How Scott Brown Stopped Andy Card's Senate Challenge

FF Exclusive: In September of last year, it seemed unlikely Scott Brown would win the Republican nomination if former Transportation Secretary Andy Card decided to take him on in a primary.

Click here for all of Tim Mak’s reports from the RNC Summit in Hawaii.

(Honolulu, HI) - Before there was Martha Coakley, there was Andy Card.

In September of last year, it seemed unlikely that Brown would win the Republican nomination if Andy Card, who was considering a run at the Senate seat, decided to take him on in a primary. After all, Card had been a former Transportation Secretary and a White House Chief of Staff, and had much better name recognition among Massachusetts Republicans.

Ron Kaufman, a National Committeeman from Massachusetts, tells the story of the conversation that convinced Andy Card not to run:

In September, Scott had announced that he was running [for Ted Kennedy’s seat]. My brother-in-law, who is Andy Card, came to my home in Beacon Hill and the three of us got together.

Scott said: ‘I’m running for Senator, and I honestly think I’m going to win.’ And then he said, ‘Andy, if you run against me in the primary, I’m going to beat you.’

Beat Andy Card! But, Scott continued: ‘Look, this is about governing, and because of your experience and who you are -you’re one of my heroes - you’d be a great Senator. Even though I think I can beat you, if you run, I’m going to drop out and support you.’

I was so impressed with that. It wasn’t done with any bluster... and Andy decided not to run.

...There’s a line in politics: the difference between confidence and arrogance is very thin. And Scott was on the right side of that.

Kaufman, chuckling, tells FrumForum that Brown’s eventual win finally made politics in Massachusetts exciting again. “Look,” said Kaufman, “it hasn’t always been fun to be a Republican in Massachusetts.”

For Ron Kaufman, Brown and 'fun' have been intertwined. After all, Kaufman has campaigned often for Brown over the last decade, helping him with his elections to other offices:

Back in the late ‘90s, I helped this young guy, Scott Brown, run for State Rep. In July of 2004, Mitt Romney and I helped him get elected in a special election to State Senator.

I remember riding on a bus with Scott, the Sunday before the election in 2004, and it was a very close race that most people thought he would lose. But he wasn’t worried. The confidence he had that day was the same confidence he had in his race for Massachusetts Senate.