Even though former Senator Scott Brown (R. MA) hasn't made it official if he'll run in the special election for Senator John Kerry's (D) seat against Congressman Ed Markey (D), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) isn't taking any chances:
http://thehill.com/...
The Massachusetts Democratic Party is using freshman Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in an email to supporters, warning that a vote for former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) in the likely upcoming Massachusetts special election is a vote to cancel hers out.
Doug Rubin, one of Warren's top advisers, describes in an email how proud he was to see Warren sworn in to the Senate, but notes that the experience "was also a wake up call."
"That's because the special election that will occur when John Kerry becomes our Secretary of State could allow Scott Brown to return to the U.S. Senate. And if that happens, his votes will cancel out Elizabeth's and wipe out all the hard work of the last campaign," he writes.
Rubin goes on to admit that in 2010, during the special election that brought Brown to the Senate, "we were caught sleeping and we can't make that mistake again." - The Hill, 1/17/13
I think this a smart move on behalf of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. Warren is amazing at getting the base riled up and Markey will need voter turnout in a special election if Brown is to run again. Despite having his ass handed to him, Brown for whatever reason still has decent approval ratings with Massachusetts voters. Another smart move comes on behalf of Markey who decided to hire on two Warren's key campaign staffers successful to help him run a successful campaign:
http://bostonglobe.com/...
Representative Edward J. Markey has hired the two staff members who helped Senator Elizabeth Warren raise a record-setting $42 million last fall to fill the same role for his planned US Senate campaign.
Michael Pratt, who served as Warren’s national finance director, and Colleen Coffey, who headed fund-raising in Massachusetts, were labeled a “dynamic duo” Friday by a Democrat familiar with the hirings who confirmed them for the Globe.
Pratt and Coffey helped Warren outraise not only her Republican rival, Senator Scott Brown, but every other 2012 congressional candidate in the country.
The hires add to the momentum Markey has built as the Malden Democrat girds for a campaign to replace Senator John F. Kerry, who is expected to resign to become the country’s next secretary of state. - Boston Globe, 1/11/13
It's uncertain what Brown will do next and he certainly has options. Lawrence O'Donnell thinks Brown might have a better shot at running for governor:
http://tv.msnbc.com/...
Back in January 8th, O’Donnnell made a prediction about Brown’s political future, “You heard it here first, which is to say you’re hearing it right now—Scott Brown probably won’t even run against Ed Markey. Scott Brown would be much happier running for governor when Deval Patrick leaves office next year, a race Scott Brown would have a much better chance of winning, and a job he would love. I mean, love, compared to the Senate, which according to my sources he doesn’t really like.”
The host dared Brown to run against Ed Markey, using the same “Hey, you’re not from around here” campaign” that he pulled against Elizabeth Warren.
“Eddie has done so good a job representing his hometown and his district that Republicans sometimes can’t find candidates to run against him,” warned O’Donnell. “So Scott Brown, I got news for ya. Yeah, Ed Markey still lives here and he is like so from around here that you’d have to debate him on policy if you screw up the, um, uh, courage to run against him.” - MSNBC, 1/14/13
O'Donnell isn't alone in thinking a Governor run would be a better shot for Brown then another run for the Senate. History would certainly be on Brown's side:
http://www.politico.com/...
The tug of history is toward a gubernatorial run: Bay State Republicans simply fare much better running for state offices than federal offices. Republicans, including Romney, held the governorship from 1991 to 2007. When Brown won the late Ted Kennedy’s seat in a January 2010 special election against Attorney General Martha Coakley — who ran what many observers consider one of the most incompetent campaigns in modern political history — he became the first Massachusetts Republican elected to the Senate since 1972.
