at Boston College who was cramming for finals just days before stripping down for our photographer.” He’s a bit Tom Selleck, a bit Scott Baio, by our estimation.
<SNIP>
More Republican values I guess.....who's vetting these guys?
What values?
Coakley's Saviors
The health-care industry rides to the Democratic rescue.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...s_opinion_main
We've argued that the leading health industry CEOs will one day be exposed as the most short-sighted business leaders in history, but how to explain the gala fundraiser that their top lobbyists hosted for Martha Coakley last night?
Amid a Beltway panic, the health lobby is riding to the rescue of the Massachusetts liberal, whose defeat in the special Senate race next Tuesday could deny Democrats the 60th vote for ObamaCare and thus maybe spare the U.S. health system from the coming damage.
As first reported by Timothy Carney of the Washington Examiner, the host committee for the fundraiser at Pennsylvania Avenue's Sonoma Restaurant includes lobbyists for Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Novartis and sundry other drug companies that have been among the biggest of ObamaCare's corporate sponsors. Other hosts—who have raised at least $10,000 for Ms. Coakley—include representatives from UnitedHealthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana and other insurers. As far as we can tell, the insurance industry claims to oppose ObamaCare's current incarnation.
Naturally, lobbyists from America's Health Insurance Plans and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the major trade groups, were on hand too. Money follows power in Washington, obviously, though this example seems especially inexplicable given that Ms. Coakley's GOP opponent, state senator Scott Brown, may be the last chance to defuse the health-care doomsday machine. But maybe someone in the press corps will bother to mention this episode the next time President Obama takes aim at the "special interests" he claims are opposing his agenda.
Against overwhelming public opposition, the only things keeping ObamaCare alive at this point are power politics and the misguided corporate cease-fire that Democrats have either coerced or bought—or is homegrown at companies like Pfizer that are deeply invested in more government control of the economy. Ms. Coakley's election would make that outcome a certainty.
I'd hate to think some politician took his clothes off.
LMAO. Look at "Reason #2" on this magazine cover.
This is the first you've heard of this?
LOL
The point is it was a stupid answer. If she is against the foreign policy decisions then say it. You cannot say you supported getting rid of a group that we never got rid of.
FAUX News actively shills for Scott Brown - fair and balanced be damned!
In Fox News appearances -- two in "the last 24 hours" -- Brown encouraged viewers to donate money
Media MattersOn Fox, Brown encouraged viewers to visit his campaign website to find out "how to help with donating and volunteering." As Media Matters for America has do ented, in appearances on Fox News' America's Newsroom, On the Record, and Hannity, Brown pointed viewers to his campaign website, solicited funds for his campaign, and also cited RedInvadesBlue.com, where, he said, "we have a money bomb right now that's hitting ... and you can help me fight back against the machine."
Brown made two fund-soliciting appearances in the "last 24 hours" before Special Report. Two of Brown's Fox News appearances occurred in the 24 hours preceding the January 12 edition of Special Report -- on the January 11 edition of On The Record with Greta Van Susteren and on the January 12 edition of America's Newsroom. Brown solicited donations for his campaign in both appearances.
From the January 12 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:
BROWN: There's political chicanery. I'm used to it in Massachusetts. And people can go to BrownForUSSenate.com, they can learn more about that and how to help with donating and volunteering.
From the January 11 edition of Fox News' On The Record with Greta Van Susteren:
BROWN: Martha's a good person, but she's wrong on all the issues. And the people of Massachusetts are upset at the taxing, the spending, the backroom deals. Martha Coakley's position on terror -- it's outrageous. She said tonight that there are no terrorists in Afghanistan. That's the type of person who has a policy that is very scary, especially when we're trying to provide the tools and resources for our soldiers to keep them safe. And if people want to learn more, they can certainly go to BrownForUSSenate.com.
But we have a money bomb right now that's hitting, and you can go to RedInvadesBlue.com, and you can help me fight back against the machine, because the negative ads -- the second I walked off the stage, the negative ads have started. And you all around the country can make a big, big difference in this race.
Fox "political analyst" Morris used position to fundraise in support of Brown
"Please, please help" Brown, Morris urged viewers. During the January 11 edition of Fox News' Hannity, political analyst Morris urged viewers to "go to Morris.com ... to help elect Brown," because if "we win this fight, then there will never be another victory for Obama." Morris.com includes a fundraising plea to help the group the League of American Voters -- for which Morris is chief strategist -- "raise $300,000 for a last minute media buy to push Brown and the Republicans to victory"; Fox News executives allowed Morris to solicit funds for Republican efforts despite reportedly telling colleague Mike Huckabee to cease conflict-of-interest promotions that help his political action committee.
Fox News has history of giving airtime to, shilling for Republican candidates
Conservative candidates stump on Fox during lead-up to elections. In the two weeks leading up to the November 3, 2009, elections, Conservative Party congressional candidate Doug Hoffman, New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie, and Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell appeared on Fox News and its personalities' radio shows at least 16 times for live interviews lasting a total of 114 minutes and 36 seconds. Further, numerous Fox News hosts and political analysts encouraged voters to donate to and volunteer and vote for GOP and conservative candidates, including Christie, McDonnell, and Hoffman.
It is curious how a politician with anti-gay and anti-abortion views manages to grab the Republican nomination and is seriously challenging Coakley despite the obvious hypocrisy in his stance and actions. Its must be Rove/Gingrich thing.
In what will no doubt sew up the women’s vote, state Sen. Scott Brown’s 27-year-old nude Cosmopolitan maggie centerfold is again making the rounds on the Internet.
“Not this old story again,” groused Eric Fehrnstrom, campaign spokesman for Brown - who just announced that he is running for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat.
Ahh..now I see why he's doing well in Mass. Those pictures are bringing in the Democrat vote.
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