For John, BLUF: One is tempted to ask, "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?" One worries the answer is no. Nothing to see here; just move along.
Over at The Boston Globe Opinionator Scot Lehigh takes on former Senator Scott Brown running against Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who gets mentioned once in the story, which is better than Attorney General Martha Coakley gets. Ms Coakley is merely "lackluster opponent". As an aside, if anyone is the star of the piece it is Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Frankly, before we press on, I believe Mr Brown is in the New Hampshire race as a Republican Money Sink. His job is to attract as many Democrat Party Dollars to New Hampshire as he can, thus draining them away from other races. I think this is a job he can do well. The question is, can he also beat Ms Shaheen?
The writer gives us this:
Brown ran that first Senate campaign on simple themes: His opposition to Obamacare, his desire to cut government spending, his supposedly independent thinking, the everyday-guy symbolism of his pickup truck. In a low profile race against a lackluster opponent, that was enough. Lightning struck and made him a star.This is his indictment. Scott Brown is a man of not only no new ideas, but no ideas. Put nicely, he was in over his head and it showed up when he went head to head with a Harvard Law School Professor.
There are, however, a couple of points missed. One is that Senator Brown walked away from the right and toward the center when he ran the second time for the US Senate. The result was that many on the "right" stayed home that election day a year and a half ago. He should have stuck with the simple themes.
There is, of course, the question of that recent election down in Florida. The Republican candidate ran on all those old Scott Brown themes. And he was a lackluster candidate. Just ask my friend Dick the German, who constantly points out to me that those tired old themes only attract elderly Caucasian Males.
If Senator Brown returns to his roots and campaigns against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,♠ and against big [Federal] government, and maybe for defense (depending on what President V Putin does in the next few month), he might actually beat Ms Shaheen. But, then, will be be able to play the role of "money sink".
I don't think Mr Lehigh thinks Mr Brown has a snowball's chance in Massachusetts in May, which is to say, with our crazy weather, it is possible.
A key will be the distance between Senator Shaheen and President Obama.
Regards — Cliff
♠ "Obamacare" for City Life Host George Anthes.
1 comment:
Shaheen and Obama are as close as one can get. Shaheen's husband who also owns the family law firm in Concord has worn out several pairs of shoes going from door to door in official DC picking up commitments for his wife's coming campaign. One would almost think he never wants her to come home. Certainly, many of us in the backwater called New Hamster would LOVE to see her come home. She is little more than a party hack...incapable of original thought.
As for Brown, the ONLY thing he will do is screw up an already screwed up NH state GOP effort to field a worthy candidate to oppose Shaheen the Tax Machine.
NH should pass a law prohibiting the relocation of anyone to our state who has run for or held an office in MA. Dirty laundry.
Sadly, given the demographics of the New England region, NH will likely go full blue in the next few years......regardless of anything the GOP might....or might not do. This will happen if for no other reason than DWS and the DNC have ensured that the state's numerous cemeteries are blue voters.
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