2016: Brown vs. Warren II—This Time, For The White House?

No politicians—no politician—goes to Iowa by accident. Former US Senator Scott Brown is not just going to Iowa on Sunday, he is going for the State Fair, and he is going in the first year of the 2016 election cycle. And on top of that, he is giving this kind of quote to the news media there:

“I’m going to be coming out more often to try to determine whether there’s an interest in my brand of leadership and Republicanism,” Brown told The Des Moines Register in a telephone interview this afternoon.

Oh, and by the by, Brown also just happened to mention something else to the Register:

“his wife, Gail Brown, a TV reporter, was born in Iowa and still has relatives in the Winterset area, he said.”

This, by the way, comes on the heels of Brown playing up his close ties to, and second home in, New Hampshire, via what was presumably a bluffing consideration of running for US Senate there in 2014.

Let’s be blunt: for some reason, Scott Brown—Scotto, as I like to call him—wants people to think he’s considering running for President.

It’s possible that he wants people to think that because he is, in fact, considering running for President. Or, he might have some other reason for wanting them to think that. Hard to tell.

But it’s not a ridiculous notion. He’s a pretty well-known entity among Republican primary voters; he would likely inherit much of the Romney operation; and he could perhaps be the lone (relative) moderate while a field of conservatives split the rabid base. His one major negative—losing to Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts—is likely forgivable among those who consider Massachusetts the last remaining Soviet Socialist Republic.

Of course, the best part of imagining Republican Presidential nominee Scott Brown is the possibility, however slim, that the Democratic Presidential nominee in 2016 could be none other than Elizabeth “E-Dubs” Warren herself.

Let’s be blunt again: if Hillary Clinton chooses to not run, Warren is surely among the top five most likely to become the nominee. She has the name recognition among Democratic primary voters; tremendous fundraising potential; and would be an obvious second choice for those hoping Clinton will be the first woman President.

I’m not saying it’s going to happen. I’m just saying that for this moment at least, it is not unreasonable to imagine those bitter 2012 rivals Scotto and E-Dubs both running for President in 2016; and it is not completely beyond the realm of possibility for them to face one another once again, this time to be leader of the Free World.

Hey, a Massachusetts political reporter can dream.