Scott Brown to kick off book tour during President's Day recess

Scott Brown to start book tour in February
Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) will kick off a book tour over February's President's Day recess in anticipation of a tough Reelection campaign in 2012.  Brown is set to criss-cross Massachusetts between Feb. 21-25, the Washington Post reported Wednesday, to promote his memoir titled "Against All Odds." The former State Senator shocked the political world in January when he won a Special Election to fill the seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D), a liberal icon.  Democrats in dark blue...

Primaries For Palin
A website has sprung up with instructions for Democrats on how to vote for Sarah Palin in states that will hold open primaries in 2012. From the site's FAQ page: Our purpose is to have Democrats and Independents help to nominate Sarah Palin as the Republican Candidate for president in state primaries. In numerous head-to-head polls, Palin is the only likely Republican Candidate who would soundly lose to Obama in the General Election. All other likely Republican Candidates either beat Obama or ...

Does Scott Brown have Mass? | James Antle
During his 1996 Reelection campaign, Congressman Peter Blute ran a clever ad. The two-term Massachusetts Republican sat at a table between pictures of President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, using the props to demonstrate his independence. When the Democrats wanted to raise taxes, Blute voted with Gingrich, he explained as he pulled the speaker's mug toward him. But when Gingrich proposed radical Spending Cuts, Blute told viewers he voted with Clinton and reached for the presiden...

Tea Party, Scott Brown Good for GOP in 2010
Since Robert Schlesinger came up with reasons 2010 was good for Democrats, here are as many reasons why it was a great year for Republicans: [See a slide show of 7 reasons 2010 was good for Republicans.] Scott Brown : The election of Scott Brown to the United States Senate was the political “shot heard around the world.” His emergence was perceived as a sign that Democrats had overplayed their hand and that Americans were rebelling against Big Government. During a debate over the ...

The Decay of the Kennedy Kingdom
The Bluest State has never felt so blue. Fifty years ago, Massachusetts had just helped elect its junior senator to the presidency. Two years into his presidency, John F. Kennedy enjoyed dealing with another native son, Boston pol John McCormack, as Speaker of the House. The political power of the tiny state in the country’s eastern extremity seemed boundless. Today, the Bay State stands poised to lose yet another Congressional Seat—its fifth in as many decades. Massachusetts looks i...

State GOP chief pleads to keep job
The embattled head of the Bay State’s beleaguered Republican Party made an impassioned New Year’s plea yesterday to keep her job as she tries to beat back a move to oust her after the GOP’s astonishing election-year wipeout in the congressional and statewide races. “Don’t give up on us,” Jennifer Nassour implored the state’s GOP faithful yesterday in an interview with the Herald, pointing out that the number of Republican seats in the State Legislature ...

State GOP chief pleads to keep job
The embattled head of the Bay State’s beleaguered Republican Party made an impassioned New Year’s plea yesterday to keep her job as she tries to beat back a move to oust her after the GOP’s astonishing election-year wipeout in the congressional and statewide races. “Don’t give up on us,” Jennifer Nassour implored the state’s GOP faithful yesterday in an interview with the Herald, pointing out that the number of Republican seats in the State Legislature ...

Obama appoints five officials whose nominations had stalled
WASHINGTON — President Obama has bypassed the Senate and directly appointed four ambassadors whose nominations had been stalled or blocked by lawmakers for months. The White House said yesterday that Obama would use his power to make Recess Appointments to fill Envoy posts to Azerbaijan, Syria, and NATO allies Turkey and the Czech Republic. Recess appointments are made when the Senate is not in session and last only until the end of the next session of Congress. They are frequently used w...

San Bernardino County to have special primary election in February
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced a special Primary Election for February that would give Democrats the opportunity to pick up another State Senate seat should someone decide to run. Republican State Sen. George Runner Jr. resigned from his position after winning a seat on the State Board of Equalization in the 2010 Midterm Elections. Runner currently represents the 17th District, which cuts across portions of Kern, Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Runner’...

Californias new primary system will eliminate Republican candidates from ballot
W hen the founders considered the form of government that would replace the English monarchy, two examples of representative government led the lists: Democracy and Republicanism. Reasoning that a representative republic led by informed citizens with a stake in the nation’s well being would be more stable than a direct Democracy subject to volatile emotions of a public fired up over the issue du jour, they opted for the republican form of government. California, in its state constitution, ...

Scott Brown to tour Scituate storm damage Thursday
Sen. Scott Brown will personally inspect storm damage in Scituate Thursday afternoon, joining state Sen. Robert Hedlund and Rep. James Cantwell for tour that leaves town hall at 3 p.m. Brown, Hedlund and Cantwell will visit the Sand Hills neighborhood, which Hedlund’s office on Wednesday described as still under water. They will also review an area off Turner Road where a 60-foot seawall section was knocked down. Hedlund hopes Brown’s visit will generate Federal Assistance for the t...

Predictions for 2010
Our friend Basil suggested that it was time for me to get around to writing my predictions for 2010 column. I still have a few days. Besides, let us look at the predictions that others made in 2010. From the Boston Globe: “Democrat Martha Coakley, buoyed by her durable statewide popularity, enjoys a solid, 15-percentage-point lead over Republican rival Scott Brown as the race for US Senate enters the homestretch, according to a new Boston Globe poll of Likely Voters.” From David Wh...

