delicious op-ed on The Lesser One

[MBS]

:evilgrin:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/12/08/a_dicey_dynamic_for_brown/

SCOTT BROWN has enjoyed a charmed political existence this past year.

Transformed by the mood of the moment from a little-noticed state senator to a nationally known US senator, Brown has mostly managed to skip between the raindrops. . .
. . . Brown joined his fellow Republican senators (plus a few Democrats) in voting against extending the tax cuts for the middle class because of GOP insistence that any extension also include the breaks for top earners. That vote cast the differing Republican attitudes toward the unemployed and the affluent in sharp relief.

Although President Obama has now cut a deal with Congressional Republicans to extend both the unemployment benefits and all the income-tax cuts, Brown’s Saturday stance is sure to be campaign fodder. And by setting a 2012 expiration date for the tax cuts, the new deal, if approved, will put the issue front and center in the very year Brown must run again. Aside from the obvious equity concerns, our dismal fiscal situation should render it increasingly risible to claim deficit hawk credentials while favoring the long-term retention of the upper-earner breaks.

. ..
His laudable position on “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ notwithstanding, the senator more often acts like a pol trying to finesse rather than address difficult issues. On controversial matters, he usually keeps his options open as long as he can. He and his staff work to limit his exposure to tough media questions, sometimes by dodging reporters, other times by declaring that he is still studying the issue, still others by labeling a query too hypothetical or a matter too distant to comment on.

None of this is to predict his defeat in two years. The Democrats lack a compelling, instantly competitive challenger — if Deval Patrick and Vicki Kennedy stick to their resolve not to run, that is.
And yet, this much is clear. After a year of easy image-making, Scott Brown’s magic carpet ride is coming to an end.

:evilgrin::evilgrin::evilgrin: