Weekly Scott Brown-d Up, Week of 10/26/12

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

Republican Scott Brown’s already-diminished credibility took even more body blows this past week.  Brown appears to be basing his closing arguments to the electorate on dishonest attacks that have already been thoroughly debunked, as well as shamefully misleading representations of his own record.  This Boston Globe fact-check of Brown’s misleading mudslinging is an accurate microcosm of Brown’s campaign of late:

Scott Brown’s new ad includes disputed claims

In a new television advertisement, Senator Scott Brown accuses Elizabeth Warren of supporting a policy of “raiding $716 billion from Medicare” and breaking an agreement with retirees who paid into the program during their working years.

Similar claims made by other Republican candidates have been knocked down by several fact-checking organizations.

The Springfield Republican joined the Boston Globe in fact-checking Republican Scott Brown’s dishonest attack on this point.  In related news, while Brown is distorting his opponent’s record on health care costs, Community Catalyst Action Fund released a new analysis this past week finding that Brown’s position on repealing national health care reform would cost senior citizens a significant amount of money.

The cost of health care wasn’t the only policy area on which Republican Scott Brown was called out for misleading Massachusetts voters.  We all know that Brown has pleaded with Bay State residents to accept his claim of being “pro-choice,” despite an 80% ANTI-choice rating.  Brown’s pro-choice claims took yet another hit this past week as the National Right to Life Committee spent tens of thousands of dollars on a mailer in support of his campaign.  The Boston Globe’s Yvonne Abraham eviscerated Brown’s credibility on the issue in a scathing column (that is not only must-read but also must-share!):

Listen up, abortion rights fans: Scott Brown is on your side!

Fear not, abortion rights foes: Scott Brown is on your side! […]

Confusing, right?

Brown seems happy to keep it that way. Given the opportunity to distance himself from antiabortion absolutists, he has declined to do so. […]

Satisfy antiabortion folks and you undermine a woman’s right to choose. Choice isn’t about just the right to abortion, but access to it, and Brown has shown he is willing to chip away at that.

Choice isn’t about just abortion, but also contraception, and Brown has had no problem putting up barriers to access there. What his record says is that women should be able to control their own bodies — some of the time.

On that issue, and other issues of primary concern to women, ProgressMass released a new video debunking Republican Scott Brown’s claims.

It isn’t just Republican Scott Brown getting fact-checked.  His allies at the Massachusetts Republican Party are also getting called out for their deceitful messaging.  The Springfield Republican labeled “misleading” the Massachusetts GOP’s recent mailing twisting Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s position on TARP.  President Barack Obama famously said of Republican Mitt Romney that he has a tendency to “shoot first and aim later.”  It would appear that Republican Scott Brown and the Massachusetts GOP is closely following Romney’s deceptive lead.

Perhaps Republican Scott Brown not wanting to have to defend this relentless dishonesty is why he has ducked major media outlets recently.  However, that’s what Brown gets for “running a dumb campaign in a smart state,” as the Boston Globe’s Scot Lehigh put it.  Lehigh further called Brown “petty and desperate” for his misleading mudslinging.

Other must-read items from this past week include:

·    Go Local Worcester offers this column explaining why Republican Scott Brown “won’t be there for Central Mass.”  (Central Massachusetts’ first clue that Brown won’t be there for them was his refusal to debate in Worcester.)

·    The Salem News offers this item noting how “angry” Peabody voters are by Republican Scott Brown’s campaign of nothing but dishonest attacks.

·    The Progressive Change Campaign Committee explains how Republican Scott Brown “sold out fair pay for women” in exchange for some lobbyist cash for his campaign coffers.

·    A column in the student newspaper of Republican Scott Brown’s alma mater, Tufts University, declares that Democrat Elizabeth Warren, and not Brown, “deserves the student vote.”

Finally, as usual, residents from all across Massachusetts registered their discontent with Republican Scott Brown in the pages of their local newspapers.

·    A Shrewsbury resident notes in the Community Advocate that Republican Scott Brown “will not compromise” and “is not for us.”
·    A Reading resident contending with brain cancer expresses in the Reading Advocate her disappointment with Republican Scott Brown’s vow to repeal national health care reform.
·    A Concord resident whose father died of mesothelioma takes to the Boston Globe to label Republican Scott Brown’s smears “offensive and outrageous.”
·    A Brockton resident with a history of supporting Republican candidates says in the MetroWest Daily News that he is abandoning Republican Scott Brown because Brown has abandoned support for our environment.
·    A Boston resident takes to the Boston Globe to highlight how “crass” it is for Republican Scott Brown’s campaign to hire homeless people to pose as supporters in predominantly African American neighborhoods.
·    A Newbury resident takes to the Newburyport Daily News to point out the link between Republican Scott Brown’s fundraising from corporate special interests and the public health hazard created by one such fundraising source: the compounding pharmacy firm reportedly responsible for the recent meningitis outbreak.
·    An East Orleans resident reminds us in the Cape Cod Times of how weak Republican Scott Brown is on Wall Street regulation.
·    A Fairhaven resident declares in the Taunton Daily Gazette that Republican Scott Brown “has been purchased by and has consistently served the interest of big business and big money.”
·    A Longmeadow resident opines in the Springfield Republican that Republican Scott Brown and Mitt Romney “specialize in dishonesty.”
·    A Wayland resident highlights in the MetroWest Daily News that Republican Scott Brown’s actual voting record is one of Republican partisan obstruction.
·    An Orleans resident declares that Republican Scott Brown and Mitt Romney are simply “puppets” of right-wing leaders like Karl Rove and Grover Norquist.

What dishonest mudslinging does Republican Scott Brown have left for the final full week before Election Day?  Stay tuned for the next “Weekly Scott Brown-d Up” to find out!