Real Men for Brown

Mike Doherty, of Hanson, Mass., front, shouts slogans at passing cars in support of Mass. State Senator Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, before the start of a campaign rally in Plymouth, Mass., Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010. Brown is running against Democrat Martha Coakley and Joseph Kennedy, a Libertarian who is running as an independent, in a special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat left empty by the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Shades of the ’08 Pennsylvania primary?

Catching this tweet this morning, and noticing this photo on the newswire, it feels like a gender (manly-man) and class (hard hat) bias is playing through the Brown – Coakley contest in Massachusetts. The photo also amplifies a sense of chest beating patriotism with the USA on the hat with the flag almost seeming to be stuck to it.

It’ll be interesting to see what impact Obama (showing up now) has for Coakley … as opposed to how successfully the right/TeaParty (1, 2) can combine the ’08 elitist themes with the attack on Obama (D-Washington).

(photo: Steve Senne/AP. caption: Mike Doherty, of Hanson, Mass. , front, shouts slogans at passing cars in support of Mass. State Senator Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, before the start of a campaign rally in Plymouth, Mass. , Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010. Brown is running against Democrat Martha Coakley and Joseph Kennedy, a Libertarian who is running as an independent, in a special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat left empty by the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.)