Argh. I see Politico beat me to it. But I do want to take note of a rather remarkable statement that U.S. Sen. Scott Brown made Friday on WTKK Radio (96.9 FM) — that he had not touched alcohol since Jan. 1, and wouldn’t until the polls close on Election Day. According to the Associated Press, “Brown called the decision ‘one of those New Year’s things’ that he did ‘on a stupid bet.'”
Well, as Politico puts it, “It depends on what the definition of ‘drinking’ is for Brown.” Because just a week earlier, he allowed Boston Herald reporter Hillary Chabot to accompany him on a day of campaigning. And one of his stops was the Blue Hills Brewery in Canton. “He likes the Red IPA, by the way,” Chabot says in the John Wilcox video that accompanies her story.
In the video, Brown can be seen sampling the brewery’s wares, but if he took more than a sip, the camera didn’t capture it. Chabot’s story resulted in a brief flurry on Twitter among those who thought Brown was setting a bad example by drinking and driving (his truck, of course).
That criticism struck me as overwrought, and it still does. Chabot wrote only that Brown “tasted one of the lighter brews,” although she quoted him as saying of the Red IPA: “You can pound those pretty good.” Sounds like he may need a designated driver in the wee hours of Nov. 7.
But I guess he needs to revise his New Year’s resolution to “No Drinking until Election Day Except with Hillary Chabot.”
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I really don’t care about the technicalities of Brown’s New Year’s resolutions. I do find it interesting that drinking beer is just another facet of Brown’s “regular guy” cred cited in Chabot’s article. (But “We’re gonna have her dancing in the back of the truck”? Ew.)
I also find it interesting how the identical issue WON’T be mentioned in the presidential contest, despite Romney’s rather desperate attempts to make himself look like a “regular guy”. There will be no mention in the media this year about which presidential candidate you’d most like to have a beer with.
@Stephen: For years, the media kept telling us that voters would rather have a beer with George W. Bush even though he was an alcoholic who had stopped drinking. Makes as much sense to say the same about Romney, even though I agree that they won’t.
Perhaps this is another social issue on which the Republicans want to turn back the clock and Mr. Brown will soon be calling for a return to Prohibition. Other than that I can’t imagine who he thinks will be impressed by his campaign season abstinence. Perhaps his next pronouncement will be that for the remainder of the campaign he’s going to make his bed each morning and brush his teeth twice a day.
Maybe he’s a diabetic and doesn’t want to disclose it.
Much like a candidate showing up in church during election season. Total stranger.
He should lose the tie. Then he’d really be a regular guy, like Mitt Romney when he’s in New Hampshire.
This country is going to hell in a handbasket, meanwhile B.S. such as this seems to be the focus of attention. Pitiful.