Against All Odds

It would seem that any concern over whether or not it is too early for Scott Brown to ramp up his re-election effort can be put to rest. In a half-page OP-ED PIECE in today's Globe, old friend, Joan Vennochi makes a case for a rematch between Brown and Mass. Attorney General, Martha Coakley. Citing a recent poll by the Democratic polling company, PUBLIC POLICY POLLING, the article shows that Coakley appears to be the best match up against Brown of the seven potential candidates included in the poll. At that, the poll shows Brown ahead of Coakley, 49%to 40% in a head to head match. Coakley's relative strength appears to stem solely from her high name recognition.

When Scott Brown's autobiography, Against All Odds, was released earlier this year, it seemed as though all anyone wanted to talk about was Brown's brush with an attempted sexual abuse by a camp counselor when he was ten years old. Not to minimize the seriousness of such an event, but the book is 324 pages, and there are a number of more important topics covered.

First of all, the story of Brown's early life is sobering, to say the least. Dealing with the insidious effects of a broken home life: his father's abandonment at a very early age, his mother's bouts with alcohol and her several husbands, including at least one psychopath named Larry McShane who threatened to break Scott's hands, which would have curtailed his basketball career. Not only was basketball his first love, but would also become his ticket to a college education. The fact that Brown was able to rise above these circumstances speaks volumes about his character. Even more amazing, is by the time he was running for office later in life, he managed to salvage a good relationships with each of his parents.

Towards the end of the book, Brown writes about his political philosophy.

There is a core set of beliefs that have shaped my thinking since the beginning of my service in public life. They are uncomplicated and straightforward. I believe that government is getting too big. We have too many laws, and we don't need more of them. I have always felt that we need to get rid of some of our laws and streamline the ones we keep, and we need to better enforce the laws that we have.........

I believe strongly that taxes are too high. But they are now getting much worse. Congress and the administration dithered over taking still more money out of the pockets of hardworking Americans......

Lowering tax rates encourages citizens to invest and to save and also to spend. It encourages businesses to hire new workers. It encourages entrepreneur's to start new ventures. We can solve a significant portion of the federal government's fiscal mess by growing our economy.

I believe that power concentrated in the hands of one political party, as it is in Massachusetts leads to bad government and poor decisions. That holds true for Democrats and Republicans...... There is little uglier than the arrogance of power or the bashing of our opponents for partisan and selfish ends.

Yes, Scott Brown is a Republican, but is not an ideologue. His main goal is to find solutions to our common problems and is willing to work with good ideas regardless of their source. We would argue that he is the prototype of a new politician, one that Massachusetts badly needs if it is to get beyond the morass of corruption and pandering to special interests that that threatens to drag the state down. Read "Against all Odds" and learn the rest of the story.