Savior of the Republican Party?

Well, Scott Brown won an election because he's personable, articulate, drop-dead handsome (which sure doesn't hurt in our American Idol culture), ran a smart campaign, and was the only "conservative" game in town - but primarily because he promised to oppose the president's unpopular health care plan. Now that he's safely in office, he's already dissing the people who contributed heavily to his campaign -- tea party activists. In mid January he claimed he didn't even know those people. And maybe he doesn't want to, because after all -- they (we) are the great unwashed who really believe in the constitution and traditional values.

Brown didn't mind knowing the tea party people last April when he addressed a rally in Worcester. He didn't mind carrying some tea party videos on his website and accepting the tea party "money bomb" that helped propel him into the Senate. Now he's throwing them under the bus. Thanks, Scott. Just like a politician!

This is one more indication that Brown lacks integrity. Will it be politics as usual behind the mask of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?" Pray for Scott Brown, but don't buy into the hype that he offers conservatism anything new. Being a fiscal conservative is all well and good, but we sure don't need another social liberal in Congress, especially one who sees himself as a "leader" as he told Barbara Walters. He's handsome and a smooth talker for sure, which are two reasons he won and the accountant in New York didn't. Whether he's going to be good for conservatism is another question. And one thing I can predict with almost 100% accuracy: the temptations of Capitol Hill will not be good for his soul. Will he withstand them? He's already demonstrated he couldn't even withstand the temptation to lie about his connections to the tea party movement. He should have been thanking "those people" for helping to send him to the Senate.

Below is a video of a portion of the Scott Brown/Barbara Walters interview. Despite his Everyman image, the interview demonstrates that Brown does not stand for those of us who defend traditional values. He's another "big tent" Republican with a few bones thrown to the pro-life community. It should concern every serious Catholic that someone as charismatic as Brown is now perceived as the "savior" of the Repbulican party and perhaps the icon of what a Republican should be, i.e., a "moderate." There ain't nothing "moderate" about butchering babies and turning a blind eye to the abomination of same-sex marriage as long as the states choose it. But here we are back at square one with a popular big tent Republican trivializing the most important issues of our day.



You can read a transcript of the complete interview here.