Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) was in Iowa on Sunday, chowing down on corn dogs and drinking a few beers at the State Fair. But his trip is also a signal that he is weighing interest in a possible 2016 presidential run.
Brown and his wife, Gail Huff, were officially vacationing, but the duo went to the fair for more than the sites and smells. The former Senator did three interviews with local news outlets during his visit and talked with fairgoers, according to The Des Moines Register.
“I want to get an indication of whether there’s even an interest, in Massachusetts and throughout the country, if there’s room for a bipartisan problem solver,” Brown told The Boston Herald.
He also stressed that it was important to him to build up name recognition far in advance of a presidential run, instead of just during election years.
“I hate it when politicians show up at places right before an election and that’s it,” he told The Register. “It’s the only time you see them.”
Brown first gained his place in the Senate following the death of Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy in 2009, defeating Democrat Martha Coakley in the 2010 special election. He kept his post for two years before losing to Democrat Elizabeth Warren in 2012.
And it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that Brown could run for President, despite his lack of success in his 2012 reelection campaign. Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) lost his Senate seat to Democrat Bob Casey in 2006, but later ran for the GOP nomination in 2012 — though he ultimately lost that to former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.).
If Brown decides to forgo a run for the White House, he has also expressed interest in running for Massachusetts governor, or even moving to New Hampshire to take another shot at the U.S. Senate, as USA Today reported. That might be a better shot for the former Senator, since The Register reported that few Iowa fairgoers recognized Brown. He was on the fairgrounds for an hour before someone called out to him by name.
Yet the trip wasn’t a total loss for Brown — he did get a call from Secretary of State John Kerry. After hanging up, Brown joked about the unexpected contact from the former Massachusetts Senator.
“What a surprise — John Kerry calls while I’m in Iowa,” Brown quipped to The Register. “…He wanted to know how I’m doing and where I was. He’s with the State Department — I think he knows where I am.”
