[Cross-posted from the ProgressMass blog. Like ProgressMass on Facebook and follow on Twitter.]
Republican Scott Brown had another rough go of it last week, tiptoeing around the Republican National Convention, chatting with Karl Rove, seeing a much-hyped endorsement slip away, and having his own words come back to haunt him.
Of course, last week was the week of the Republican National Convention, at which Republican Scott Brown’s endorsed candidate for President, Mitt Romney, accepted the GOP nomination, along with far-right-winger Paul Ryan accepting the Vice Presidential nod.
Prior to Brown heading down to Tampa, Florida, for the convention, ProgressMass held a convention send-off outside of Brown’s campaign headquarters to remind the Commonwealth what the Mitt Romney-Scott Brown economic plan means for Middle Class Massachusetts. We also delivered a “Republican Convention Care Package” for Brown to share with Mr. Romney.
Once Republican Scott Brown was finally at the Republican National Convention, he couldn’t decide if he was happy to publicly embrace the GOP, or if he was resolute on keeping the GOP at arm’s length. The one thing Brown was sure of: the GOP wanted Brown front-and-center, though Brown wouldn’t say in what capacity. If Mitt Romney and the Republican Party wanted Brown to speak on Thursday night, well, he was there. Surely, he could have addressed the convention – that is, unless Brown is desperate to avoid reminding voters that he’s a Republican.
However, Republican Scott Brown avoiding a vague “bigger role” at the Republican National Convention did not allow Brown to avoid reminding Massachusetts of his ties to the right-wing Republican establishment. Brown was spotted chit-chatting with George W. Bush’s top political strategist, Karl Rove. This is particularly noteworthy because Rove’s current job is running the American Crossroads super-PAC that will reportedly spend hundreds of millions of dollars on Republican candidates in 2012. And, it just so happens that Rove screened for big-dollar donors an advertisement related to Massachusetts’ U.S. Senate race earlier that day.
Is Karl Rove planning on breaking The People’s Pledge on behalf of Republican Scott Brown? That certainly wouldn’t be shocking. We all know that Brown has had to pay penalties for multiple violations of The People’s Pledge on his behalf. Additionally, just last week, a banking industry super-PAC suggested that they were planning on running ads attacking Brown’s Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren. As such, Karl Rove breaking The People’s Pledge to air attack ads on behalf of Republican Scott Brown is practically expected.
Attacks from Republican Scott Brown are par for the course throughout 2012. A new analysis by ProgressMass found that Brown’s campaign press releases were about three times more likely to focus on an attack against Elizabeth Warren than they were to focus on Brown’s own policy positions. No wonder Brown’s campaign has had its substance and seriousness repeatedly questioned over the last several months.
In addition to misleading attacks, Republican Scott Brown has relied heavily on political endorsements and pandering to Boston sports fans to make his case, in lieu of discussing his actual record. Unfortunately for Brown, one much-hyped endorsement from the world of sports – from Lowell boxing legend Micky Ward (immortalized in the Oscar-winning film “The Fighter”) – blew up in his face, causing a major embarrassment. Further, the reason the endorsement fell through had to do with Brown’s right-wing policy positions!
Roughly a half-hour after Ward confirmed he was backing Brown, ‘The Fighter’ called back. He said he had given his endorsement a little more thought.
“I can’t support Scott Brown,” Ward said. “I just can’t do it.”
Within 30 minutes, Ward either did some Googling or someone close to him reminded him about where Brown stood on some hot-button political topics.
“I found out Scott (Brown) is anti-union and I’m a Teamster guy,” said Ward. “I found out he’s also against gay marriage and I say if you love someone you should have the same rights no matter who you are.”
Considering the amount of time Republican Scott Brown has spent pandering to both Boston sports fans and Massachusetts’ Irish-American community, Micky Ward KO-ing the Brown endorsement is a tough shot for Brown to absorb. Given Ward’s rationale for dumping Brown, word spread quickly: to the sports media, to the Irish-American media, to the LGBT media, and to the labor community.
Elsewhere, Republican Scott Brown continues to take heat for his lousy record on women. Brown continues to take heat for holding middle class tax cuts hostage on behalf of millionaires and billionaires. And, Brown continues to lag behind Democrat Elizabeth Warren in the pace of campaign fundraising. Indeed, all are rough spots for Brown.
What does Republican Scott Brown have planned for the week ahead, while attention is focused on the Democratic National Convention? Stay tuned for the next “Weekly Scott Brown-d Up” to find out!
