[Cross-posted from the ProgressMass blog. Like ProgressMass on Facebook and follow on Twitter.]
Welcome to the “Weekly Scott Brown-d Up,” a news round-up looking back on the week that was for Scott Brown. And it wasn’t an especially good week for our Republican junior Senator.
The week kicked off with news that Scott Brown’s chief opponent, Elizabeth Warren, doubled Brown’s fundraising take for the first three months of the year. Further, it appears that Warren even out-raised Brown in-state, though Brown has been a bit dodgy about his numbers. It’s not terribly surprising, though, that Brown would be dodgy about his fundraising, given that his Republican and corporate fundraising sources “severely” undermine his self-proclaimed “independent” image.
Brown attempted to mitigate the weaker fundraising by snagging earned media with a “Win a Day with Scott Brown” contest. However, that just earned a rebuke that a Massachusetts voter shouldn’t have to win a raffle to be able to ask Scott Brown questions, as Brown still has yet to hold a single public town hall forum, well-advertised in advance so voters can simply ask him questions about his record.
Despite all of this, Brown’s fundraising lowlight actually came later in the week when Warren reportedly raised over $50,000 off of a negatively-toned e-mail Brown himself sent to his supporters, not just attacking his rival but also mocking his rival’s supporters. Maybe Brown will think twice in the future before going so virulently negative.
Brown also took some heat on the public policy front from media south of Boston when the Quincy Patriot Ledger, Brockton Enterprise, and Taunton Daily Gazette reported that his Irish Visa bill noticeably “exhibits favoritism” against Asian & Hispanic immigrants:
At a time when Congress has been sharply divided over enacting comprehensive immigration reform, Brown’s legislation is invoking the ire of a number of ethnic minorities who feel ignored by the proposal – and who contend that it exhibits favoritism towards Europeans over Asian and Hispanic immigrants.
The timing also has led some critics to suggest that Brown, facing a tough re-election race, is using the legislation to attract votes in November in a state where one in four residents claim Irish ancestry.
This week also saw the printing of a number of letters to the editor from across Massachusetts complaining about how far-right Scott Brown has been and what a disappointing job he’s done as a U.S. Senator.
· Fall River Herald News: “Nothing moderate about Scott Brown’s Record”
· Boston Globe: “A vote for Brown is a vote for a GOP Senate”
· Springfield Republican (from us!): “Health care repeal would hurt citizens”
· Boston Globe: “An independent voice? Not when it counts”
· MetroWest Daily News/Milford Daily News: “Smaller military means more jobs”
· Boston Globe: “On climate change, no support from the senator”
Brown took some more heat later in the week for behavior that was, shall we say, not up to “role model” standards. What got a thorough round of press was Brown throwing back a number of beer samples at a brewery and then driving off. Even if Brown has a high alcohol tolerance and wasn’t impacted at all by his several drinks, with police in Massachusetts cautioning all of us that “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving,” Brown simply could have used better judgment, given his very high-profile position.
What didn’t get much coverage, but was a bit more astounding, was how he talked to and about the female reporter covering the campaign stop:
The road yesterday took Brown to the Blue Hills Brewery in Canton, where the buttoned-down Wrentham Republican invited this Herald reporter to loosen up and sip brews from small sample cups.
“You can pound those pretty good,” Brown said as he tasted one of the lighter brews. His favorite was a hoppy beer called Red I.P.A.
“Sit down. Try this one. I’ve seen you in the bars before, don’t act like you’ve never been to a bar,” he said, sliding over a stool. “We’re gonna have her dancing in the back of the truck.”
Brown then got behind the wheel of his dark green pickup and cruised to his next campaign stop.
For a man who recently joked that the only thing he’s learned from women is “how to cook” and who is still under fire for his support of the anti-women’s health Blunt Amendment and who belongs to a political party engaging in a War on Women, this bawdy behavior shows shocking tone-deafness.
Even Brown’s supporters are reflecting poorly on him. First, Brown donor (and Rick Santorum Super-PAC funder) Foster Friess made a joke about President Obama being assassinated, hoping “his teleprompters are bulletproof.”
Then, in another display of surprising tone-deafness, Brown personally re-tweeted the Twitter message of a supporter whose Twitter trail is littered with sexist, homophobic, and racially insensitive messages. Given that Scott Brown took to Twitter to claim that he found Rush Limbaugh’s vile remarks about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke to be “reprehensible,” why on earth would he use the same Twitter account to promote a Twitter user and Brown supporter who wrote, “SandraFluke, isn’t it time for you to open your legs/mouth again?” and “ILikeObamacare because SandraFluke gets to spread her legs 7 nights a week and now I get to pay for it.” This is who Scott Brown is promoting on Twitter?
Of course, all of this led up to the breaking news that, when Scott Brown was a state legislator, he pushed to move the Red Sox out of Fenway Park and out of Boston! For any real Red Sox fan that loves going to Fenway Park to watch the Sox, this is jaw-dropping enough; but, it’s especially hypocritical for Brown since he has pandered to Sox fans repeatedly, from a radio ad a month ago extolling the careers of Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield, to a new radio ad this past week congratulating the Sox on Fenway’s 100th anniversary and criticizing “a lot of talk over the years about replacing the Park” and “starting over somewhere else.” It was Scott Brown’s own talk about replacing the Park and starting over somewhere else that he’s criticizing! If Scott Brown has his way, Fenway would never have seen this 100th anniversary!
Heck, even Libertarians and the anti-immigrant crowd seemed unhappy with Scott Brown this week. All in all, it’s been a very rough week for our Republican junior Senator.
What does next week hold for Scott Brown? There’s the big vote on the Buffett Rule, on which Scott Brown is expected to vote against tax fairness and for Mitt Romney’s millionaires and billionaires. Also, we’ll enjoy Fenway Park’s 100th Anniversary festivities later in the week, which will offer another opportunity to remind voters that, if Scott Brown has his way, the Red Sox would have been booted out of Fenway Park and Boston years ago.
Until then, stay tuned for next week’s “Weekly Scott Brown-d Up.”
