Conor J Rogers, Editor
Ideology: Moderate Republican | Writing from: Washington, DC
“It’s great to have another moderate New England Republican. Our numbers have been dwindling in New England, so he’s a welcome addition to the United States Senate.”
–Sen Olympia Snowe (via POLITICO)
When Senator-elect Scott Brown arrived on Capitol Hill this past Thursday, Sen. Mitch McConnell remarked with a smirk that although Brown was Massachusetts’ newest Senator, “He’ll always be ‘41’ to me.”
Declared “Scott heard round the world,” by the conservative punditry, Scott Brown will forever be remembered as “41” to Republicans across America. He’s the one who stopped Obama; he killed the healthcare bill, and restored Republican power to the Senate, right?
Not so fast.
He may have stopped Obamacare –but he’s also avidly pro-choice. He’s voted against gay marriage before (in the Massachusetts State Senate) – but hasn’t expressed support for the Defense of Marriage Act and says marriage decisions should be left up to the states, and according to Log Cabin Republicans, Brown may be an ally in the fight to overturn ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ He’s against President Obama and Speaker Pelosi’s healthcare plan – but has pledged to work for national healthcare reform of another kind. (He favors, and supported MassHealth “RomneyCare” that raised taxes to provide healthcare to 98% of Massachusetts residents.)
His positions on conservative hot button issues like immigration and union-related issues are unknown, and little is known of his views on foreign policy – except that he doesn’t support American trials for captured terrorists.
Despite the fact he’s a national Republican hero, he’s still beholden to the left-tilting Massachusetts electorate in November 2012.
Where will pro-abortion but tough on terror Senator Brown come down on Presidents Obama’s judicial nominees? On confirming any cabinet nominees that may arise?
Looking forward over the next three years, it’s easy to see how Scott Brown may become the unlikeliest of allies to the Obama administration on certain issues. For evidence of how that might work look no further than President Obama’s former adversary Sen. John McCain. On healthcare, McCain has proven to be a thorn in the side to the White House – giving cover to other moderates like Snowe and Collins (Rs-ME) to stand against the public option and healthcare mandates. But concurrently, McCain has partnered with the White House on green initiatives, on elements of the stimulus package, and on the scaling-up of American efforts in Afghanistan.
Or take fellow New England Moderates Snowe and Collins – while they often stonewall President Obama’s cabinet nominations and judicial nominees, Snowe voted for healthcare reform, and Collins helped hammer out the final details to get to ‘60’ on economic recovery items.
He’s “41” to Republicans, but will Scott Brown become President Obama’s 60th vote on a watered down healthcare plan? Will he be the 60th vote to confirm a pro-choice justice?
Scott Brown is currently America’s most talked about Senator – but he may soon join Olympia Snowe, Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins in what is increasingly becoming the Northeastern middle.
I strongly disagree that Brown, Collins, Lieberman, etc reflect “what is increasingly becoming the Northeastern middle.”
As for the implications of Brown’s relationship to the national base (whose interest in the race ultimately elected the guy), I think you are absolutely right. If the Tea Party crowd expects to become an enduring right-wing constituency, they will accept the reality that a Republican Senator from Massachusetts has to legislate as a moderate. If the Tea Party movement adopts this sense of pragmatism and spares Brown of the wrath that they routinely unleash against Snowe and Collins, the movement will become a much more viable conservative force. If they expect Brown to vote like Jim DeMint, however, they will remain a reactionary collection of anger that will inevitably dissipate. Considering the good Senator from South Carolina openly decries the formation of a more pragmatic conservative movement (“I’d rather have a GOP minority of 30 pure conservatives than an outright majority”), I definitely see a hostile relationship evolving between Brown and his caucus’s more conservative members.
I admit I was scared that the Tea Party might sink Brown’s campaign earlier on when I realized how liberal he was but right now I think they are thinking more pragmatically in terms of the filibuster pivot. I truly think he will be more liberal than appears on issues besides healthcare, mainly because he will face election in only 2 years against the liberal MA electorate and you can count on the Dems to pick a strong candidate for that round.