Republican Scott Brown’s Entire Campaign Distilled to a Single Sentence

[Cross-posted from the ProgressMass blog.  Like ProgressMass on Facebook and follow on Twitter.]

Two days ago, Go Local Worcester posted an article focusing on Republican Scott Brown’s disappointing record on the environment.  Toward the end of the article was a single sentence that brilliantly encapsulated Brown’s entire campaign thus far:

Brown’s camp refused to answer specific questions about the senator’s voting record, but alleged it is Warren who is being dishonest.

This sentence offers the purest, most succinct distillation of Republican Scott Brown’s entire campaign to date.  When faced with a question about his own record – when his own votes or deal-making in the U.S. Senate or his own rhetoric is held against him – he simply refuses to acknowledge that aspect of his record and instead responds with an ad hominem attack against his Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren.

We saw this exact dynamic play out earlier this month, when Nancy Cordes of CBS News profiled Massachusetts’ 2012 U.S. Senate race (from the 1:25 mark in the video):

Cordes: Your opponent says you tried to water down the very financial regulations that would prevent another meltdown.

Brown: Well, with all due respect, as you know she’s had some credibility issues lately.

Very clearly here, Brown refuses to answer a specific question about his record, and simply attacks his opponent instead of owning up to his own actions in the U.S. Senate.

It’s a fact that Republican Scott Brown worked behind the scenes in closed-door meetings to score back-room deals for Wall Street and the financial services industry to water down the Volcker Rule.  (It’s further  noteworthy that, in his recent testimony before the U.S. Senate’s Banking Committee, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon suggested that a more stringent Volcker Rule could have staved off some of the recent billions lost by JPMorgan.)  It’s also come to light that, even after financial reform was passed, Brown continued to work behind the scenes to loosen the rules to the benefit of the big banks.

Yet, instead of owning up to these facts that comprise his record, Republican Scott Brown ducks the question and just attacks.

Another notable example came on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on April 20, 2012, as the “Morning Joe” program aired live from Fenway Park in celebration of Fenway’s 100th anniversary (you know, that anniversary that never would have occurred if Republican Scott Brown had gotten his way and moved the team out of Fenway and out of Boston).

Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin notes to Republican Scott Brown that a lack of regulation set off the recent financial crisis (from the 9:54 mark in the video):

Goodwin: On the other hand, the lack of regulation was part of what brought on the financial crisis.

Brown: Well, listen, I was the supporter- I worked on that- it never would have passed if it wasn’t for me.  I was tired of acting- having banks and Wall Street act like casinos with our money.  But not for me being involved, that never would have passed.  And I heard what Professor Warren said, oh, I watered it down.  With all due respect, it never would have passed, number one.  Number two, there never would have been a Consumer Protection Bureau that she would have been able to participate.  And number three, the fact that <crosstalk> and the fact that she said it’s the strongest regulation in three generations, it’s kind of, you know, hypocritical to say, all of a sudden, I watered it down.

Here we see Republican Scott Brown being flat-out misleading about his very clear role in watering down regulations yet again.  He goes right up to the water’s edge in denying the historical fact that he worked behind the scenes, both before and after passage of financial reform, to weaken the Volcker Rule (“And I heard what Professor Warren said, oh, I watered it down”).  He doesn’t own up to his record in this regard.  Then, he simply closes with a dishonest attack on his opponent (“it’s kind of, you know hypocritical to say, all of a sudden, I watered it down”).

Senator Brown knows that it is not “hypocritical” to say that he watered down the Volcker Rule.  If his office has a subscription to the Boston Globe, then he must know that it’s actually a well-known, well-documented fact that he watered down the Volcker Rule.  Yet he refuses to own up to the entirety of his record; and, when he’s called on it, he simply attacks his opponent.

So keep that sentence from that Go Local Worcester article in mind:

Brown’s camp refused to answer specific questions about the senator’s voting record, but alleged it is Warren who is being dishonest.

We’ll see how often it applies to Republican Scott Brown’s (and his campaign staff’s) conduct in interviews and at the debates.  Don’t be surprised if this exact dynamic appears again (and again).