Tag Archives: Scott Brown

Election, Opinion, Politics, US

Rand Paul Endorses Scott Brown After NH GOP Primaries

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Tuesday’s Republican primary in New Hampshire resulted in big wins for establishment candidates and smaller victories for liberty-minded candidates seeking positions as state senators, representatives and executive councilors. The democratic primary did not exhibit a level of division among candidates as in the Republican primary. The most notable division was particularly in the GOP gubernatorial, US Senate and Congressional primaries.

Walt Havenstein won the gubernatorial primary with 55.4%, claiming victory over grassroots favorite Andrew Hemingway. Hemingway received 37.4% of the vote despite a small budget, producing no TV or radio ads, and no flyers mailed to voters.

Scott Brown won the primary for US Senate with 50.1% of the votes. Jim Rubens, who experienced a surge in the polls just before the primary, was second with 23.1% and Bob Smith came third with 22.6%.

Although Smith, Rubens and seven other candidates divided the remainder of votes, that remainder illustrated that 50% of voters did not support Brown. The Stark360 PAC raised about $200,000 to encourage voters to support candidates other than Brown.

Following the results, Rubens criticized the media’s coverage of the primary, saying that “The media is failing voters. You are leaving us blind. The victim is truth and an empowered citizenship, our single defense against bad government. There’s almost no coverage of debate over key issues which New Hampshire takes full form during campaigns like this one. We hear about opinion polls, money, but rarely sufficient substance or objective analysis.”

On Friday, the NHGOP’s post-primary “Unity Breakfast” attempted to rally the winners and runners-up to defeat Democrats in the general election. Keynote speaker Rand Paul (R-KY) gave a speech to less-than-enthusiastic attendees that included a call to repeal Obamacare, saying it’s “not about health care policy and a lot of wonky stuff, it’s about freedom versus coercion.” Paul also told the crowd that the 2nd Amendment is impossible to protect without also protecting the 4th Amendment, echoing his Senate.gov page that states “If we are not free from unreasonable and warrantless searches, no one’s guns are safe.”

Following the breakfast, Paul endorsed Brown at the University of New Hampshire. Paul, an advocate of civil liberties and the 2nd Amendment and an active critic of government overreach from agencies such as the IRS, Homeland Security, the Federal Reserve and the TSA, offered no specifics of Brown’s credentials other than “He’s right there and can win.”

Brown has been criticized in the past for supporting anti-gun laws and has made no statements supporting the 4th Amendment or criticizing unconstitutional government power, which could make Paul’s endorsement of Brown even more confusing than his 2012 endorsement of Mitt Romney.

Rubens also endorsed Brown as well.

Although establishment-backed figures claimed victory in the gubernatorial, Senate and Congressional primaries, there were many liberty candidates for state Senate, House Of Representatives and Executive Councilor who were also able to claim victory.

Runs for smaller positions are less publicized than larger, nationally-recognized campaigns, which resulted in a need for guidance before heading to the voting booth. Liberty Ballot, an online service that showed pre-filled sample ballots recommending liberty candidates, offered voters direction by researching each candidate. New Hampshire Liberty Alliance also offered similar recommendations for candidates. Several dozen recommended candidates won their primaries, which softened the blow of an otherwise disappointing primary.

 

Interviews

Exclusive Interview: Stark360 PAC to Air Pro-Hemingway Commercials

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Benswann.com’s Joshua Cook interviews Stark360 PAC’s Aaron Day to discuss current news in the liberty movement. Day gave an update on how he is helping gubernatorial candidate Andrew Hemingway and a new website, AnyBodyButBrown.org, which exposes Scott Brown’s progressive voting record. Watch Pro-Hemingway ads here.

Listen below:

 

Featured, International, Opinion, Politics, US

Scott Brown Wants To Give Obama Power To Strip US Citizenship

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Republican candidate for US Senate Scott Brown called on President Obama and Congress last week to acquire the ability to strip United States residents of their citizenship as a method of fighting terrorism.

“One of the greatest threats facing the homeland today is the mayhem that will happen when hundreds of American ISIS fighters return to the United States to spread their terror here. Their goal is to march down Pennsylvania Avenue and plant a flag at the White House, and mass killing is their means for achieving that goal. That’s why Congress needs to pass legislation that would strip the citizenship of any American who joins a foreign terrorist organization,” said Brown.

Brown said that passing such a bill is “common sense”.

