Good news from down south

Wow. The Republicans’ chances of picking up John Kerry’s Senate seat just evaporated.

Scott Brown, who surprised the political world with his upset victory in the 2010 special election, announced Friday afternoon that he will not enter the special election to replace John F. Kerry.

Brown was the frontrunner in the Republican race by far, and recent polls gave him a double-digit lead over the likely Democratic candidates, Congressmen Ed Markey and Stephen Lynch.

Brown’s decision leaves the Republican Party scrambling to find a viable candidate for the June 25 election. To make the ballot, candidates must gather 10,000 certified signatures in four weeks.



The Boston Globe reported today that national Republicans had mounted a “full court press” to convince Brown to stay in the race.

His stated reasons for stepping aside: campaign fatigue in the face of running a third race in four years, and disaffection with the partisan atmosphere in Washington. As for his real reasons, I won’t hazard a guess and I don’t really care. Looks like the Dems will hold onto the seat.

Must be an especially bitter disappointment for national Republicans after their maneuverings over the Secretary of State nomination. They scotched Susan Rice, at least partly in hopes of clearing Kerry’s seat for another run by Scott Brown. And if it hadn’t been for Senator McDreamy’s short attention span, it probably would have worked.  

8 thoughts on “Good news from down south

  1. Interestingly, on January 31, I saw this piece in the Washington Post’s blog The Fix:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/

    A couple of excerpts:

    But there’s a strong case to be made that the former Republican senator would be better served to pass on the Senate race and instead run for governor in 2014.

    Those are some compelling reasons, but the governor’s race still seems like the better bet. As we wait to see whether Brown wants to return to the Senate or not, it’s worth keeping in mind that there’s also an appealing second option on his radar.

    Of course, 2014 is still a wee, little bit away, but not too far in political terms and in the era of perpetual campaigns.  It will be interesting to see what Brown will do to keep up his profile, but I am sure that ol’ Jim Barnett will have some ideas.  http://www.american.edu/alumni

  2. Tagg Romney is considering running for the Senate seat John Kerry left to become Sec. of State. Tagg the oldest of the six Romney boys is the man who wanted to punch President Obama in the face,guess this is the next best thing for the lad.

    http://bostonherald.com/news_o

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