# Congrats Scott Brown! Massachusetts Has A Great New Senator! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 20, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650 "2010-01-20T02:27:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/1 "2010-01-20T02:27:37Z")
Most of you don’t live here or maybe not even in U.S. but Massachusetts has performed a massive political coup that was unthinkable even a few weeks ago. A small-town Republican independent/conservative is going to replace late Ted Kennedy in his seat which any Democrat was expected to waltz into at will. They picked the wrong person to run, a woman with the personality of a watermelon with less speaking skills. He is a super down to earth All the votes are note in yet but the lead for him is so strong that is basically impossible for him to lose now. This is considered a national election by many instead of a state election because it breaks the Democratic Party super-majority. It is a very big deal in American politics. Update: The media just called the election for Scott Brown. Good luck and Godspeed. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/2 "2010-01-20T02:42:27Z")
I’m glad you’re happy. Meanwhile another year goes by and no health insurance company will cover my daughter. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/3 "2010-01-20T02:43:59Z")
I lived in Falmouth while my dad was stationed at Otis Air Base in the 60’s. Even then the Kennedys dominated that state. It’s incredible such a heavily democratic state went Republican. Congrates to Scott Brown. Now that the super majority is broken, maybe we’ll see some bipartisan solutions to the nation’s probems. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/4 "2010-01-20T02:49:29Z")
It figures that the one state with decent healthcare scuttled it for the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/5 "2010-01-20T02:51:01Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > They picked the wrong person to run, a woman with the personality of a watermelon with less speaking skills. He is a super down to earth > > … > > This is considered a national election by many instead of a state election because it breaks the Democratic Party super-majority. It is a very big deal in American politics. Seems to me these two parts contradict each other. It does make me wonder, though, just how much voters had national effects in mind when they voted, or how much it influenced their vote apart from their existing beliefs. Aren’t all politics local? ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/6 "2010-01-20T02:58:54Z")
How fabulous. Because nothing says happy country like a country run by right wing Republicans and their desire for theocracy, anti-environmentalism and corporatism. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/7 "2010-01-20T03:01:37Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I lived in Falmouth while my dad was stationed at Otis Air Base in the 60’s. Even then the Kennedys dominated that state. It’s incredible such a heavily democratic state went Republican. > > Congrates to Scott Brown. Now that the super majority is broken, maybe we’ll see some bipartisan solutions to the nation’s probems. Dream on. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/8 "2010-01-20T03:06:25Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > How fabulous. > > Because nothing says happy country like a country run by right wing Republicans and their desire for theocracy, anti-environmentalism and corporatism. > > :rolleyes: And don’t forget stealing gruel from orphans and replacing it with glue paste made from old asbestos, as well as sacrificing babies to Moloch and bathing in their blood. It’s important that you get these things right. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/9 "2010-01-20T03:07:50Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Most of you don’t live here or maybe not even in U.S. Brown’s victory is internationally newsworthy. It’s already on the front pages here. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/10 "2010-01-20T03:28:54Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Brown’s victory is internationally newsworthy. It’s already on the front pages here. Very interesting. I never understood how much some U.S. politics travels all over the world because we don’t have much of the reverse here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Universe_Lashes_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/11 "2010-01-20T03:31:40Z")
So what is so great about him, besides his being “super down to earth”? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/12 "2010-01-20T03:31:52Z")
A [new breed](http://www.flickr.com/photos/28125360@N06/4175598204/) rising? ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_Schmeese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Marconi\_Schmeese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_Schmeese)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/13 "2010-01-20T03:33:58Z")
:dances happy dance: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/14 "2010-01-20T03:34:11Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Very interesting. I never understood how much some U.S. politics travels all over the world because we don’t have much of the reverse here. We get it all. There has been quite a bit of analysis in the papers in recent days discussing the effects on Obama’s credibility if the Democrats were to lose an ‘unloseable’ seat. The current front page headline is in fact “Obama’s shock loss: Tsunami in US politics”. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/15 "2010-01-20T03:56:41Z")
> [@HowieReynolds](#): > > So what is so great about him, besides his being “super down to earth”? He was one of the few Republican state senators in the Massachusetts State House. He is conservative and really a Republican but he ran as an independent. Not to sound dumb but this is a very important for his win in terms of public perception. He drives a pickup truck with 200,000 miles on it, he has two very good-looking daughters, one of which was on American Idol, and he modeled semi-nude in college for Cosmo or some other girly magazine in college to get extra money. He is very good looking. He is also a Colonel in the Massachusetts National Guard Reserves. It gets ridiculous. The Democrats tried to find fault with him and there really weren’t any except for one amendment he proposed to a Massachusetts bill that would not force certain staff at religious hospitals to give immediate contraceptive drugs to rape victims but instead get someone without those beliefs to do it for them. It failed and he voted for the final bill. He is basically flawless as far as anyone can tell so there wasn’t much for the Coakley campaign to latch onto and they looked ridiculous in negative ads when they tried to destroy him. It backfired big-time in a previously unthinkable way. In the political arena, he campaigned for fiscal responsibility and getting rid of corruption which many people found appealing at this point. He seems genuine for those goals. There was obviously the backlash against the Obama administration and the Kennedy’s which helped him as well. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/16 "2010-01-20T04:07:45Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > How fabulous. > > Because nothing says happy country like a country run by right wing Republicans and their desire for theocracy, anti-environmentalism and corporatism. > > :rolleyes: :rolleyes: indeed. I’ve read some really stupid things here on the Dope; that just moved into the top ten with a bullet. None of that is true and you know it. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/17 "2010-01-20T04:19:04Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > … and he modeled semi-nude in college for Cosmo or some other girly magazine in college to get extra money. I was wondering why the local news had to blur his crotch when they showed that pic. I’m sure all of the family values people will be right behind him though. If he were a Dem, Fox would crucify him for that. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/18 "2010-01-20T04:31:58Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I’m glad you’re happy. Meanwhile another year goes by and no health insurance company will cover my daughter. Nobody will cover me either (at least in the USA). I guess it is one more year outside the USA, one more year employing foreigners rather than Americans, one more year spending my money here rather than in America. I’d love to come back and employ Americans but it won’t happen anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/19 "2010-01-20T04:33:00Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I’m glad you’re happy. Meanwhile another year goes by and no health insurance company will cover my daughter. This really says it all. I can’t use the language I’d like to here. The OP cites Brown’s small town origins. I read today he drove a pick-up truck to the polling station to vote for himself. Yee haw. But America lives in and near [cities](http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-P1&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-redoLog=false&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_GCTP1_US1&-format=US-1). Maybe we need more big-city politicians, who are more familiar with the issues faced by most of us. It makes me wonder how much longer the idealized concept of “small town values” will continue to be an ace at the ballot box. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650/20 "2010-01-20T04:34:11Z")
What the hell. Congratulations, Scott Brown. The Democrats did nothing to deserve holding onto that seat, or to their 60 seat Senate majority. While I suppose a party that does virtually nothing for a year besides crafting a bill that does virtually nothing and then failing to get it passed despite a 60 seat Senate majority, a solid House majority, and a Democratic President, is perhaps a better party than one that does do things, efficiently and effectively, which are all the wrong things, that’s a hell of a hard rallying cry to get behind, if you see what I mean. Like herding kittens. Seriously. ::kicks Democratic kitten: Stupid fucking kittens. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-scott-brown-massachusetts-has-a-great-new-senator/525650.md?page=2)