“State Senator Scott Brown, the Republican frontrunner for the late Edward Kennedy's US Senate seat, is asking Governor Deval Patrick to investigate whether state employees on state time researched whether Brown could run for Congress while serving in the National Guard.”
In reading this particular article, there are several instances of note: one, the Globe is calling Brown the “Republican frontrunner”, and two, the fact that the Globe ran the story as a straight news piece, stating more fact, rather than inserting an opinion into the article.
The gist: Brown, who has severed in the Army National Guard for 29 years, also serves in the office of the judge advocate general. Brown was told that an employee of the Executive Office of Public Safety had made a call to that office inquiring about his eligibility to run for the Senate Seat, going so far as to ask for a legal opinion. Brown then made a formal complaint to the Govenor asking for an investigation. Brown, as a member of the Guard, and not a member of the U.S. Military is not prohibited from seeking public office (Note to the Patrick Administration: He is currently holding a public office, in the Massachusetts State Senate.)
The big question being asked at the Huffington Post is whether or not Brown will be funded by the NRSC (National Republican Senatorial Committee). The fact that the Huffington Post is even asking the question, and then placing a mere $1 million dollar limit on funding from the aforementioned is telling in that the Huffington Post leans left towards the White House, and further the Globe (The Posts New England Counterpart in Print) is reporting that Martha Coakley, the Democrat’s best bet in this race, out of a field of three and growing (includes Capuano and Lynch)will need at least $5 million in order to have a shot at the Senate.
Brown, who is one of the few legislators who is in constant contact with his constituents, has a large fan base among both Republicans and Independents in the Bay State; he has more than a “shot” at the seat. To answer the question posed by the Huffington Post – First, as the Globe stated Brown is the “Republican Frontrunner”, and as such, should the Massachusetts State GOP offer its blessing, (unknown at this time – but probable) then the National Committee’s would follow suit. Without the G.O.P. Scott still has the ability to raise funds through a growing network of grassroots supporters, and, taking a bit of G.O.P. recent history into consideration (See Iowa Caucus, Mike Huckabee versus Mitt Romney), it is not always the cash that carry’s the day, rather the boots on the ground. The support of the GOP would merely be the icing on the cake.
Not for nothing, this is the first time in recent memory that a Republican from Massachusetts has evoked speculation on a national level to this extent, this quickly. The reason – Scott Brown is seen as a serious threat to the U.S. Senate Seat in Massachusetts, where for the past 30 plus years, Democrats have believed they owned that particular piece of real-estate – it is obvious, from the articles and aforementioned events, that the seat is considered to be in jeopardy. Additionally, with a Republican likely to take the Governor’s race in New Jersey and elsewhere in 2009, a loss of a U.S. Senate Seat in Massachusetts within that same time-frame would indicate real problems for the DNC that would be difficult to bury in the media.
For more information: Scott Brown for U.S. Senate
Scott Brown.com (Original Constituant Services Website)
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