Republicans nationally had reason to celebrate Tuesday last week when Scott Brown did what seemed impossible not long ago; captured a Senate seat not held by a member of the GOP since Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. The Massachusetts special election on January nineteenth of this year had all of the hallmarks of the Barack Obama campaign from the last presidential election. In the early stages of the Democratic primaries, then-United States Senator Barack Obama seemed like a long-shot running against the presumptive nominee of his party. That contest remained narrow to the very end, capturing the political class off guard.
The effective use of technology provided a boost to the Brown campaign absent in far too many Republican operations to date. Scott Brown wisely talked about bread-and-butter issues throughout his campaign, and offered to the electorate a pragmatic contrast to Martha Coakley. Like Obama, Scott Brown had been a state legislator. Whereas President Obama grew strength from the experiences of his youth and background, Senator Brown likely benefited from his professional life, as a lawyer married to a television reporter, and as a member of the Massachusetts National Guard.
The charismatic and articulate forty-first member of the present Republican caucus in the United States Senate has thus galvanized his party in ways others had not. This was true even as the prospects for electoral success by Republicans was growing nationally. In this sense too, Brown is for the right what Obama is to the left; indeed, despite the excitement surrounding his win, 2008 was a Democratic year.
Much of the excitement generated by President Obama during his first year in office has faded away as the realities of governance have set in. Now, there is a growing despondence being felt in the Democratic Party over the actions and inactions of the Obama administration. The State of the Union speech this year was enough for the president to possibly regain some traction, but of his own creation remain.
President Obama spent the first year of his administration . The White House took a risk by putting the president front and center on one big policy reform initiative after another. Now, President Obama has been left with little to show for all the attention paid. As likable as the president is, and as popular as he remains in much of the country, he could not to Martha Coakley the seat once held by Ted Kennedy.
In Scott Brown, Republicans certainly have a rising leader on the national stage. However, he should be weary of repeating the mistakes made by President Obama. Being the person out in front on a particular issue set comes with risks. Due to his domestic policy prominence in his first year, President Obama has left himself to take some of the blame for the prolonged recession, the , and the recent unpopularity of Democrats nationally.
Scott Brown should be one of many leading voices in the Republican resurgence. However, he is a single person. A movement to succeed always needs more than one prominent figure. Some who voted in 2008 for the first time may now be learning this lesson, but it is relevant to Republican strategists too.
Last 5 posts by James Kane
- A November to Remember - November 8th, 2010
- On hope and fear - October 18th, 2010
- Expecting Different Results - September 12th, 2010
- A glaring omission on Iraq - August 31st, 2010
- Employing a losing strategy - August 7th, 2010