Posted on 01/27/2010 10:53:28 AM PST by Uncledave
BY ANDREW LARSON REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WOLCOTT — It happened in Massachusetts. Could it happen here?
In light of last week's election of Scott P. Brown, a little-known Republican state senator, to fill the U.S. Senate seat held for decades by the late Edward Kennedy, that's a question GOP leaders and political hopefuls in Connecticut want to answer in the affirmative.
No one has pondered the question as deeply as Brown's younger brother, Wolcott resident Bruce W. Browne, 43. Browne, who declined to say why he spells his last name differently, may try to follow his brother's lead.
Last Tuesday, Republicans and unaffiliated voters turned out in droves to support the elder Brown in his quest for a U.S. Senate seat in a state seen as an ironclad Democratic stronghold.
"It's a great win for the Republican Party, but it's everyone's seat," Browne said in an interview Tuesday. "It's the state of Massachusetts' seat."
Browne, who is seven years younger than the new senator, said his brother's strengths are his likeable personality and his down-to-earth character.
"It's all about talking to people and listening to people talk," Browne said. "That's exactly what my brother did. He went to every town in the state and said, 'How are things?'"
Politics aside, Browne said that if he runs he would run as an independent-minded candidate. He wouldn't support Republican policies solely for the sake of party unity, he said, sitting next to unaffiliated Mayor Thomas G. Dunn.
That’s a poll of Schiff vs. Dodd not Blumenthal.
Sorry. Wrong poll. I’m still in Dump Dodd mode. I’ll keep looking.
His brother has a lifetime of experience in politics and campaigns. It might be one thing to pluck a small alarm-company-owning neophyte and drop him into a Congressional seat. The Senate just seems too far a stretch. Also, what could be worse in terms of family/nepotism/name-based politics than making the same dynasty move of Kennedy’s successor?
CT should be in play, however, and it is frustrating that they don’t have a better candidate. I’d think some sort of successful CEO type could and should be persuaded to run.
The nepotism would be a fair critique, but what’s so challenging about being a US Senator that a small business owner couldn’t grasp?
For the first few years, use this guide:
Bill is an unconstitutional steaming turd? Vote Nay
Bill is a good thing for America? Vote Yea
After you get the hang of the place, introduce legislation that limits the size of the government.
I had a brain freeze. I was thinking of Schiff vs Dodd all along. Schiff was trailing Blumendodd 63%-27% in the first poll after Blumendodd announced his candidacy. My apologies. As you can see I don’t pay too much attention to polls.
“Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Connecticut, taken last night, now finds Blumenthal leading former GOP Congressman Rob Simmons 56% to 33%. A month ago, Simmons had a 13-point lead over Dodd.
Linda McMahon, the ex-CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, trails Blumenthal by a 58% to 34% margin. She led Dodd by six.
Long-shot candidate Peter Shiff, the widely-known president of Euro Pacific Capital, was essentially even with Dodd but now trails Blumenthal by more than two-to-one - 60% to 24%.”
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/connecticut/election_2010_connecticut_senate
Blumenthal 56%
Rob Simmons 33%
Blumenthal 58%
Linda McMahon 34%
Blumenthal 60%
Peter Shiff 24%
Mind you, Coakley was ahead by as much as 30%, with only 2 months to go to the elections and still lost. Anything is possible if you run a grrat campaign, and have confidence in yourself. The political environed right now is not very friendly to the Democrats.
I think learning not to utter a gaff is the biggest thing pols need to master. Not as easy as it seems.
Don’t think the name change is weird. It adds distinction from the normal spelling. It may be the historical spelling of the name and Bruce just prefers it.
True, anything can happen. But as a CT resident I can tell you that Blumenthal has very positive ratings across the state, even including a sizable amount of republicans. I’m sure he’s got to have higher ratings that Chokeley did in MA, and doesn’t have anywhere near her skeletons or controversy (letting innocent guy to rot in jail, etc.)
He’s going to be tough to beat for sure.
Better than Obama has.
I love that he embraces strong fiscally conservative principles, small government, capitalism/free markets and the constitution. He is NOT a politician and has solid, real world experience in business, finance and economics.
Go Schiff! (And Rubio!)....
And does he drive a truck?
If the clown in MN got a senate seat then why couldn’t
a responsible small alarm company neophyte get one?
He looks like he drives a van.
The Connecticut Democrat Congressional delegation is no prize, either. This would be the year to take a few of them down.
The clown in MN aside—seriously, because he’s Scott Brown’s brother?
I don’t care whose brother he is. He just may have more merits then the clown.
We’ll see. I intend to check him out.
I wonder if he’s a hunk as well.
I think it’s rather strange. In any case, if he doesn’t give a reasonable explanation early on it will become an issue (whether it should or not is immaterial).
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