Scott Brown: The Carpetbagger Issue

Scott Brown on youtube: Don't Cry For Me, Massachusetts

Looking at the recent youtube posting from Mad Dog Productions, Mad Dog, who is of course a part of this, has to ask the question: Why should it matter whether or not Scott Brown has New Hampshire connections if he wants to represent New Hampshire in the United States Senate?

The word "Carpetbagger," of course, dates back to just after the Civil War, during reconstruction, when Northerners, carrying their stuff in carpet bag suitcases went down South to get themselves elected to local and national offices.

But, in more recent history, Hillary Clinton, who, if she had any genuine roots, had them in Illinois, ran for U.S. Senate in New York, as did Bobby Kennedy, from Massachusetts before her.

In fact, Daniel Webster, one of the most famous of all New England politicians represented New Hampshire before he ran for Senate from Massachusetts.

This is a national office, we are talking about, so what does it matter what state you've lived in most recently, as long as you represent the values of the state you are running in?

State boundary lines, drawn in the 18th and 19th centuries are hardly relevant today.

But, as the you tube piece suggests, we are talking here about character and motivations.  The real issue here is Scott Brown doesn't really care about which state he represents because he does not represent any state, really. He is in this for himself. 

There is a segment of this production, which lies on the cutting room floor,  in which Scott Brown and Kelly Ayotte talk, quite frankly about what really motivates them to want to be in the U.S. Senate, and, of course, it has nothing to do with any of the things they claim to be their motivations, publicly: Service, the desire to balanced the budget, a concern for your grandchildren and taking back the government for "the people." 

What they like is the attention, the great offices, the reserved parking spaces at the airport, the Senate gym and all the other goodies Senators get.

The fact is, these Senators do not represent the people in their states; they are looking for the perks the Koch brothers can provide.

So, it's not really carpetbagging we recoil from--it's the bald face self serving nature of what motivates Mr. Brown to run in the first place.

Of course, you can say everyone running for U.S. Senate, including Senator Shaheen, has the same motivations: They like the sense of power, of privilege.  But in the cases of some of these people, and Scott Brown has got to epitomize this, the PRIMARY motivation appears to be the desire for power and self aggrandizement. This, on the face of it at least, does not seem to be what drives Ms. Shaheen.

Perception, admittedly, is a tricky thing, but it sometimes approximates a certain truth.

The youtube link is "Don't Cry For Me, Massachusetts."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOQ51XI-Itg