


Associated Press






A businessman who attended a fund-raiser for Mr. Brown a few years ago tells me that he marveled at how the man was able to navigate the abortion issue to the grudging satisfaction of both camps. "He directed people to his Web site for specifics, but mostly he listened and made clear that he respected the heartfelt views of everyone on the issue," he says. "That won him a lot of points from a tough crowd." Not exactly straight talk, perhaps, but certainly smart politics. (Mr. Brown does not favor rolling back Roe v. Wade, but supports parental notification, banning late-term abortions, and conscience clauses for medical workers.)

I ask Mr. Brown at what point during the four hard months he spent campaigning he felt he was truly connecting with Massachusetts' voters. He instantly replies that it was the first TV ad he ran in late December, which began in black and white showing John F. Kennedy pushing for his 1962 across-the-board cut in tax rates. The screen then slowly morphed into an image of Mr. Brown as he calls for a new tax cut by finishing Kennedy's remarks: "Every dollar released from taxation that is spent or invested will help create a new job and a new salary."

Massachusetts' senator-elect says he had always admired JFK as a president who "wanted to help everybody," and when he and his staff pored over that president's speeches his defense of tax cuts leaped out. "That's what we need now. Across-the-board tax cuts," he says. "A payroll tax cut would have been better than any government stimulus."

Mr. Brown says he designed his campaign to revolve around four issues: taxes, excessive spending, terrorism and health care. But it's clear that voter angst over ObamaCare was the rocket fuel propelling him to victory. "People got where I was," he says. He was often asked to sign his autograph with the number "41" next to it, meaning he was running to be the key vote to block health-care legislation from final passage.

Nonetheless, Mr. Brown is clearly sensitive—and a tad defensive—about his state's own universal health-care system. It now covers about 95% of the population; but it has also led to the nation's highest insurance premiums. It is driving hospitals towards bankruptcy and making it more difficult for people to see a doctor. Mr. Brown voted for the system in 2006 when it was proposed by then-GOP Gov. Mitt Romney. "Of course, it can be made better," Mr. Brown says today. "But it was bipartisan and it fit our local needs. We were being eaten alive by health-care costs." Universal coverage hasn't changed that, however.

Asked about the Senate committees he'd like to be a member of, Mr. Brown mentions Armed Services and Homeland Security (he's a 30-year National Guard veteran) along with Appropriations. The last choice seems mildly surprising; Appropriations is the Senate's "favor factory"—it parcels out earmarks. "I've not been shy in the legislature about telling people no," he says. "I've told groups I don't think a grant is for them, and we've improved the transparency of earmarks here in the legislature. Let's bring the power of the Internet to Congress so people can debate and control earmarks."

Mr. Brown's election has touched off a debate among Democrats about the direction their party should take, as populists tangle with moderates over how or whether to play the class-warfare card. So why does he think Democratic attacks on him for opposing Mr. Obama's bank tax didn't seem to gain traction? "People are mad at banks and the TARP money. But the banks are paying off that money with interest," he says. 'They get that a bank tax will be transferred down to individuals through ATM fees and the amount of money they can lend to create jobs will also be reduced."

Mr. Brown says it frustrates him that too many politicians still believe that people will be fooled by what they're proposing. "People aren't stupid, and leaders should figure out they're better informed now than ever." Perhaps that explains how Scott Brown was able to pull off his improbable Cinderella story.

Back in September, picking up on the rising tide of public anger over health reform, excessive spending, and one-party arrogance, he fashioned a simple, compelling narrative to deal with it: no to a rushed, confusing health-care bill, yes to a freeze on federal spending and to introducing some sunlight into government. Mr. Brown repeated it over and over with the inner confidence that his message would eventually resonate. It did.

Mr. Fund is a columnist for