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Go Home Scott Brown Steps In It

THE STUMP OCTOBER 6, 2011

Scott Brown Steps In It

BY ALEC MACGILLIS

Okay, so it may not be as damaging in Massachusetts as displaying one's Red Sox ignorance, but still, guffawing with a radio talk show host about your female opponent's unsuitability for nude modeling may not be the best route to reelection. Massachusetts has shown an odd reluctance to elevate women to higher office, but if there's anything that could help women rally around one of their own, this might be it.

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15 comments

Sort of a double standard, no? I love Warren, but I would say she started it ...

- NR409654

October 6, 2011 at 1:14pm

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NR409654 makes a fair point: His crack about her appearance is deservedly being called out, but her crack about his nude modeling is not much better. From the article, it doesn't sound like he went on a long spiel about her looks. He just snapped back with a cheap retort to an equally cheap shot.

- Dausuul

October 6, 2011 at 1:45pm

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How do you resist his nude modeling, though?

- ReganaD

October 6, 2011 at 1:59pm

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I don't plan on weighing in much on these comment threads, but I thought I ought to in this case just for the sake of factual clarification. Warren's quip at the debate that she had paid for college while keeping her clothes on came in response to a question that raised the issue of Brown's Cosmo shoot. She wasn't the one who brought it up. The question she got was: "To help pay for his law school education, Scott Brown posed for Cosmo. How did you pay for your college education?"

- Alec MacGillis

October 6, 2011 at 2:05pm

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She didn't start it. She was asked a question that directly referenced how Brown paid for college, and attempted to give a lighthearted answer.

- kluhman

October 6, 2011 at 2:19pm

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Of course, this was pointed out already if I would bother to read the previous comments.

- kluhman

October 6, 2011 at 2:22pm

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Guess how I paid for college. LOL. This is absurd, really. And Warren is off base on this. Total cheap shots on both sides. I'm offended as a woman, by what Brown said; AND as a former model.

- Sophia

October 6, 2011 at 2:27pm

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PS, is this the best we can do? Oy, America.

- Sophia

October 6, 2011 at 2:28pm

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Hmm, okay. That puts things in a slightly different light. I had the impression it was just a gratuitous "Hey, my opponent used to be a male model!" thing.

- Dausuul

October 6, 2011 at 2:33pm

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Sophia, pictures, or it didn't happen ... :-) Alec, thanks for clarifying. I still think it was an unnecessary dig. She could have given a straight answer. Since she didn't, she should take her lumps (as long as it's not egregious).

- NR409654

October 6, 2011 at 2:36pm

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I dare say Warren herself can take it; she's been called much worse. But the public discourse could really do without "OMG old people are gross and unattractive people should be ashamed to be seen!" It could also do without "OMG guys who model are effeminate and laughable." I suggest replacing both sentiments with "OMG unemployment is at nine percent while the financial industry we bailed out a couple years ago is raking in massive profits!" Of course, Scott Brown would probably rather keep talking about Warren's appearance...

- Dausuul

October 6, 2011 at 3:06pm

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Why not check in every now and then Alec? It's nice to hear from you. I like both Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren and the best thing either of them could do with this stuff is grow a thick hide and laugh it off. The whole thing is kind of funny. Politicians feign being offended when it suits them (I guess racism exists only when Herman Cain says it does) but most of the time, you get big points for taking it in stride (unless your name is Barack Obama, then the mere existence of your race is taken as a provocation, let alone if you have the temerity to mention it, God forbid). Look, Elizabeth Warren has een around the block in powerful patriarchal settings - she knows that to play with the big dogs, you have to have a thick hide. Any woman running for office is going to have to deal with ridiculous, sexist nonsense. Unless it's really bad, and it probably will be at some point, Warren is going to have to grow a Hillary size pair and not let them see her sweat this stuff.

- WandreyCer

October 6, 2011 at 4:30pm

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@WandreyCer - Has Warren herself commented? I expect she'll do exactly what you say, laugh it off in public no matter how she feels in private. The criticism seems to be coming from third parties; it's about what these comments say to every woman--and, for that matter, to every model, male or female--watching and listening.

- Dausuul

October 6, 2011 at 4:52pm

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When considering the political ramifications of this, I think its important to realize that there are a lot of people who lean Democratic but think Brown is such a likable guy that they will consider voting for him. If Brown is downgraded to even average likeability, that majorly dents his appeal. And this was pretty crass.

- WillPastor

October 6, 2011 at 7:49pm

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i find there to be no chance in hell that Warren would be offended as she is an attractive woman (I kinda dig the smart librarian look) and I doubt she ever had many problems growing up in that department, so obviously Brown was not thinking when he responded, now if Warren was geniunely unattractive he would be in deep. I also agree there is a double standard here, I can freely state I don't want to see Dick Cheney naked and no one would be offended.

- blackton

October 7, 2011 at 10:19am

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