Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) says preemptive attack ads aimed at his potential challenge to New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) are just getting him more pumped up about possibly jumping into the race.
“They keep running these negative ads and crushing my integrity and distorting my votes and the like — almost antagonizing me, challenging me to get in,” Brown told Politico in an interview Monday on Capitol Hill. “Had they left me alone, I may feel a bit different. But they didn’t.”
“It’s not discouraging me, that’s for sure. If their intent was to discourage me, that’s definitely not the case,” he added.
Brown told Politico he would “probably” make a final decision by the June filing deadline, but his ambivalence about the race has started to rub New Hampshire residents the wrong way. The state’s most prominent newspaper, the New Hampshire Union-Leader, published an editorial on Saturday that was sharply critical of the speculation surrounding a Brown candidacy.
From the Union-Leader:
The guy can’t stop at Dunkin’ Donuts without triggering a story about what it means for his future intentions.
Even world-class publicity magnets like the Kardashians or Justin Bieber would be impressed by Brown’s ability to monopolize media attention on what is, so far, a non-candidacy. And incumbent U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen must be loving it: The less attention on her and her support for Obamacare, the better.
A recent Public Policy Polling survey found Shaheen widening her lead over Brown 47 percent to 39 percent.
