.The absurd, drawn-out dispute between Rachel Maddow and Senator Scott Brown--who represents Massachusetts, Maddow's state--won't let up. (To catch up on their argument, read here.) You would think that after taking out a full-page ad to dispute rumors she's running for Senate, Maddow would not want to keep the rumor running. But on Saturday, she helped propel it further by airing Scott Brown's views on her Twitter feed.
She began:
Now Scott Brown says I'm running, that the DNC wrote my ad that says I'm not running, and that I haven't called his office. Huh?
She followed up:
Here's Scott Brown inexplicably saying I haven't been calling his office for four days running: http://is.gd/b1JMN
And then another:
Here's Scott Brown saying Democrats must have written my I'm-not-running ad: http://is.gd/b1JPN This is now officially bizarre.
What's more "bizarre," perhaps, is that Maddow is keeping the fight alive. Even Stephanie Ebbert's Boston Globe story she links to states outright that "there is no baseline for reality in this debate." But as Ebbert suggests, Maddow and Brown are eagerly capitalizing on the "controversy" nevertheless. As far as both have something to gain--viewers and voters--from the conflict, their interests are aligned.
Ebbert dryly concludes:
Maddow -- whose Globe ad explicitly reminded viewers that her show airs at 9 p.m. -- tried to dismiss any impressions that she, too, is capitalizing on the controversy to incite her liberal viewership. But she did say she hopes to get a guest out of the deal.