The political season is getting heated already and in Massachusetts, the battle for the US Senate is starting early. Scott Brown is running for reelection and his most likely opponent is going to be far left wing (even by Massachusetts standards) Elizabeth Warren.
Scott Brown was the hero of the Tea Party when he ran in 2010 to take the Senate seat held by the late and not so great, Ted Kennedy. Now the Tea Party has turned its back on Brown.
Why?
He turned his back on us.
When Brown was elected in 2010, many in the Tea Party movement went nuts over him. Some called for him to run for President. Others, such as myself cautioned people. Scott Brown was no Ronald Reagan. While we knew he would not be with us all of the time, we hoped he would be with us most of the time and particularly on crucial issues.
By April 1, he had pretty much sold us out. He called spending cuts, “irresponsible.” He begged for a “bi-partisan” solution and even supported Harry Reid’s insane debt plan.
So now Scott Brown is running for reelection and the Tea Party is just watching him run. Brown may be getting some support from local Tea Party groups, but the national groups are just sitting this one out.
The Tea Party’s apathy towards Brown made national news. The Daily Caller did a major piece on it yesterday.
The reaction on some conservative websites has been interesting. Some have accused the Tea Party of wanting to see far left socialist Elizabeth Warren in the Senate. One person wrote that Elizabeth Warren would vote with the liberals 100% of the time. Scott Brown would vote with the GOP 60% of the time.
That is very true. She would vote that way and he would not, some of the time.
The Tea Party is not advocating Elizabeth Warren be elected. Nor is it advocating Scott Brown be defeated, unless a conservative challenger appears (which does not seem likely).
The Tea Party helped propel Scott Brown to an unlikely victory. Tea Party activists not only contributed to his campaign fund, but also contributed time. Many went to Massachusetts. Even those who could not go found other ways to help.
Not this time.
There are too many other important fights. We need to defeat Richard Lugar and Olympia Snowe in the primaries. We need to help the GOP gain control of the Senate. The numbers this year look good. With 23 Democrat seats up and only 10 Republican seats, and Obama’s overwhelming unpopularity, the only real question is going to be how much will the GOP control the Senate by?
There is an outside chance; if Scott Brown wins, the GOP could get to the magic 60 votes for a supermajority. On the other hand, with Scott Brown as number 60, it still would not mean a whole lot.
For Scott Brown, he is better than the alternative. But then again, that is not saying much. He may win reelection. If he does, so be it.
But he should not be looking for the kind of help the Tea Party gave him last time. We have better things to do with our time.
Tags: 2012, brown, elizabeth, massachusetts, scott, senate, warren
Permalink Reply by Michele T on Permalink Reply by Ray A. Gilmore on 
Permalink Reply by Edmund Goodwin on From his email newsletter. So have I unsubscribed. He must be told that we Tea folks will NOT help RINOs.
Hey Scotty, how's it workin' for ya? I hope you read some of these websites.
Permalink Reply by kay williams on 
Permalink Reply by Richard Orlick on Permalink Reply by jere fredenburgh on Permalink Reply by valerie rhodes on Personally I am sick of the RINO label. It gets thrown around so much, used and abused, to where it means nothing to me. Brown is from a BLUE state, and while it's regrettable that he's not conservative, it's probably the best that a socialist state like Massacusetts can produce.
Get over the purity people.
Permalink Reply by Lizzie on Valerie, RINO is a useful term but you have a good point... it's quite possible that local voters feel safer with a moderate like Scott Brown, who listens to his constituency, than an ivy-tower ideologue wingnut like Elizabeth Warren.
Tea Party, he isn't. Baby steps!
Permalink Reply by Edmund Goodwin on Permalink Reply by Joe Irick on 
Permalink Reply by Roland C. Cartier Jr on © 2013 Created by Judson Phillips.
