[Cross-posted from the ProgressMass blog. Like ProgressMass on Facebook and follow on Twitter.]
In a relatively quiet week, Republican Scott Brown still managed to accumulate a few warning flags.
For instance, Republican Scott Brown has been accused in the past of running a campaign featuring little substance. (Remember the last time he was called out on that?) Well, Brown encapsulated that lack of substance this week with ironic eloquence. When a reporter relayed to Brown criticisms of his time in the U.S. Senate, did Brown offer a thoughtful rebuttal or a contemplative defense of his partisan, right-wing voting record? Nope. (Does he ever?) Brown’s response to the reporter was a very mature, “Blah, blah, blah, blah.” That level of discourse doesn’t bode well for the handful of debates that Brown didn’t duck.
Republican Scott Brown’s lack of substance, along with a voting record that is well out of step with Middle Class Massachusetts, will haunt him as he tries to keep his campaign as superficial as possible and avoid discussions of actual issues and his actual voting record.
For instance, Republican Scott Brown tried his best to distort the message of a campaign ad run by his Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren, on the importance of investing in America, in which she notes that China spends more than three times as much of its GDP on infrastructure than America does. Brown and his right-wing allies started clucking in unison that the message of the ad was that Warren erroneously wanted America to “be more like China.” Basically, instead of having an important policy discussion and debate about our nation’s infrastructure needs, Brown just wants to sneak up behind you and yell, “Boo! China! Scary!” If that shallowness wasn’t bad enough in and of itself, what makes this episode so hypocritical for Brown is that he has, on multiple occasions, unfavorably compared the U.S. to China himself! He did that awful, terrible, no good thing that he’s accusing his opponent of doing.
Another bad sign for Republican Scott Brown is that the right-wing media he’s relying on to amplify his campaign message for free is showing several cracks. One example from last week is that a Fox News co-host actually called out Brown’s “Let America Be America” web video as “a flat out lie.” (If Brown can’t rely on Fox News, who can he rely on? Well, the Boston Herald, of course. Hey, speaking of…)
Another example from last week is that the Boston Herald, which could sometimes be legitimately confused for Scott Brown campaign headquarters, is beginning to receive blowback in the media for its sexist coverage of Brown’s Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren. Additionally, David Bernstein of the Boston Phoenix again highlights the hit-and-run nature of the right-wing smear efforts on Brown’s behalf, as some right-wing media outlets have been driven into silence as their dishonest claims get debunked.
Nevertheless, we ought to hand it to Republican Scott Brown. The Republican National Committee still has yet to name a Keynote Speaker for the upcoming Republican National Convention. We think Brown fits the bill perfectly:
Republican Scott Brown is the ideal Republican to serve as Keynote Speaker for the upcoming Republican National Convention. He’s very close and shares staff with presumptive nominee Mitt Romney. Also, he champions key GOP policies: watering down Wall Street regulations; protecting tax giveaways for Big Oil and enormous tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans; and opposing life-saving, cost-cutting heath care reform.
Of course, Republican Scott Brown might be a bit shy about highlighting his close ties to Mitt Romney and the Republican Party. So help encourage him by heading over to the Draft Scott Brown for GOP National Convention Keynote Speaker page, Like the page, and Share the page on your Facebook Wall.
What blunders and bad votes will befall Brown this week? Stay tuned for the next Weekly Scott Brown-d Up!
Gail Huff has taken a leave of absence from her part time job reporting heat waves in DC to work full time on Scott’s re-election campaign according to Glen Johnson at the Globe.
And I bet she is on the payroll too.