Scott Brown takes the Senate seat
Greg Sebastiao
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Lead Stories
On January 20, Republican Scott Brown pulled off one of the most memorable political campaign comebacks for the ages. With Democrat Martha Coakley winning the primary and taking an early advantage (a thirty point lead in the polls) over Brown by getting a very large number of supporters, it was hard to believe that she wasn't on her way to taking over the late Edward Kennedy's senate position-a seat that to this point has strictly belonged to the Democrats. But little did Coakley and her supporters know Brown had a few tricks of his own up his sleeve.
Brown, a State Senator for three terms and a current Lt. General of the Massachusetts National Guard, took to the streets to run a grassroots campaign in Coakley's absence to get the people of Massachusetts to believe in what he was fighting for. But most of all, what he believed America needs. Coakley took a back seat to the campaign; she figured she had it won.
"The Democratic candidate wasn't particularly charismatic. There are those that believed that Martha Coakley didn't run a very effective campaign. I think they're right," said B.J. Dobski, professor of political science. "She wasn't out there, she wasn't eating the chicken dinners, glad-handing and showing her face with everyone. And what she did do, she wasn't terribly effective at it and she tended to withdraw."
According to the Boston Globe, Brown focused on the people, mainly gaining most of his votes from the North and South shores, and predominantly Republican areas in the suburbs near the Interstate 495 belt, which covers the towns like Ashland, Holliston and Marlborough. Brown even spent time swaying Worcester residents, among others, to vote for him by truly hitting on major issues like wasteful government spending and higher taxing, as stated on Brown's website.
"He [Brown] wasn't your typical Republican. He didn't conform to Republican stereotypes on a number of issues. He was charismatic. People think he looks senatorial, and let's face it, that matters," said Dobski.
Brown, a State Senator for three terms and a current Lt. General of the Massachusetts National Guard, took to the streets to run a grassroots campaign in Coakley's absence to get the people of Massachusetts to believe in what he was fighting for. But most of all, what he believed America needs. Coakley took a back seat to the campaign; she figured she had it won.
"The Democratic candidate wasn't particularly charismatic. There are those that believed that Martha Coakley didn't run a very effective campaign. I think they're right," said B.J. Dobski, professor of political science. "She wasn't out there, she wasn't eating the chicken dinners, glad-handing and showing her face with everyone. And what she did do, she wasn't terribly effective at it and she tended to withdraw."
According to the Boston Globe, Brown focused on the people, mainly gaining most of his votes from the North and South shores, and predominantly Republican areas in the suburbs near the Interstate 495 belt, which covers the towns like Ashland, Holliston and Marlborough. Brown even spent time swaying Worcester residents, among others, to vote for him by truly hitting on major issues like wasteful government spending and higher taxing, as stated on Brown's website.
"He [Brown] wasn't your typical Republican. He didn't conform to Republican stereotypes on a number of issues. He was charismatic. People think he looks senatorial, and let's face it, that matters," said Dobski.
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