Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to share something with you. In November, I received a note from a woman working for the campaign of a man named Scott Brown. She was working for free. Who was Scott Brown? She had to explain it to me — a Republican in Massachusetts campaigning for Ted Kennedy’s seat. You had to smile at that — a Republican campaigning for Kennedy’s seat (not yet “the people’s seat”!). That was kind of cute. Sort of like a Republican in San Francisco campaigning for Nancy Pelosi’s seat, or a left-wing hippie in Utah trying to unseat Senator Hatch.
I have saved her letter in a file. And I think, on this night, you might find it kind of interesting, as I do:
Dear Jay,
Happy Thanksgiving. I would appreciate your taking a gander at the Scott Brown candidacy. He is campaigning for Senator Kennedy’s seat. There are a lot of unhappy independents here in Massachusetts. Between Obama and [Massachusetts governor] Deval Patrick, the hopey-changey thing hasn’t worked out, and we feel that, if Scott can raise more money, so that he can put up ads on TV and the radio, he has a decent chance of winning. No one is enchanted by the four D’s running.
Imagine the shock if Brown won. It would start the 2010 election season off right and scare the crap out of every Blue Dog Democrat. The general election is Jan. 19, and if Reid hasn’t gotten that horrible health-care bill passed, Scott Brown would become the vote to stop it permanently.
I never got around to looking into that Republican in Massachusetts — other things took precedence. But other people looked into him, including the Massachusetts electorate. Shocking. Absolutely shocking.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all in American politics . . . My friends, pigs have flown. Really.