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Scott Brown rules out 2012 presidential run, backs Romney

E-mail|Link|Comments () April 23, 2010 09:35 AM

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown said this morning he was ruling out a presidential run in 2012 and that he supported former Bay State governor Mitt Romney in the race.

Scott Brown

"Yes, absolutely, 2012, I'm ruling it out," Brown told interviewer Jamie Gangel on NBC-TV's "Today" show. When Gangel asked if he might run someday, Brown sidestepped, saying, "I'm not even going to jump at that. Nice try."

Brown's upset victory over Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley in a Jan. 19 special election stirred turmoil in Washington, catapulted Brown into the national spotlight, and spawned speculation about his political future.

Brown told Gangel his foremost professional priority for the next two years would be to "make sure that we can continue to deliver top rate constituent services and solve problems for the citizens of Massachusetts."

Asked if he supported former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin for president, Brown said he supported Romney. "Well, I'm going to support Governor Romney, and I'm going to see who's out there in the field and then make my decision," he told Gangel.

Colin Reed, a Brown spokesman, said Brown had supported Romney before and "will be with him again if he chooses to run."

The special election filled the seat of long-time Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

Asked what he thought the liberal senator would have thought of having him in his seat, Brown said, "I hope he would be proud that someone who started from nothing was able to achieve the American dream."

Brown and other New England Republicans have reemerged as a pivotal political force in the US Senate, able to block bills they don't like while offering the Democrats their best chance of capturing the critical GOP votes needed to approve legislation in the deeply partisan body, the Globe reported this week.