The Republican Party just can't catch a break. First, they weren't able to stop President Obama from getting re-elected, in spite of a gazillion dollars in campaign money funneled in by the likes of Donald Trump, the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove. Now, the hopes of picking up the Massachusetts senate seat again have been dashed by the withdrawal of Scott Brown.
On Friday, Brown announced that he wouldn’t be running for office again any time in the near future. Although, many suspect he may have a more serious eye toward the governorship.
The Tea Party favorite won the special election in Massachusetts in 2010 for Ted Kennedy’s vacant senate seat. Brown, who took a lot of heat during the campaign for his modeling days when he posed nude for a Cosmopolitan centerfold, won an upset victory over Democrat Martha Coakley to put the seat in GOP hands for the first time in decades.
However, in 2012, after a contentious race and numerous debates, Brown was soundly defeated by consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren. But another opportunity for Republicans to pick up the Massachusetts seat came again when Senator John Kerry vacated his senate seat to accept Obama’s invitation to replace Hillary Clinton.
Kerry was confirmed as secretary of state with a near unanimous vote of 94-3, while three Republicans voted “no”. He was sworn in on Friday, just a few hours after news of Brown’s withdrawal was announced to the media.
Republicans have been eyeing Kerry’s vacancy and putting on a full court press to get Brown back in the race to pick up the seat in 2014. But Tea Party winds-of-favor have been steadily diminishing since the election kept President Obama in the White House for four more years.
According to a report in The Hill, Scott Brown won’t run for two reasons: He doesn’t want to jump back into the grueling campaign quagmire so soon after losing to Warren and he has gotten disillusioned with the current gridlock in Congress.
Brown’s statement:
I was not at all certain that a third Senate campaign in less than four years, and the prospect of returning to a Congress even more partisan than the one I left, was really the best way for me to continue in public service at this time. And I know it’s not the only way for me to advance the ideals and causes that matter most to me.
Political analysts are speculating that with Scott out of the race, it puts the wind at the back of Democrats to regain control of Massachusetts again. Rep. Edward Markey (D) and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D) are mulling a run for the seat, with Markey highly favored.
Disappointed Republicans will have to regroup and find another suitable candidate, but none of the names floated so far have the recognition of Scott Brown.
