The recent brouhaha over Scott Brown’s vote on the Blunt Amendment will likely fade into memory in a news cycle or two. His policy position on the issue is obviously out of step with the majority of Bay State voters. However, the latest polls still show the Senate race as his to lose, and the reason this is the case is the same reason Brown catapulted into contention in the 2010 special election: he has draped himself in the Kennedy mantle, and has not been truly called out for it by his opposition.
Yes, Patrick Kennedy expressed outrage directly to Brown over the use of his late father’s name. Yes, Elizabeth Warren’s campaign sent out an e-mail asking for signatures on a letter to Brown asking that he stop equating himself with Kennedy. None of that is going to do a thing to move the needle in this election. I worry that the Warren campaign is asleep at the wheel during a moment that it should be making a major move; this is the time to release an ad featuring the members of the Kennedy family– Patrick, Vicki, Joe III, Caroline, hell, even Maria Shriver– expressing 1). their outrage at Brown’s claims to the Kennedy legacy, and 2). their unwavering and unequivocal endorsement of Elizabeth Warren. Writing letters and signing petitions is not going to cut it; those things never reach the eyes of the non-political-junkie voters who decide elections. The general public needs to know that Brown is no moderate, and certainly no Kennedy. The mainstream media will continue to brown-nose Brown, so the only way the public will lose its image of him as the “reasonable-centrist-and-wow-he’s-photogenic-too” guy is through a tough campaign that pulls no punches. My question is, how do we get the Warren campaign to pay attention and take action? The people of Massachusetts need more than a Cosmo magazine to see that this emperor has no clothes!
I don’t think what you say is unreasonable, but my preference would be not to hear from any Kennedys. I have said it before on BMG–dynastic politics are icky and, I say, un-American. I wish Joe III were not running, and I wish we would stop looking to the Kennedys as the guardians of the Democratic Party in Massachusetts. I’m sure they are lovely people, but fifty years of a dynasty is enough.
. . . when the Republican incumbent keeps bringing them up. I am no fan of dynastic politics, either– it was one of the reasons I supported Obama over Hillary in the ’08 primary– but when an opponent is cynically using the appeal of a (false) political association, we must fight back by any means necessary.
…so long as they are subject to the same election rules as everyone else. Certain families feel a strong calling to public service. I’m proud to be from the state that produced Adamses and Kennedys, and even has connections to Bushes and Roosevelts. Whether you agree with the politics or not I say it’s a proud legacy for the Commonwealth.
I don’t want the campaign turning into what the Kennedys think. I do hope Vicky Kennedy goes on the campaign trail for Elizabeth Warren, she’s quite good on the stump. But I’m not sure we all need to see her in a TV ad at this point in the campaign.