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February 8, 2010

The real reason Brown won election

To the editor:

Since Jan. 20, letter writers and pundits have written analyzing why Scott Brown, a Republican, won the Senate seat. Thanks to late polling by David Paleologos, I voted my conscience and voted for Joe Kennedy, the true peace and prosperity candidate. Nonetheless, I offer my thoughts on why a Republican won in this state where 37 percent of the voters are registered Democrats, 13 percent Republicans and the rest Independents.

The blame goes to Mike Capuano, the congressman from Somerville and a co-sponsor of a federal marijuana decriminalization bill, who lost to "Reefer Mad" Martha Coakley in the Democratic primary.

Martha must have known of his sponsorship of federal marijuana law reform. Martha led the opposition to Question 2 in 2008. Her side lost in a landslide. She did the safe and prudent thing by not raising the "marijuana question." Michael miscalculated by not challenging her about it.

Had he won the primary, he could have used the same club to dispel perceptions of Scott Brown as a populist by pointing out that he opposed Question 2 and filed legislation to gut it, though in his election to the state Senate in 2008, almost 8,700 more people voted for Question 2 than voted for him in his district.

I believe that Mike didn't raise the marijuana question because he and his advisers didn't think of it as a wedge issue. Years of public silence on the marijuana question deafened him to the voice of the voters expressed in the privacy of the voting booth on Question 2. As we enter the 2010 election cycle, politicians should keep his mistake in mind.

Steven S. Epstein

Georgetown

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