MA-Gov: Brown to announce intentions in fall

[RogueBeaver]

Said he expects Baker to run again, but they'll get together to "try and work things out, one way or the other." Still don't think he runs though.

[free my dawg]

Yeah, I think he'll defer to Baker.

[Blue3]

I don't think he'll run.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Yeah, I think he'll defer to Baker.

[RedSLC]

Yeah, I think he'll defer to Baker.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Quick, everyone clear the field for liberal Romney so he can score another loss!

[tpfkaw]

I like Charlie Baker but it's probably not a good idea to have him be the MAGOP standard-bearer again.  He is an incredibly dull speaker and debater (not incompetent or gaffe-prone, just putting on an excellent Ben Stein impression), and his campaign was incredibly incompetent (all his ads quite literally followed the format of "Hi, I'm Charlie Baker!  I'm an insurance executive!  Vote for me!").*

*To be fair it was more like "Hi, I'm Charlie Baker!  I'm from Boston!  I went to Harvard Business School and then I became an insurance executive!  I'm also very tall and I play basketball!  Vote for me!"

[RogueBeaver]

Are there any other credible Pubs outside the Brown/Baker/Tisei troika?

[Napoleon]

Baker could run in MA and Brown in NH.

[tpfkaw]

Are there any other credible Pubs outside the Brown/Baker/Tisei troika?

There's Karyn Polito, who ran for Treasurer in 2010, also Mary Z. Connaughton, who ran for Auditor and lost to her unqualified opponent on the strength of zombie votes despite receiving the endorsement of literally every newspaper in the state (sort of like Tisei, actually).  She's also our own Nathan's aunt  She's probably too socially conservative however.  There's also former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who ran and lost in '06.  Former State Treasurer Joe Malone could run but he had a scandal during his tenure where employees of his embezzled several million dollars from the state.  Ann and Tagg Romney have been mentioned as possibilities, but the name might be too tarnished.  All three Republican candidates from the recent special election have been mentioned.  And, of course, there's always perennial candidate/nutcase Christy Mihos to keep things fun.

[Maxwell]

I know Winslow got last in the Senate Republican Primary, but Winslow running for Governor would be cool.

[barfbag]

Unfortunately, Brown is cursed by where he's from. In most other states he'd be shining star on his way to the front of the Republican Party. Sometimes where we're from is hindering to how far we get in life.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Unfortunately, Brown is cursed by where he's from. In most other states he'd be shining star on his way to the front of the Republican Party. Sometimes where we're from is hindering to how far we get in life.

Brown's story is not one of overcoming adversity, dude. Brown's story is that of the typical upper class alpha male, who gets to make sexist and narcissistic comments and get away with it, rising upward not because of his intelligence and political grace, but because of his connections, outward appearance, and money.

Scott Brown is like an evil Don Draper, and really has very little to complain about so far as "how far he got in life."

[tpfkaw]

Brown's story is not one of overcoming adversity, dude.

If you're a Republican and you have been elected statewide in Massachusetts, you have, by necessity, overcome adversity.

[barfbag]

Unfortunately, Brown is cursed by where he's from. In most other states he'd be shining star on his way to the front of the Republican Party. Sometimes where we're from is hindering to how far we get in life.

Brown's story is not one of overcoming adversity, dude. Brown's story is that of the typical upper class alpha male, who gets to make sexist and narcissistic comments and get away with it, rising upward not because of his intelligence and political grace, but because of his connections, outward appearance, and money.

Scott Brown is like an evil Don Draper, and really has very little to complain about so far as "how far he got in life."

What sexist comments did he make? If you're a Republican and elected to a statewide or federal office in Massachusetts, then you've overcome adversity. It can be compared to a president like Obama winning Utah or a starving Ethiopian becoming a nuclear physicist for NASA. He has shown the world that we all have the power to make a difference. Very inspiring!

[BluegrassBlueVote]

Unfortunately, Brown is cursed by where he's from. In most other states he'd be shining star on his way to the front of the Republican Party. Sometimes where we're from is hindering to how far we get in life.

Faulty logic. Brown was only once viewed as a rising star in the party because of the state he was elected in.

[Dereich]

Unfortunately, Brown is cursed by where he's from. In most other states he'd be shining star on his way to the front of the Republican Party. Sometimes where we're from is hindering to how far we get in life.

Faulty logic. Brown was only once viewed as a rising star in the party because of the state he was elected in.

Not necessarily. His good looks, campaigning skills, and crossover appeal would make him a rising star anywhere. That it was Massachusetts just made him all the more prominent.

[BluegrassBlueVote]

Unfortunately, Brown is cursed by where he's from. In most other states he'd be shining star on his way to the front of the Republican Party. Sometimes where we're from is hindering to how far we get in life.

Faulty logic. Brown was only once viewed as a rising star in the party because of the state he was elected in.

Not necessarily. His good looks, campaigning skills, and crossover appeal would make him a rising star anywhere. That it was Massachusetts just made him all the more prominent.

Would he have crossover appeal in a safe red seat? Would he still be a moderate-ish voice in the Senate if he was from, say, Oklahoma?

We don't know the answer to that. This is why I don't like hypotheticals.

[sg0508]

Brown's miserable and narcissistic Senate campaign lost him some political capital in MA.  It was a terrible campaign that pissed off women, a lot of younger voters and other voters. He was fighting an uphill battle in a presidential year, but he didn't put his best foot forward.

Even if he were to run for governor, I'm not so sure he's winning after rubbing off the wrong way on a lot of people.

[TX Conservative Dem]

Brown should consider the governorship in 2014 because he has almost ZERO chance of being United States Senator again.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Mary Z. Connaughton, who ran for Auditor and lost to her unqualified opponent on the strength of zombie votes despite receiving the endorsement of literally every newspaper in the state (sort of like Tisei, actually).  She's also our own Nathan's aunt  She's probably too socially conservative however.

Cousin, actually. (Technically a cousin's sister-in-law, but cousins by marriage count in my family.)

Mary's great and a lot of fun, and she's probably the only Republican I'd vote for for Governor, out of family loyalty even though we really don't agree on the issues, but she's far from one of the likelier candidates. Particularly after Romney lost last year she's seemed pretty disillusioned--she was very reluctant to discuss anything political at Thanksgiving, which is unusual for her and wasn't the case after her own loss--and although other members of our extended families know her a lot better than I do I don't think she's inclined to run for office again any time soon.

She's within her rights to be disillusioned. It's blatantly obvious that she should be State Auditor right now and would be if even slightly more voters had actually paid attention to the race beyond superficialities--like Tisei, as you said.

I'm going to go ahead and agree with most of the previous posters that Baker's a lot likelier to run than Brown is.

[RogueBeaver]

Brown's expressing more interest, saying there's nothing wrong with a primary, he'll decide by Labor Day- but he and Baker will talk it out. Baker also indicated there wouldn't be a primary. My guess is if he decides to return to elective office, it'll be on Beacon Hill. Not carpetbagging next door.

[TX Conservative Dem]

NGP, if Brown does run for Governor, I'll rate him as the favorite and you know Coakley is having nightmares on the possibility of losing to him TWICE.

Is it possible that Brown and Baker run as a team with Brown as Governor and Baker as LG ?

[RogueBeaver]

I'll defer to the Bay Staters, but it wouldn't shock me.

[PolitiJunkie]

Ugh why can't Mike Capuano just be the Governor of Massachusetts?