Scott Brown's Support of Anti-Filibuster Vote on Jobs Bill Not a Shocker
Newly minted GOP Sen. Scott Brown of Massachussetts led a mini-stampede of five Republicans who voted to end their party's attempt to filibuster a small but important jobs-creation bill today. There was much sturm und drang about his vote, but I don't see it as a big deal.
As several columnists cited by The WEEK point out, this was not a huge bill. It was a relatively easy one for moderate Republicans to support. It was low-priced. So it wasn't hard for a newcomer who owes a substantial part of his support to his state's well-known left-leading independents to cast an early vote that would reduce his image as a Tea Party favorite. He'll take heat for it but it won't cost him dearly in the party or in the Senate. And it gives him some credibility when discussing legislation with the Democratic majority and the White House that no other Republican Senator has. This may have been one of the shrewdest political moves in a while by a Republican.
Whether Brown is going to be a true independent won't be known for a few months yet, but for now, at least, he's avoided being painted with the same brush of obstructionism that has tarred his colleagues in the Senate. And that's a Good Thing all around.
