Howie Carr: Red flags were raised long ago for future
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Good career move by ex-U.S. Sen. Scott Brown.
And Scott, thanks for giving the Herald the scoop. You promised we’d get the news first, and we did.
Not that his decision to take a pass was unexpected. Two weeks ago tomorrow, he and I were doing another one of our joint book signings at Willow Books in Acton. We had a good crowd, and after it was over, he told me how much he was enjoying the appearances.
“Want to do some more of these?” he asked.
Well, sure, I said. But aren’t you going to be … busy, or something, in another month or so?
He just shrugged.
It would have been a tough fight. He could have beaten Not-so-Fast Eddie Markey, but in less than two years, he’d have been looking down the barrel at JoJoJo Kennedy. In the end, Brown could have won two statewide races for the Senate and spent $80 million … only to serve a combined total of fewer than five years.
It was different in 2009. He had nothing to lose. The fight was a lark. It was supposed to be a warm-up for the attorney general fight in 2010, or something. But if he’d lost this next one, it would have been the end of the road. Not too many pols come back from dropping two in a row.
I didn’t talk to Scott Brown yesterday, he just texted me that he was out. But I wonder if he’ll run for governor in 2014 either. This is really getting to be a tough state for a Republican, and Brown is about as good a natural retail politician as anybody anywhere. But what can he do when so many of the low-information voters are pulling the straight Democrat ticket?
Last fall was really nasty. In our post-election book signings, Brown’s fans have been telling him endless stories about being intimidated, or forced to hold Warren signs by their unions, or having their property vandalized, all for the crime of opposing a fake-Indian carpetbagger from Oklahoma.
In Orleans right before Christmas, a female UMass freshman recalled sitting in a large theater-style classroom a couple of months earlier, and her professor asking for a show of hands who was for each of the candidates. Apparently, she was the only one to raise her hand for Brown, and everyone saw her.
On her way out of class, she was heckled, cursed, spit at and generally called every name in the book. Talk about the war on women …
At some point you say, Who needs it? If you don’t have a hunch, why bet a bunch?
The filing deadline is Feb. 27. The Republicans have exactly 25 days to round up certified signatures from 10,000 Republicans and independents. Good luck with that.
As for all you bookstore operators out there, Scott Brown and I are back in business. Give us a call.