This seems like a bad decision by Scott Brown:
“We respect Vicki Kennedy’s decision but we regret that we cannot accept a debate invitation from someone who plans to endorse Scott Brown’s opponent. The Kennedy Institute cannot hold itself out as a nonpartisan debate sponsor while the president of its board of trustees gets involved in the race on behalf of one of the candidates.”
First, the Kennedy Institute sponsored a debate between Brown and Democratic candidate Martha Coakley two years ago.
Second, Vicki Kennedy (Ted Kennedy’s widow) chairs the board of the Kennedy Institute; she wouldn’t be moderating the debate.
Third, part of how Scott Brown got elected to the US Senate was his willingness to take on the Kennedy mythology in Massachusetts. In fact, it was at the debate sponsored by the Kennedy Institute that Brown, in response to moderator David Gergen, uttered his most memorable line of the 2010 campaign, “With all due respect, it’s not the Kennedy’s seat, it’s not the Democrats’ seat, it’s the people’s seat.”
By ducking out of a debate with Elizabeth Warren because Vicki Kennedy chairs the board of one of the organizations that is cosponsoring the debate, Brown risks putting a major dent in his truck-driving, barn-jacket-wearing, real-man-of-the-people persona.
Crossposted at: http://masscommons.wordpress.com/