Such a Fuss!

His victory made him the 41st vote for Republicans in the U.S. Senate. Still, I am bemused by all the attention being heaped upon Senator-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts and the unexpectedly glowing characterization of the Bay State by talking heads, writers, and bloggers of all stripes. It’s as though someone had just discovered a 51st state tucked away in the northeast.

Having been born 26 miles northwest of Boston; having roamed the Bay State and its environs for nigh on to four decades, I think that I know a little about Massachusetts, its people and the region. Trust me: It’s the same U.S. Commonwealth that it was before Scott Brown was elected – no better, no worse.

Massachusetts, a Source of Firsts: I won’t go through a list. But I will point out that long before Barack Obama began to remind Americans so often of how he is the first this and the first that, Massachusetts residents once chose Edward Brooke as the first modern African-American to serve in the U.S. Senate way back in 1967. I was proud of Brooke back then; yet I don’t recall Bay Staters making such a ruckus over it. Voters thought him qualified, put him in office, and that was that: Get to work.

Getting down to work on their behalf is no more, no less what Bay State residents expect from Scott Brown. He entered the race as an underdog, had the platform that voters wanted, worked his butt off campaigning, and pulled the rug out from under Martha Coakley, a lifelong Bay State resident fully backed by the Kennedys, but who simply did not keep her ears to the ground, and who forgot to campaign.

The Kennedy Factor. The mystique, charm, negotiation skills, effectiveness, political street-smarts, family tradition and tragedy associated with Ted Kennedy – love him or hate him – constituted the psyche of a political giant. Personal psyches, as Martha Coakley and the remaining Kennedys discovered, cannot be duplicated and are not transferable.

That is why Scott Brown is heading for Washington and Martha Coakley is not.

Note:  Photo of Edward Brooke, Courtesy/San Francisco Chronicle