Tonight, former U.S. Senator from Massachusetts Scott Brown is expected to join Sarah Palin, Hulk Hogan, John Rocker, and at least one Duck Dynasty star in endorsing Donald Trump for president.
The others on that illustrious list did not go through Brown's extensive public vetting of candidates. Brown hosted a series of "No BS Backyard BBQs" at his Rye, N.H., home; Trump was ninth of 10 Presidential wannabes to show up for the wannabe kingmaker, parading through on January 16.
Trump made news at the time by seeming to suggest that Brown could be his running mate; Brown, who at one time made his own initial inquiries into a potential presidential campaign (before his unsuccessful stab at a Senate return, from his new Granite State address), would certainly be intrigued by that prospect.
More likely, however, Brown is making a smart bet on the likelihood of Trump helping to set him up with a good job, however the presidential campaign thing ends up.
Brown, unlike many former senators, found himself struggling to find employment he deemed suitable to his stature. There was no attempt, by anyone in national Republican power circles, to find Brown a cushy landing spot on K Street, or a corporate board room, or even one of those well-appointed sales offices that like to trot out celebrity managers to help land new business.
A former colleague from the Massachusetts legislature eventually gave Brown a face-saving title at a Boston lobbying firm, and FOX News gave him a stipend for occasional appearances. Neither gig led to anything substantial.
I can't blame Brown if he's a little bitter about the way the Republican establishment turned its back on him. Endorsing Trump is a good way to return the favor—and perhaps, finally, get one of those seven-figure incomes others in his party seem to snatch up.
