With the Scott Brown Victory, Joe Martin Beams from Heaven Above

The Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts reminds me of the old days of politics. The time in which a Texan led the Democrats in the House while a Bay Stater led the Republicans. Sam Rayburn and Joe Martin effectively and honestly led their parties together from 1941-1959. Martin had been elected to Congress in 1925 after his predecessor passed on. After the arch-conservative Bert Snell (R., N.Y.) chose to retire in 1938, Martin became Minority Leader.

Martin, like Snell, had been hostile to the First 100 Days Legislation in 1933, voting against the Agricultural Adjustment Act, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the National Industrial Recovery Act. Thus, he was no liberal, and neither were any of the other Republicans representing Massachusetts during this time. Conservatives stood more than a good chance of being elected in the Northeast. In fact, prior to World War II, the base of the conservative wing of the party was the Northeast, and the base of the more progressive wing was the Midwest. The stout conservative Calvin Coolidge had been born a Vermonter and had been the strike-breaking Governor of Massachusetts before becoming Vice President, and then President. With World War II, politics began to switch more to what we know today. Martin led the GOP out of the political wilderness and into the majority in 1946, where they had a successful if brief run in enacting their reforms, like cutting taxes and enacting legislation curbing the excessive power of unions, both over President Truman's veto.

In the 1950s, the Northeastern Republicans grew more moderate to liberal and Martin followed, but he still retained a sense of fiscal conservatism. The 81-year old Martin lost renomination in 1966 to a more liberal Republican and died two years later. I'm sure that if Martin is watching the political scene from wherever place in heaven he is, he is smiling over Massachusetts at least taking a slight step back to its Republican roots.