Posted on 01/27/2010 10:53:28 AM PST by Uncledave
BY ANDREW LARSON REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WOLCOTT — It happened in Massachusetts. Could it happen here?
In light of last week's election of Scott P. Brown, a little-known Republican state senator, to fill the U.S. Senate seat held for decades by the late Edward Kennedy, that's a question GOP leaders and political hopefuls in Connecticut want to answer in the affirmative.
No one has pondered the question as deeply as Brown's younger brother, Wolcott resident Bruce W. Browne, 43. Browne, who declined to say why he spells his last name differently, may try to follow his brother's lead.
Last Tuesday, Republicans and unaffiliated voters turned out in droves to support the elder Brown in his quest for a U.S. Senate seat in a state seen as an ironclad Democratic stronghold.
"It's a great win for the Republican Party, but it's everyone's seat," Browne said in an interview Tuesday. "It's the state of Massachusetts' seat."
Browne, who is seven years younger than the new senator, said his brother's strengths are his likeable personality and his down-to-earth character.
"It's all about talking to people and listening to people talk," Browne said. "That's exactly what my brother did. He went to every town in the state and said, 'How are things?'"
Politics aside, Browne said that if he runs he would run as an independent-minded candidate. He wouldn't support Republican policies solely for the sake of party unity, he said, sitting next to unaffiliated Mayor Thomas G. Dunn.
Does he have any experience in government and/or administration? What’s his background?
Not mentioned in the story. Bruce owns a local alarm company, nice family, boy scout troop leader.
If a normal guy like this gets in the race vs. a polished slimy attorney general (Blumenthal aka “BlumenDodd”) it could be a very interesting race.
“The machine” putting out attack ads against regular guys would look bad.
I would love to see professional politicians ousted by regular, normal citizens.
There was an expanded piece in today’s print edition of the Waterbury Republican that I read. It did not mention any prior govt experience. He was described as a small business owner and family man.
Did you ever wonder if a person who has no experience in government or administration, but has real life experiences might just serve us all better?
He better make up his mind soon considering he will be in the running along with Republican candidates Linda McMahon, Rob Simmons and Peter Schiff.
Exactly, especially for a legislative position.
Is a solid Republican candidate good? Yes.
Is the habit of looking for family members of winners to run for other offices good? No.
They need to broaden the field to include as many realistic and reliable Republican candidates as possible. Running over to the nearest family members of candidates and office holders smacks of wanting to create dynasties. A “Kennedy Seat” should not seem to be replaced by a Republican dynasty.
Good for Mr. Brown winning the Senate Seat. But it should prevent anyone in his family from being considered.
Simmons is a retread and has no shot vs. Blumenthal
Schiff is the best of the the lot, but he's been completely icogneto.
I know nothing about Bruce Browne [sic] or how he could handle a campaign, but he could be an interesting out-of-the-box shake-up. It would have a sizzling media angle for sure, bringing in a lot of new interest to the race that a Schiff or Simmons will not get.
*ping*
I think it’s very possible - especially somebody without the taint of being in government before. On the other hand, administrative performance might be handy as it would include business people who understand everything that goes into meeting a payroll.
Sounds like a good guy. I would rather have a family man, alarm company owner and boy scout leader then professional politicials we have.
Sure. And maybe they can get Martha Cokley’s second cousin to run on the Democrat side.
I like Schiff. His financial speeches are on the net and a recent one he gave to investors in Chicago at hotel was great. He is a sharp guy.
I'm not aware the Browns have amassed some huge Kennedy or Bush sized fortune and had huge political tentacles going back generations.
If Bruce ran and won, a guy who owns a small business in a small town, joining his pickup owning brother in the Senate, I wouldn't exactly call that a dynasty.
The name thing is weird and if he’s serious about running he needs to get ot out of the way early.
I would like to see how Schiff does once he (hopefully) kicks it into gear.
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