Scott Brown in Against All Odds, by Senator Scott Brown (R, MA)
On Principles & Values:
2008: Won State Senate seat by 20% in Democratic district
In the 2008 election, the Democratic Party thought it could win back the Norfolk-Middlesex district that I now held by relying on the massive pro-Obama turnout.
The big money got on board behind the Democrats' handpicked candidate, a female psychologist.
I figured that the other side could be running a convicted criminal, and the reflex would be to endorse him or her over me. I ended up beating her by over 20 points at the height of the Obama wave in the election.
After that, it began to dawn on some of the Democrats that I run to win. Some of them, but not all of them.
Source: Against All Odds, by Scott Brown, p.239
Feb 21, 2011
On Jobs:
Supported by union rank-and-file but not union officials
I had gone to make presentations before the key unions around the state--many times Martha hadn't even shown up to speak to them, but the union officials still endorsed her anyway or largely sat out the race.
My positions were increasingly resonating with the union rank and file, with people like me, but that didn't matter to the union heads. The problem was simply a letter, the letter R after my name [for Republican in Democratic Massachusetts].
Source: Against All Odds, by Scott Brown, p.262
Feb 21, 2011
On Principles & Values:
I drive a truck, and I'm nobody's senator but yours
On election night I remembered Ted Kennedy for his service and spoke of how "I honor his memory" and pledged myself to be a worthy successor. I spoke of the people I had met in every corner of the state. I looked them in the eye shook their hand,
and asked for their vote. I didn't worry about their party affiliation, and they didn't worry about mine. It was simply shared conviction that brought us together. I promised to work to put government back on the side of the people who create
jobs and on the side of the millions of people who need jobs. And I spoke about working on behalf of our veterans and working to keep out country safe.
I ended with the lines, "I've got a lot to learn in the Senate, but I know who I am and I know who I serve. I'm Scott Brown. I'm from Wrentham. I drive a truck, and I am nobody's senator but yours."
Source: Against All Odds, by Scott Brown, p.285
Feb 21, 2011
On Principles & Values:
It's not Ted Kennedy's office; it's the people's office
I heard a woman's voice: "You're the new US senator from Massachusetts, Scott Brown." And it was Maria Shriver [Ted Kennedy's niece and her husband] Arnold Schwarzenegger. Maria added, "Thank you for your gracious words about Uncle Teddy on election
night. The family appreciated that very much."Indeed, out of respect, the first call I made on election night was to Ted Kennedy's widow, Vicki, and I kept a picture of Ted Kennedy in my US Senate office, the office where he used to serve.
We exchanged a few words, and then one of the other Shrivers at the table asked, "So where's your office?" I answered that I was in the same office that Ted Kennedy had occupied. He looked at me with utter shock, and then Maria said, "YOU have Uncle
Teddy's office?"
At this point, Arnold interrupted them all and began to laugh. He said in his perfect Terminator voice. "Maria, Maria. It's not Uncle Teddy's office. It's the people's office." But it was a great joke. And it is also the truth.
Source: Against All Odds, by Scott Brown, p.290
Feb 21, 2011
On Civil Rights:
Represented abused women in divorce cases
Had I not grown up hungering for a family, I might never have appreciated the one I am blessed with now. Had I not yearned and longed for my own dad,
I might never have been the dad who was determined not to miss a basketball game or who would treasure getting a handmade Father's Day coupon entitling me to a night at the movies with my girls.
Had I not known violence, not seen what it did to my mother and my sister Leeann, I might never have represented other women in their divorce cases and fought to free them from abusive homes. Had I not been forced to become a protector,
of my mother and my sister, I might not have grown up to be a problem solver, to look for the way out.
Source: Against All Odds, by Scott Brown, p.310
Feb 21, 2011
On Families & Children:
Rough childhood makes me appreciate how blessed I am now
I would not change the afternoon I stole food or the day I stole those record albums. I would not change the mornings I waited for my father, when he didn't come. I would not change the fight with my mother or the time when, in desperation
and devastation, I ran away. If I changed any one of those things, it would change the architecture of my life, and I would no longer be the person that I am today.
Had I not grown up hungering for a family, I might never have appreciated the one I am blessed with now. Had I not yearned and longed for my own dad, I might never have been the dad who was determined not to miss a basketball game.
Had I not been forced to become a protector, of my mother and my sister, I might not have grown up to be a problem solver, to look for the way out.
Source: Against All Odds, by Scott Brown, p.310
Feb 21, 2011
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