For those worried about Scott Brown winning Kerry's seat, I offer this very interesting "Hmmmmmm..."

[WilliamPitt]

"With time running short, Washington Republicans have begun a “full court press’’ to persuade an increasingly reluctant Scott Brown to run in the special election to replace John F. Kerry, according to two leading Massachusetts GOP figures. The eleventh-hour effort, coordinated by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, comes as those familiar with Brown’s deliberations are becoming convinced that he will not run and instead will look for a job in the private sector."

Boston Globe: http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/01/31/congressman-lynch-launches-campaign-for-senate-seat/0jIlwDE5YtSJirYrmCec7N/story.html

So...we wait and watch.

[demwing]

1. He's probably thinking he can explain the loss to Warren

due to the vast amount of money she raised and the fact that it was a Presidential election year, but if he runs and loses again, his brand (and aftermarket value) will be tarnished.

[MADem]

2. From your lips to God's ear....

If he doesn't want to run, it's likely because he's afraid to debate Markey. And he should be afraid.

He won't be able to sneer at him and call him "Perfesser" or make Pow Wow, The Indian Boy jokes.

[sadbear]

4. I read this morning that Lynch may be a better candidate than Markey.

At least against Brown.

I haven't really been paying a lot of attention and don't know much about Lynch.

Does anyone else know?

[MADem]

5. Fuck no!!!!! Lynch is ANTI-CHOICE. I wish he'd just go home.

All he will do is tire Markey a bit before the general.

Good thing this is a truncated race.

[Recursion]

6. That's the weird thing about New England: the Ds are often more anti-choice than the Rs

Even Ted Kennedy was anti-choice for a long time; when a lot of your coalition is urban catholics, that can be hard to buck.

[WilliamPitt]

10. The stereotype of MA as some far-left bright blue bastion

is just that: a stereotype. Sure, there's Cambridge and Northampton and Jamaica Plain, and yes, we vote Democratic overwhelmingly every four years...but there is a deep, hard vein of conservatism in this state, even among those who pull the (D) lever.

[Recursion]

11. I found that out when I volunteered for Kazei

I was living in Allston. People loved him. Drove down to Jamaica Plain. People loved him. Went out to Newton. People loved him. Went down to Quincy. It was like hitting a brick wall.

[WilliamPitt]

15. Give Southie a spin sometime.

[Recursion]

16. Worked there for a while

Right next to Charlie Baker's campaign HQ, in fact

[chelsea0011]

14. You gotta live here to know that. The rest of the country think MA and Cambridge is the same word.

Anti-choice Dems in this state are usually not the type to want to overturn Roe v. Wade. I'm not sure how Lynch votes with any anti-choice bills he has been confronted with. A little help here?

[MADem]

17. I am hearing that Scottie is definitely out. I wonder if he's been offered a talk/hate radio gig?

Those pay better and it's less work. He could even phone it in from the garage he just cleaned out...

The GOP is a train wreck now. Maybe he's waiting for the "others" to clean it up and put a prettier face on it before he tries to jump back in...?

[MADem]

20. It's true--that "Communewealth" of Massachusetts perspective is a fiction.

Funny thing is, we have a fair share of military retirees here, because MA is one of the few states that does not tax military retirement pensions. MA is very kind to us career retirees, in fact. The thing is, some of those bozos (many who did not grow up here) don't connect the tax advantages towards public servants (anyone getting a "gubmint" pension--even from a town or city--gets the same break) with the Democratic platform, but they damn well should.

When Mitt rMoney was governor, for example, he raised the requirement to qualify for "circuit breaker" housing assistance to the elderly (a maximum "top rate" as a percentage of total income that an older person would have to pay in property taxes), at a time when home prices were going through the roof. The eligibility was based on what the house might sell for (assessed value), not what granny and gramps paid for it sixty years ago. Someone who bought a crackerbox for 20 grand in 1960 found themselves living in a "half million dollar manse" owing to crazily inflated prices. It really screwed a LOT of elderly.

Bottom line? Republicans running things in MA=bad news for the poor and the elderly.

[sadbear]

3. Are Bay Staters ready for a THIRD Brown campaign in THREE years?

Hell, I'm in Texas and I'm already fucking sick of that guy, and I don't have to see him on my TV everyday either.

[CrispyQ]

7. Perhaps the thought of being the junior senator to a woman was more than he could take.

[MADem]

18. After the intellectual, racial and sexist insults he tossed at her, it wouldn't be an easy gig.

The guy is all talk and no walk!

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. He's afraid of running against a man.

So far his opponents have been women, and he's tried to mock and belittle them.

[MADem]

19. Kerry Healey--agggggh! Stupid does not describe her....STOOOOOOOOOOPID is closer to the mark!

The people who were sobbing in the streets after being driven from their homes when she came to "inspect" the flooding when we had all that rain and rivers overflowing their banks will remember her if she throws her hat in the ring!

Crowd: Please, please, help us! What will we do? Where will we go? We have nothing left! My home is underwater!

Healey: Puts on hard hat, struts to bridge overlooking river; points this way and that, photographer takes pictures; she struts back to her jeep, hops in....AND LEAVES.

Not ONE word to the folks on the sidewalk. Not one. Mind-boggling!

I went looking for those pictures in her campaign literature--she didn't dare use them, near as I could find.

[Marrah_G]

12. I really hope he doesn't run

That would make me very happy

[chelsea0011]

13. Brown would rather cash out in the private sector than run for the Senate again.

That being said, he may be convinced to run again.

[dawg]

21. Bqhatevwr.