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Mass

(27,315 posts)
Thu Dec 29, 2011, 12:20 PM Dec 2011

Scott whines against the MA media.

Of course, this comes from an interview in the Boston Herald to resident GOP (consultant) Hillary Chabot, but I find it rich to see Brown complain the media are tough with him? Really? I know a few Democrats who could complain the MA media are tough (like our Lt Governor, or our Senator, John Kerry, or our Governor Deval Patrick), but I am sure all of them should be happy to trade place with him when it comes to media coverage (Hell, yesterday, Brown was on TV talking about Iraq and how we should not send the troops back, when the chairman of the SFRC was absent).

As for Warren, she has not yet talked to the local media, so may be we can wait until she does to know whether she gets tough questions (something tells me she will).

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/12/29/bonus_quote_of_the_day.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PoliticalWire+%28Political+Wire%29

Bonus Quote of the Day
"It's all fluff. It's all fluff. Gimme a break. I just think that if you're going to find out where people stand, you gotta ask them tough questions like you guys ask me every single day. Every single day of my existence I get tough questions from you guys."

-- Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), quoted by the Boston Herald, complaining about the media's coverage of his likely Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren.

At least, Kerry is getting good editorial media these days from the Cape Ann, North Shore media for his support for a new fishing quota systems.

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karynnj

(59,942 posts)
1. Wow - he is really whining there. I really can't picture Kerry complaining that he gets asked tough
Thu Dec 29, 2011, 01:17 PM
Dec 2011

questions! In fact, it is to his credit that they do always ask him tough questions - and he always gives them thoughtful answer. If Brown thinks the questions he is asked are hard, it may mean he is not up to the job. Not to mention, "I'm still reading the bill" is not a great answer. The responses at the link are hilarious. I guess if you are best known for a truck, a barn coat, and a cosmo photo you should not talk of "fluff" when speaking of a woman, who is a Harvard professor and who worked with Congress on overseeing TARP.

His tone throughout that interview is whining - not to mention he claims many things that he has no business claiming. The START treaty and Don't Ask Don't Tell would both have passed without him. Kerry did an incredible job on START - Brown just voted yes, making that decision along with a large number of Republicans. He really seems to have internalized his image as being bipartisan. I suspect that most people know that he is bipartisan ONLY because there are vote that he has to make or he would not be reelected. Not to mention, mentioning Dodd/Frank cost the tax payer $19 billion which the banks were supposed to pay may not be that smart. (As to negative press, no MSM asked about his holding Bank of America stock at that point - even though it is far closer to Brown than trades in the Heinz accounts to Kerry.)

He also seems to be grandstanding a lot - like calling for an investigation of Fannie and Freddie.

The fishery issues may actually show one major difference between the two. Brown was out there grandstanding when the issue came up calling for the elimination of regulation. Kerry carefully worked with everyone and is now asking for what seems a very good solution that potentially could both help the fishermen and restore at least a small amount of trust in government. (I hope NOAA sees it as a reasonable idea.)

Another observation from the video - Brown is really losing hair fast.

Blaukraut

(5,911 posts)
2. Tough questions???
Thu Dec 29, 2011, 08:06 PM
Dec 2011

I have yet to hear, watch, or read a single MA media interview of Brown that was anything but softballs and ass-kissing. Ugh. Typical republican obfuscation. Blame the 'liberal' media.

karynnj

(59,942 posts)
3. I suspect that the questions he is referring to are the ones that
Thu Dec 29, 2011, 08:47 PM
Dec 2011

end up in the articles that say he did not answer or his spokesman answered that he was "reading the bill". I wish that just once, someone asked a detailed question that required more than a yes or no on a bill that he had just voted on - presumably after he read it.

His comments on Warren show the same disinterest in any policy. All he does is bring up two comments - one out of context. As to Warren not being able to work on a bipartisan level, her answer is incredibly easy. She crafted what the consumer protection agency would be and got it included in the Dodd/Frank bill when most people thought it was impossible. I know the Senate had 59 Democrats then, but not all were open to regulation.

As to his being the most bipartisan - in reality, Kerry's vote for Gramm/Rudman in his freshman year, which he still stands by is more impressive than any of Brown's crossing the aisle episodes. Brown had to do them for his own career not to end. Kerry's vote was actually potentially harmful to him and was based on a complicated, thoughtful view that if there is too much debt, you can not do what is needed to help people and help the country. That view made him unique in 1985 among New England Democrats. In addition, in 2005, when Bush and the Republicans wanted to pursue a line item veto that used the Kerry idea of needing a supermajority of Congress to approve (or reject) the entire package of Presidential line items removed, Kerry was the only Democrat at the White House meeting - and the only Democratic sponsor. In doing this, Kerry stood against the entire Democratic caucus. Both of these votes were risky for Kerry, where Brown's crossing the aisle were not only not risky, to NOT do them was risky.

Mass

(27,315 posts)
4. I was wondering too. Except if asking how he will vote on a bill a couple of days before the vote is
Fri Dec 30, 2011, 10:09 AM
Dec 2011

a tough question, of course.

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