First, the latest ad from the Coakley campaign revealing the awful truth that the Scott Brown campaign has been attempting to hide from Massachusetts voters. Is it the strip-for-money centerfold from Brown's college days? Nope. His attack on high schools students in a school assembly, quoting some of their facebook comments, f-bombs included? No, as bad as that was, this is worse.
Scott Brown is - gasp! - a Republican:
I watched the debate last night and charitably, Scott Brown avoided curling up in a fetal position a la Glenn Beck in his live performance of the Christmas Sweater. Other than that, he came off as weak, unsure of himself and unable to handle veering too far off his carefully crafted script.
This was the exchange that made me - personally - sit up and pay attention:
He [Brown] also suggested that climate change may not be caused entirely by humans.
"The climate is always changing; it always has,’’ he said. "There’s a question of whether it’s manmade or natural, and it’s probably a combination of both.’’
link: http://www.boston.com/...
What's the big deal, you ask? A Republican playing into the hands of his we-don't-need-no-stinkin'-science base is hardly a surprise. For the most part I'd agree with you, but not every Republican lives 30 miles from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. If Brown were to get into his pick up truck and actually drive to Cambridge, he could actually talk with some of the scientists there. Or he could just log on to MIT's Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Climate Change's website: http://globalchange.mit.edu/... where he would find this nugget:
The body of evidence that human activity is the dominant cause of global warming is overwhelming.
link: http://globalchange.mit.edu/...
Or, he could just wait for the carrier pigeon to fly in from James Inhofe's offices in Oklahoma, latest climate change denialist talking points in tow.
My point here is that the scientists at MIT are just as important a local constituency in Massachusetts as the folks who mill around in front of the state house with teabags dangling off their hats, and they deserve representation that will speak up for science and the scientific method, even when it's politically inconvenient to do so.
But for Brown, that would mean taking on his base. That would require conviction, and courage and a sense that there are things that are actually more important than politics.
Don't look for Brown to show that courage any time soon, if ever.
UPDATE: For full video of last night's debate, follow this link: http://www.ustream.tv/...