This is not the first time Brown has attempted to pass such a law. In 2010, Brown and Senator Joe Lieberman introduced a bill, called the Terrorist Expatriation Act: “To add joining a foreign terrorist organization or engaging in or supporting hostilities against the United States or its allies to the list of acts for which United States nationals would lose their nationality.” 

That bill died, but it reappeared in 2011 as the Enemy Expatriation Act, with similar language: “To add engaging in or supporting hostilities against the United States to the list of acts for which United States nationals would lose their nationality.”

Brown said the two failed bills were representative of “what was going on at the time.”

Brown’s urging to strip US citizenship of alleged terrorist allies does not stop with just legislation; he also suggested that Obama could issue executive orders revoking citizenship. “He likes executive orders,” Brown said. “This is one executive order that I’d agree with.”

Brown’s primary opponent, Jim Rubens, was heavily critical of Brown’s proposal and remarks, calling them a “flagrant attack on constitutional liberty.”

“During times like these good intentions can lead to stripping away of personal liberties,” said Rubens.

“That is exactly what Scott Brown proposed this morning, calling for the stripping of citizenship from Americans believed to be aiding terrorists. This is not a new proposal, in fact it was introduced in 2010 and 2012 in Congress. Both times, it was very quickly determined that they so egregiously violated the Constitution, they never even made it to a vote,” Rubens said.

Rubens continued, “There are many reasons it violates the Constitution including only requiring that the violation was ‘more likely to happen than not’ and the vague definition of ‘engaging in hostilities against American or its allies’ which could be broad enough to include donating books to a school in Afghanistan. The Supreme Court has long recognized that the constitutional right of citizenship cannot be taken away unless a person obtained it illegally or voluntarily renounced American citizenship.”

“Make no mistake, anyone found to be aiding terrorists should be brought to swift justice. Our system already allows for that without the stripping away of Constitutional rights of the citizens we are trying to protect,” Rubens concluded.

 

Opinion

GOP Establishments’ Assault on New Hampshire Liberty Republicans

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Concord, N.H. – We are just days away from former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown’s official announcement that he will be running for Senate in New Hampshire. His announcement will come after Brown has lived in New Hampshire for only a few months.

It is a widely known fact in New Hampshire that establishment Republicans, both national and statewide, are happy to see Brown run. Brown has even had help from Karl Rove’s PAC American Crossroads, which is currently running anti-Shaheen T.V. ads. Sources tell BenSwann.com that American Crossroads will be spending mid six figures in New Hampshire.

Brown will be entering a race that has three qualified candidates, all of which have strong liberty backgrounds: former state Senator Jim Rubens, conservative activist Karen Testerman and former New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith. While the liberty movement is split among these candidates one thing is constant- the liberty movement is rejecting Brown.

Brown recently admitted he does not have the best qualifications for the job ‘Cause, you know, whatever.” His 2012 voting record just might prove that. According to Politifact, Brown voted 53% of the time with the Democrats in his final two years of office.

As if one transplant wasn’t enough the GOP establishment has tapped Walt Havenstein, a self-and tax-proclaimed resident of Maryland to take on former chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus, Andrew Hemingway, in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

As you can see below, Havenstein took Maryland tax credits related to residency in Maryland.

havenstein-tax-bill
source: walthavenstein.com/

According to Kevin Landrigan, staff writer at NH.com:

According to Maryland law, the principal residence is defined as the location “designated by the owner for the legal purposes of voting, obtaining a driver’s license and filing income tax returns.”

Landrigan goes on in his article that when Havenstein accepted his Maryland home as principal residence, Havenstein did not have to pay property taxes on the first $50,000 of his home value.

With Hemingway polling better against a first term Governor than any challenger in recent history, it begs the question of why has the establishment tapped Havenstein to primary him?

A bigger question may be what would establishment candidates at the top of the ticket do to liberty candidates running for local and state offices? If history is any indication, it’s not a good sign. When Romney was at the top of the ticket the New Hampshire Republicans went from holding super majority in the house to being the minority.

 

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US

Exclusive: Scott Brown Refuses to Sign Anti-Obamacare Pledge

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New Hampshire –  In an email exchange obtained by BenSwann.com, between former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and chair of the RLCNH Aaron Day, Brown refuses to sign an anti-Obamacare pledge.

The pledge reads as follows:

“I hereby pledge that I will not support the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in any form, including, but not limited to, expanding Medicaid in New Hampshire through the use of Federal funds, regardless of how those funds are allocated.”

Day had been successful in getting all current Republican candidates for Senate to sign the pledge. Jim Rubens, Karen Testerman, Al Baldasaro, and Bob Smith have signed the pledge.