More Wind Farms Off Massachusetts Coast Eyed By Federal Bureau Of Ocean Energy Management
BOSTON — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Tuesday began seeking proposals from developers that want to build commercial Wind Farms off the Massachusetts coast, even before construction has begun on the Cape Wind project. The bureau is looking for developers interested in leases on the Outer Continental Shelf off Massachusetts. The 3,000-square mile area of federal waters begins approximately 14 miles south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Gov. Deval Patrick's administr...

Tea Party: Scott Brown losing support
One of several national Tea Party groups, Tea Party Nation, recently put out a list of republican targets for the 2012 Senate Elections. One of the five is Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.  Even the local Boston Tea Party is joining the call for another republican to run against Brown. This raises some interesting questions for Tea Party members. First, whether you love him or hate him, Scott Brown has done exactly what he said he would do when he ran his campaign last year. He consistent...

Republicans defend party chairwoman
Republican politicians rushed to defend Massachusetts GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Nassour yesterday, after she told the Herald she deserves another chance as she prepares to fight off a challenger in the new year. State Rep. Jeff Perry (R-Sandwich), who failed in his bid to win an open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, said Nassour has done the best she could for the party. “I think the party in Massachusetts is heading in a new direction, and I think it’s going to get better a...

Out with the old, in with the new in the Senate as Congress set to reconvene
In a Congress dominated by complicated bills and wonky policy fights, perhaps the biggest challenge for members of the Senate was simply keeping straight the names of all their colleagues.  The 111th Congress will go down as one of the most chaotic in Senate history because of the constant turnover in personnel.
 That influx of fresh faces means the 112th Congress will begin with a notably inexperienced group of senators. More than one-fifth of the upper chamber’s 100 seats changed hands

Year in review: school elections
The 2010 New Jersey school Elections broke a long-standing pattern of sleepy Elections in which voters tamely vote "Yes." Thanks largely to Tea Party activity (though the major media did not notice this), voters in more than half of all districts said, "No." The history of school Elections in New Jersey is one of low Voter Turnout, the guaranteed re-election of Incumbent school Board Members, and the equally automatic approval of Budget after Budget that raises property taxes. Or rather, such ha...

Jim DeMint: Sarah Palin Akin to Ronald Reagan
South Carolina Republican Senator and Tea Party favorite Jim DeMint recently paid Sarah Palin the highest compliment in conservative America: Palin has "done more for the Republican Party than anyone since Ronald Reagan." Republicans, especially ambitions ones, usually clamor for the Reagan analogue. Palin has had it bestowed on her by a Senator with Tea Party credentials.  DeMint made his comment to Politico while assaying probable and potential Republican 2012 Presidential Candidates...

Getting Below the Surface
We of course know that the November 2, 2010, Elections were historical on many different levels. The Republican gains of 63 seats in the House and 6 in the Senate dwarf the Republican Revolution of 1994 and double the historical average gains in the Senate for a party out of power. These gains were made despite a cash-strapped Republican National Committee (RNC), strategic decisions by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to spend $8 million in the long-shot California Senate race...

Doin' it better in 2011
Movie star Geena Davis told the Herald she has one simple vow for the new year: to do a little more cooking at home. Think you know what Gov. Deval Patrick, Keith Lockhart, Adrian Gonzalez and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown could do better in 2011? Herald videographer Katy Jordan asked 14 of the Bay State’s biggest celebs about their New Year’s resolutions. Their responses were funny, thoughtful and honest — check them in the video above! ...

2 newly elected representatives to introduce legislation requiring runoff elections
Two incoming Republican State Representatives say they plan to introduce Legislation next year calling for a Constitutional Amendment to require a runoff election in races where none of the Candidates receives 50 percent of the vote. State Representatives-elect Patricia Morgan and Michael Chippendale say the proposal comes in response to the fact that two of the five races for general offices this year — the Governor’s race and the state Attorney General’s race — resulte...

The Fix: Timing of West Virginia gubernatorial election in doubt
Six months after the death of Robert Byrd set off a battle over the timing of a Special Election to succeed the late Democratic senator, West Virginia officials are again at odds over the scheduling of another Special Election -- this time in the race for Governor. State Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin (D), who became acting governor last month following then-Gov. Joe Manchin's (D) victory in the Special Election to succeed Byrd in the Senate, contends that the Special Election to fill the ...

Tea Party Dominates Google's Top 10 Politicians In 2010
Google released its list of the top 10 politicians who were most searched by Americans in 2010, and the results reflect the ups and downs of an important election year. “We aggregate billions of searches that were done over the year to try to get an indication to get what the United States was interested in the past 12 months,” said a spokesman for Google of the Zeitgeist 2010. “The lists help better identify what’s new, what’s interesting, what people are more cu...

Few Viable Dem Challengers for Scott Brown
He hasn't exactly been a staunch conservative since beating Martha Coakley, but then again, we're talking about a Republican in Massachusetts. So as the 2012 election cycle begins, the pickings are slim for Democrats looking to challenge Scott Brown.Democrats claim to be licking their chops about taking on Brown, but it seems more likely that the Democrat with the short straw will get the task. Brown has amassed a war chest of $6 million, more than double Kerry’s. Democrats may hope a Kenned...

Voting with Your Feet II
Ed Glaeser on regional population trends: The future shape of America is being driven not by quality of life or economic success but by the obscure rules regulating local land use. In a sense, the anti-regulation crowd is right that the laissez-faire attitude of the South and West explains their recent growth. But the usual argument focuses on the wrong Regulations. Housing regulations, more than those that bind standard businesses, explain the Sun Belt’s Population Growth. If New York and M...