First Reid, now Frank?

Is it possible that the voters of Massachusetts will dethrone the entrenched, 14-term Representative Barney Frank in November? Some say there is now at least a scintilla of hope in Sean Bielat, the Republican candidate for Congress in Massachusetts' 4th District. Bielat is 35 years old, articulate and well accomplished. He is a Marine by training and is now a major in the Reserves, but he is no typical jarhead. He graduated from Georgetown, went to Harvard for a masters and Wharton for his MBA. The majority of his career, he has been an aficionado in manufacturing the high-tech robots that defuse improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan. He even looks a little like the main character in Hurt Locker.

But, enough about his resume. Could he beat this guy in a deep blue suburn of Boston? Well, one poll has him trailing Frank by just 10 points despite the fact that only 43% of the participants know who he is. That's a good start. What's even more heartening is that he understands how bad Frank has been for the country.

"Ask Bielat to name the three worst things Frank has done in office and you get an idea of what his focus would be, if elected. 'You've got to start with Freddie and Fannie and his unending push to expand home ownership,' Bielat says. 'He definitely played an enormous role in getting us where we are today in terms of the real estate bubble and the ensuing financial collapse.'

Right on, kid.

"Number two? 'Financial reform, because it doesn't address Fannie and Freddie and vastly expands oversight of the financial services sector.'

Yep.

"Three? 'His view on what government should and should not do.' Simply put, Frank wants an always-expanding federal government, and Bielat doesn't."

I think the Tea Party could even get onboard with him on that. Bielat is concerned with the expansion of programs and the entitlement spending that comes with it, which is something that is vitally important to deficit reduction, but most politicians avoid like the plague.

I like him.  I don't give him great odds, but then, there is the Scott Brown thing.