The email exchange started with Day asking Brown to join the RLCNH in an anti-Medicaid expansion conference. Brown said he had a schedule conflict and that is when Day asked Brown to sign the pledge.

“Subject: Re: Obamacare Speaking Opp.

Hi Scott,

Thanks for getting back to me. I hope you can make it but it certainly sounds like more pressing matters are at hand. I do have one quick question for you. The candidates who are speaking have agreed to a pledge and I wonder if you would agree to it as well. My goal here is to try to drive unity within the party specifically around Obamacare expansion in New Hampshire. Thus far, both Jim Rubens and Karen Testerman have agreed to the following very short pledge:

I hereby pledge that I will not support the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in any form, including, but not limited to, expanding Medicaid in New Hampshire though the use of Federal funds, regardless of how those funds are allocated.

Is this something that you would also put your name behind?
Best,
Aaron”

Brown replied:

Aaron: Don’t do pledges, have had bad experiences with them. But just so there is no misunderstanding, I ran on it, have voted against it 3 times and have continued to fight it at every opportunity. Almost every person in America knows my position in it. SB

We were unable to reach Brown for comment.

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Opinion, Politics, US

Scott Brown: I Don’t Have The Best Credentials, “Cause, You Know, Whatever”

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Manchester, N.H. — Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown has embarked on his “Main Streets and Living Rooms” tour of New Hampshire as he continues to toy with the idea of running for Senate in the state. He is currently touring New Hampshire, speaking to residents and small businesses and visiting to “listen to them and learn of their concerns”. While he still hasn’t completely committed to launching a campaign, he has the media in New Hampshire and across the country assuming he will try to win over the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. Brown’s presence in New Hampshire has been met with resistance from grassroots conservatives who are doubtful of his sincerity in his potential new bid for Senate.

Brown’s reputation as somewhat of an outsider in New Hampshire is not the only issue bothering voters. During one of his several stops, he made an off-the-cuff statement to The Associated Press that has riled New Hampshire residents:

“Do I have the best credentials? Probably not. ‘Cause, you know, whatever.”

Although he followed up on that by saying that he has “long and strong ties to the state”, Brown’s statement could be considered glib and nearly apathetic, and it’s unlikely that grassroots voters are going to let it slide. He already faces concerns with conservatives who are aware of his record for being less than supportive of the Second Amendment; he supports a federal ban of assault weapons and expressed opposition to concealed carry reciprocity in Massachusetts. Those issues alone are enough to make the Republican primary a challenge for him. But his “whatever” statement leaves him even more vulnerable to criticism from voters who are undecided.

US

Cold Welcome For Scott Brown’s Exploratory Committee Announcement

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Nashua, N.H. —  After just recently moving to New Hampshire, former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown announced at the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference that he is forming an exploratory committee to explore the option of running for Senate in New Hampshire.

He plans on touring New Hampshire in what he calls his “Main Streets & Living Rooms Tour”, saying, “Starting tomorrow morning, and for the next several weeks, Gail and I will be traveling around the state to introduce ourselves, to ask questions, to speak with everyone of every background – Republicans, independents and Democrats alike – and above all to listen to them and learn of their concerns,”

His announcement was welcomed by GOP insiders and establishment. However, his announcement was not so welcomed by New Hampshire GOP grassroots. Facebook groups and pages lit up with groans and disapproval of Scott Brown’s not-so-Republican voting record.

One Facebook group in particular seemed to stream nothing but disappointment. A picture posted on the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire’s feed summed up the disappointment:
nhgop
Many GOP grassroots pointed out that they feel Brown is anti-gun, making reference to Brown’s role on an advisory board of a gun manufacturer that wants to install RFID tracking devices on firearms.

Brown’s top two competitors in the primary are not going to just lay over.

“This primary campaign will draw a clear contrast between the voices of the voters in New Hampshire, and the one-size fits all, top-down approach from those in Washington,” Jim Rubens spokesman James Basbas said.

Meanwhile, Bob Smith challenged Brown to 10 debates in the 10 counties adding he would even supply Brown with a map.

A Suffolk University general election poll shows Brown far behind incumbent Shaheen, trailing her 52% to 39%.

“If he manages to survive a Republican primary against Republicans who are actually from New Hampshire, he’ll have an even tougher general election against Jeanne Shaheen, whose common sense leadership makes a difference for New Hampshire,” said New Hampshire Democratic Party spokesman Harrell Kirstein.