Politics & Government

Readers Weigh In On Scott Brown's 'Kennedy' Ad

The vote in our unscientific poll showed a near even split between those who thought Brown was right and those who thought he was wrong to air the ad.

We asked if Sen. Scott Brown should stop running radio ads that compare his views with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy? And (as of 12:50 p.m. Friday, March 3, 2012).

Brown recently came under fire for running radio ads that contend that Kennedy would have agreed with him that employers and insurers should be able to exclude health care coverage of drugs and procedures that go against their moral views.

Ted Kennedy's son, Patrick, asked Brown to stop running the ads in which he says, “Like Ted Kennedy before me, I support a conscience exemption in health care for Catholics and other people of faith.” 

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In the ads Brown was voicing his support for an amendment to a bill that would have allowed employers or health insurers to deny coverage for services they say violate their moral or religious beliefs, including birth control. 

[Editor's note: This post, or versions of it, are posted on several Boston-area Patch sites, including those in the South End, Back Bay, Beacon Hill and Charlestown.]

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That amendment was defeated by the Senate Thursday, but Brown continued to defend his position

And Patch readers defended his position as well: 

 posted a link to a letter from Ted Kennedy to the Pope in which he wrote, "I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health field and I’ll continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone."

However, many more readers said they didn't believe Kennedy would agree with Brown's view on this:

 wrote, "It is disgraceful that Sen. Brown is taking Sen. Kennedy's words out of context and trying to use them to trick voters..."

Still others said why should Brown or anyone else care what Ted Kennedy thought:

 wrote, "Whether or not Ted Kennedy thought it was a good idea is irrelevant to me. It is NOT a good idea no matter who endorses it..."

Some believe the radio ads in question were telling:

 wrote, "Scott Brown is getting desperate. He's in real trouble in reelection, and this is a particularly disgusting comparison. To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, I knew Ted Kennedy, and you, senator, are no Ted Kennedy."

And many of the other comments strayed from the issue at hand and said we should all be thinking of more important issues:

 wrote, "....Unless we live in a communist country he has every right legally to make the comparison to someones viewpoint or voting record. The question we should be discussing is who will bring more jobs to the baystate brown or warren. The answer is very easy. Scott brown all the way....."


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