Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.) seems intent on using MSNBC host Rachel Maddow to solicit funds for his 2012 re-election race.
For more than a week, the Senate's newest member has claimed that the MSNBC host is planning to run for his Senate seat when his term expires in 2012. And at every turn, Maddow has adamantly denied that she was ever recruited to run, has any plans to run, or ever considered a run.
Brown's first claims about Maddow's fictitious candidacy came in a fundraising letter sent to the senator's would-be donors. But according to Brown, it's Maddow who is seeking to gain from her non-existent run. This past weekend, he accused Maddow of trying to "boost her ratings."
On Tuesday, Maddow denied that and Brown's other claims in her strongest response yet.
"You've been in Washington seven weeks, and you're already lying over and over and over again--insistently," Maddow said during a long comment directed at the junior senator from Massachusetts:
You [Senator Brown] made something up that's not true. You have such a lack of respect for your conservative donor base around the country that you don't care if what you tell them is true or not. You think it doesn't matter in politics if what you say is true or not.
'Just give me the money,' makes for a good story, a good scary liberal story.
'If you feel scared, then send me your money.' Who cares if the story's true or not. Who cares.
Turns out, I care.
Somebody's gotta draw a line somewhere. Lying should have consequences. You shouldn't get to flat out lie in the conduct of your business as United States Senator and get away with it.
Everybody says that this is just the way people do things, this is just politics. But politics is for something. Politics is about more than just politicians. Politics is about our country. And I don't concede that the only thing we can expect from people in politics is for them to lie to us and not care, and get away with it because we don't expect better.
So, I recognize that this is probably futile, but I'm going to say it. Senator Brown, you need to stop lying about this.
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