midterm madness

Scott Brown Tries to Win Over Female Voters by Giving Them Plaques

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 16: U.S. Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol February 16, 2012 in Washington, DC. The four Republican senators met to discuss four bipartisan jobs bills passed by the House that they say are being blocked by the Senate Democrat leadership in the Senate. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Photo: Win McNamee/2012 Getty Images

Former Massachusetts senator and current New Hampshire Senate candidate Scott Brown has a problem: If he doesn’t start attracting more female voters, he’s going to become the first man to lose two Senate races to two women. Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, the state’s former governor and current senator, has a 14-point lead among women, according to a recent poll, despite the fact that Brown can wear the heck out of a sweater. However, Time reports that Brown has an unconventional strategy for winning over the ladies. No, he’s not recanting his 2012 vote against an equal pay bill — he’s presenting female voters with “Women for Scott Brown” plaques!

It sounds like a foolproof plan, but weirdly, the first recipient of the prestigious “Hero Award” just seems creeped out. Janice Leahy, a small-business owner, tells Time she didn’t understand why Brown presented her with an engraved wooden plaque when she met with him in May to discuss her issues with Obamacare. The candidate said in a press release that he wanted to “celebrate her determination to maintain a business despite government red tape and burdensome regulations that make for a very tough environment not only for women-oriented businesses, but for everyone.”

The awards were also given to a mother and daughter operating a resort despite “the uncertainty of Obamacare and rising energy costs,” and a woman running a longterm care facility for veterans.

Leahy says she’s just “an ordinary person,” and she still hasn’t decided if she’ll vote for Brown. She said she found his equal pay vote troubling, and thinks it’s “the coolest historical thing” that New Hampshire currently has an entirely female congressional delegation.

Hopefully the Republican National Committee can still cancel that order for 161 million “Women for the GOP plaques.

Scott Brown Woos Female Voters With Plaques