by Bill Kavanagh: Massachusetts Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown has been the beneficiary of a superficial look at his political history, since until around two weeks ago, he wasn't even given a chance of becoming the next Senator from the Bay State. Now that media attention has turned towards him, a series of statements and positions at odds with the genial, GMC truck-driving independent persona Brown has created in his campaign have begun to surface. Whether this information will be pivotal in deciding whether the surge for Brown in the polls continues or crests is anyone's guess at this point.
What is becoming clearer by the day, however, is that Scott Brown hasn't always been the friendly, reasonable personality he's been working the cameras as. Beyond the conservative stands he made with the Republican minority in the Massachusetts State Senate on more than 90% of votes, Brown's distance from the extreme right is called into question by his 2008 comments on television about President Obama's (then candidate Obama) parentage. In a live commentary during which he was defending Sarah Palin from comments about her daughter Bristol's pregnancy out of wedlock, Brown said, "Quite frankly, Barack's mom had him when, when she was eighteen years old..."
Brown was interrupted by another panelist, who commented, "... and married."
Brown then continued, laughing, "Well, I don't know about that, ha ha... but more importantly, (then segued back to Bristol Palin)..."
This comment seems to place Brown in the company of right wing conspiracy theorists who claimed Barack Obama was some sort of plant from Kenya, a meme that was common among the far right during the 2008 campaign. In 2009, Brown has kept his distance from Palin, realizing she is kryptonite in Massachusetts.
This time, before he was regarded as a serious contender, Brown kicked off his Senate campaign by taking a "no new taxes" pledge, lining up with the Republican leadership on opposing the stimulus package, and opposing healthcare reform in a state which already has a similar plan. His espousal of tax cuts, opposition to a Wall St. bank levy, and Tea Party-style economic positions is all well to the right of most Massachusetts voters, but his economic platform has been less examined than his opposition to "the machine" and his shots at President Obama's response to the meltdown as "big government."
Will Brown get a pass from Massachusetts voters, who are looking to show their anger at the status quo? We'll know by Wednesday morning.
(Bill cross-posts at Bill's Big Diamond .)
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