Republican William Weld won reelection to a second term as governor in 1994 with 71 percent of the vote. But when he challenged John Kerry for his Senate seat in 1996, he lost by 7 percentage points. - 1/13/13
But The Atlantic reminds us that Brown is not Mitt Romney exactly:
The case for Scott Brown as the Governor of Massachusetts is, on its surface, convincing. Brown, like Mitt Romney, is a friendly blue-state Republican whom Massachusetts voters trust to represent their interests on the state level. After all, Romney delivered universal health care to Massachusetts. Beyond their shared party and state, however, comparisons between the two men are difficult to find. Brown, unlike Romney, rose to his former seat by way of progressively higher political offices — first property assessor, then his town's board of selectmen, and finally state legislature — whereas Romney was elected Governor on the basis of his executive leadership in private equity. From Politico's piece:
"Most Massachusetts politicos 'see Brown more as a legislator than an executive,' said a senior Republican strategist in the state. 'That’s what he was as a state representative and then a state senator. I think they prefer someone with executive experience, whether it’s Charlie Baker or someone else.”'"
That's probably a tough sentiment for Scott Brown to disgest. If he's seriously considering running for governor in 2014 — which might even set in motion a possible run for president — then it's almost certain that party operatives are telling him, repeatedly and forcefully, not to do so. (Or at least signaling that much to Politico.) But if he were to run for Senate — even with the full-throated support of state and national Republicans — it would be his third Senate campaign in three years. That wears on the soul — for which his last campaign is pretty good proof. - The Atlantic, 1/14/13
It's evident that Brown wants to return to the political scene, whether it's the U.S. Senate or the Governorship. It's even more evident that he wants to run again because he's been trying to get one of his own campaign staffers to become the new head of the Massachusetts GOP:
In the weeks since he lost his US Senate seat and began considering a run for another, Scott Brown has been embroiled in a fight for a far less coveted office: chairmanship of the state Republican Party.
For the past month, Brown has been trying to install his campaign’s deputy finance director as leader of the party that could propel him to another statewide special election win.
But his candidate, Kirsten Hughes, has yet to muster the support she would need to be elected Jan. 31. Instead, many activists and several notable Republican legislators have thrown their weight behind Rick Green, a Pepperell businessman and fiscal conservative elected to the state committee last year.
The monthlong uncertainty over the outcome has surprised some in Republican circles. They regarded Brown as titular head of the party, a figure who could galvanize support from all corners of the GOP. - Boston Globe, 1/12/13
Even if Brown can't get his candidate to become the head of the state party, the GOP will still line up behind him if he runs for Governor or for the Senate again. But if Brown wins the race in 2013, he'll have to run again in 2014 and if he loses that race his political career is over. I wouldn't be surprised if he was stupid enough to run again. He hasn't even declared his candidacy and he's already been attacking Markey:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Outgoing Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) expressed doubts about the Massachusetts residency of Senate candidate Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in a radio appearance Wednesday, sending a strong signal that he will challenge him in the special election that will occur if Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is confirmed as secretary of state.
"I’ll tell you what; They’re making it awfully tempting. You got Ed Markey: Does he even live here any more?" Brown said on the "Jim & Margery Show" on WTKK-FM, a local Boston radio station, when asked if he was going to run.
"You’ve got to check the travel records. I’ve come back and forth (from Washington to Boston) every weekend, almost, for three years, and I see, you know, most of the delegation, and I have never seen Ed on the airplane - ever," he said, according to The Boston Globe. - Huffington Post, 1/2/13
The GOP tried to make Markey's residency an issue in 2010 but had no luck using it to unseat him:
Markey, who has represented Massachusetts in the House of Representatives since 1976 and is the most senior member in the delegation, owns a home in Chevy Chase, Md., and his wife works as a doctor for the National Institutes of Health. He also owns his childhood home, which he purchased from his parents, in Malden, Mass., north of Boston.
His 2010 congressional opponent, Dr. Gerry Dembrowski, tried to make his residency into an issue in the campaign. Markey ended up winning the safely Democratic seat by a 66-33 margin. - Huffington Post, 1/2/13
Senator Warren is right, we cannot allow Brown back into the Senate. Ed Markey is a terrific candidate who will work well with Warren in protecting the middle-class, protect our environment and stand up to Wall Street. Barney Frank, Mike Capuano, John Kerry, Vickki Kennedy, the DSCC and the entire Massachusetts Democratic Party are all backing Markey. Say no to Brown in both 2013 and 2014 and lets make Markey the next Senator of Massachusetts:
http://www.edmarkey.org/