Chances are, Scott Brown has been hearing a lot of whispers lately.

“Scott Brown, your state needs you,” the voices say to the former U.S. senator from Massachusetts.

If he whispers back at all, it’s probably something along the lines of, “I know.”

To which, after a pregnant pause, he might add: “Which state?”

We can understand if there’s some confusion. Even Brown himself got a little mixed earlier this month when he talked about his role as a drawing card at Republican Party fundraisers in New Hampshire:

“They’re thankful that I’ve been around for a year helping them raise money, helping them raise awareness as to the issues that are affecting not only people here in Massachusetts – I mean New Hampshire – but also in Massachusetts obviously, and Maine,” Brown told reporters in Londonderry.

The slip of the tongue made headlines and gave ammunition to those who see Browns’s imminent move to the Granite State as a classic case of carpetbagging.

That charge grew a little louder this week, when it was announced that Brown had sold his house in Massachusetts and he and his wife, Gail, would be moving to the state.

He’s hardly the first person from the Bay State to cross the border and eye political office in New Hampshire. Democrats who want to criticize Brown for whatever Granite State political ambitions he may harbor would do well, however, to remember that the late Endicott “Chub” Peabody – a former Democratic governor from Massachusetts who later moved to Hollis – challenged Warren Rudman, of Nashua, for the U.S. Senate in 1986. Democrats didn’t seem to have a problem with that at the time, probably because they were in much the same situation then that Republicans find themselves today.

The state Republican Party landscape is, by and large, a wasteland compared to the days when the GOP controlled virtually every office worth having. They currently have no credible candidate to challenge Gov. Maggie Hassan, and the field of Republicans who have lined up thus far to take on Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is underwhelming. There is no one of Brown’s stature in the field at present.

Brown is scheduled to headline a Republican State Committee holiday fundraiser at the Hunt Memorial Building in Nashua on Thursday.

We welcome him to the state and hope he decides to run for office. More than that, though, we hope he gets off the proverbial dime and makes up his mind soon. We realize the wisdom of not declaring one’s intention to run for office in a state in which one doesn’t yet live – and there’s something to be said for a candidate not peaking before actually entering the race – but already the fatigue of indecision is setting in.

A lawyer by trade, Brown served in the Massachusetts House and Senate before being elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy. Brown was regarded as a relatively liberal Republican and the least partisan member of the Senate before he was defeated last year by Elizabeth Warren in his re-election bid.

Brown has experience, polish and professionalism. We think it’s unfortunate that he came out against the budget deal that passed the House last week and represented a victory for party moderates over the tea party wing, but we still believe he would be a welcome addition to the Republican roster in New Hampshire.

As long as he hurries it up, and doesn’t lose track of what state he’s in.

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