Scott Brown Senate, Scott Brown has the look of a man not quite sure what to do with himself. Since losing his Senate seat in November, the Republican flirted with but then decided against running again in Massachusetts, signed up as a commentator for Fox News and landed a gig at a law firm with a lobbying practice. Now he’s again looking at a possible run … in New Hampshire.
Brown is serious enough that he’s making at least five trips to the state in a one-month window, including last Saturday for a speech to a county GOP luncheon in Hanover and an appearance at the New Hampshire Young Republicans convention..REPORTED
The Republican senatorial campaign arm, looking to expand the 2014 map, has promoted the buzz, and Karl Rove has talked him up on cable. Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is favored to win a second term in the swing state, but a Brown entry — the odds are still probably less than 50-50 — would throw the race into flux.
Moving to New Hampshire to run for Senate would pose huge obstacles for Brown, starting with the inevitable carpetbagger tag. But Republicans who have spoken with Brown say he’s eager to see what kind of reception he gets from activists.
“Nothing is off the table, and nothing is on the table,” Brown said coyly on Fox recently. “Right now, I’m recharging the batteries and working hard.
He said the same thing to reporters during his visit to Hanover, N.H., on Saturday. But as implausible as a Granite State campaign might seem, it’s not hard to see why Brown is testing the waters.
The majority of New Hampshire voters get their news from Boston TV affiliates, so Brown starts with near universal name recognition. Many local Republican organizations mobilized volunteers to help Brown win his 2010 special election upset in Massachusetts. And Brown excels at retail politicking, which the smaller state is famous for.
“He’s almost like an adopted son,” said New Hampshire Republican consultant Jamie Burnett. “He connects well with regular people who view him as ‘one of us.’ He’s a compelling individual, very well liked. There would be people that would get excited about that prospect.”
“Baltimore is further away from Washington than New Hampshire is from Boston,” said another Granite State Republican operative. “It’s a commuter state in a lot of ways.”
Brown also has legitimate ties to New Hampshire: He owns a vacation home in the state, and, as Rove noted on Fox, Brown’s mother lives in the state and he can claim ties from eight previous generations.
Moreover, Brown has a national fundraising network that would allow him to outraise any opponent. He raised $47 million for his two Senate campaigns.
National Republicans are in need of a top-tier recruit in the swing state. The strongest candidate Republicans could have fielded, former Sen. John E. Sununu, announced this month that he won’t seek a rematch against Shaheen, who beat him in 2008. This was expected but, nonetheless, a blow to GOP hopes to make New Hampshire into a prime pickup opportunity.
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