Boston Globe: Brown is like the 'pauper who won the lottery'

[BurtWorm]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/22/american_idolized?mode=PF


BRIAN MCGRORY
American idolized
By Brian McGrory, Globe Columnist | January 22, 2010

WASHINGTON - He is now the star of his own reality show.

Six months ago, Scott Brown was the essence of irrelevance in Massachusetts politics, one of just five Republicans in a chamber in which he didn’t exactly enjoy an outsized amount of clout. A month ago, as a Senate candidate, he could have held his campaign press conferences in a walk-in closet and still had plenty of room for his suits.

When he proposed things like a state sales tax holiday, there were often just two reporters and a remote camera in the room. There’s no polite way to put this, but it didn’t really matter what he had to say.

Not anymore.

...

By afternoon, you got the sense Brown could have popped in on the White House if he wanted. If Brown made an utterance about the economy, yesterday’s declining stock market might have reversed itself on the spot.

But he did none of that. Brown was oddly serene at the center of the storm. He used words like “overwhelming,’’ even while he seemed anything but overwhelmed. He summed up his philosophy as follows - “If I see a bill that’s good for my state, I will vote for it.’’ He said the best advice he’s received is, “Just be myself.’’

Which gets back to the reality show part. It is not outrageous to say that in the annals of US politics, never has one elected officeholder gone from so powerless to all-powerful in a single day. It’s like the pauper who wins the lottery, and sometimes that story doesn’t end so well.

This isn’t normal. The attention may not prove particularly fair. We’re about to learn a lot about this man in a very short time. Right now, he’s being treated like an American Idol. It may end up seeming more like Survivor.

[monmouth]

1. Or most likely "Lost."....n/t

[AspenRose]

2. Zing!

:thumbsup: