Scott Brown, Steady Hand

His debut on the cover of the NY Times Magazine. The new Republican Senator from Massachusetts takes over Teddy Kennedy's spacious office. (He's already made a shrewd vote establishing his independence in that still pretty Blue state.) Caution--the NY Times recycles a few smears. Rebuttal to that once again. And they dig up a story about pink leather shorts.

Nice try, Frank Bruni. But there's a grudging admiration as well:

By all accounts, Brown is prouder of his long marriage and strong-willed daughters than of anything else. “Honestly, he is the best father you could ask for,” Arianna says. “He’s always said, ‘When I was younger, I made a vow that I would never let my kids down.’ And he’s maintained that vow.” Of the scores of home basketball games that Ayla has played so far during her three-and-a-half-year college career, he has missed only three, she says. And Arianna says that to make sure that she isn’t shortchanged by his and Ayla’s special sports bond, he carves out movie nights just for her.

And there's this bit from Brown's swing through the state after his election, where he promised to stay and shake every hand:

But more striking than the crowd’s ardor was the way Brown handled it. Once near him, almost every person held up a digital camera and paused, perplexed by the challenge of simultaneously taking a picture and being in it. Brown, a lefty, used that hand to grab the camera and, without letting go of the Sharpie also in his clutch, extended his left arm, pulled the person close with his right arm, leaned back and snapped the shot of the two of them. He did this ad nauseam and never bobbled the camera, a feat that struck me as superhuman until Maggie Trichon explained that Brown worked extensively as a hand model. He had to become expert at using his flawlessly maintained fingers to hold an electronic device or other object for as long as an hour.

Working for a living. Scott Brown, steady hand.

P.S. Good thing Sen. Brown didn't let Bruni drive his truck. Oops, it was that other NY Times reporter who had trouble with vehicular control. (Maybe that's why they didn't send him even though he hails from suburban Boston.)