"Yes," Brown said quietly, and then, having become Reid's first vote, he rushed out of the room...

[jefferson_dem]

From the bluest of states, a red senator of a different color

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 23, 2010; A02

So much for the Massachusetts Miracle.

The election of Republican Scott Brown to Ted Kennedy's Senate seat was supposed to bring a seismic change to national politics. It did just that Monday night, but not in the way Republicans had hoped.

It was almost time to vote on the Senate jobs bill, the first major vote since Brown's arrival. Republicans were counting on their new member to be their "41st vote," the number needed to sustain filibusters and shoot down any and all Democratic proposals.

Brown, his desk in the back corner, was the only Republican in the room as Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev.) offered a final denunciation of the GOP before the vote. "My friends on the other side of the aisle are looking for ways not to vote for this," he said, accusing them of putting "partisanship ahead of people."

As Reid spoke, Brown was leafing through a Senate face book, learning to recognize his new colleagues. As soon as the vote was called, he strode quickly into the well and interrupted the clerk as he read the roll.

"Yes," Brown said quietly, and then, having become Reid's first vote, he rushed out of the room before Republican colleagues arrived. He stepped into the hallway, then waited for reporters to assemble around him.

<SNIP>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022204270_pf.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Good for him.

[Cha]

2. What's the deal? Did Mass

voters let him know they wanted a Yes on this??

[rgbecker]

4. This Jobs bill is a big freebie for business.....get workers for 6% discount.

Even a tea bagger could support that!

[Cha]

7. Then why is fucking mccain and all the rest

voting NO?

[sandnsea]

18. I can't figure it out

They hand out months of extra unemployment checks, and add $25 a week to them, not enough. They give students $1,000 refundable college credits, not enough. They put billions of dollars in education and save 300,000 jobs, not enough. New energy and high speed rail, not enough. Largest investment in the sciences, ever, not enough.

All of that created jobs, but it's not a jobs bill.

So they decide to give money direct to businesses to hire people, and that's also not enough.

If creating government funded projects that hire people isn't a jobs program, and creating business-sector incentives to hire people isn't a jobs program, - then I guess these people just won't be happy until the government sends them $5,000 in their tax refunds.

Oh wait, if you have 2 kids and are moderate income, around $20,000 a year, the government does mail you a $5,000 check.

No wonder people to start to ask how much is enough.

[Cha]

23. Thanks for your pertinent

information, sandnsea.

[karynnj]

46. I really wish comments could be recommended - this one deserves it nt

[damonm]

37. Three words...

Obama Derangement Syndrome.

[Betty Karlson]

39. McCain is voting no to out-teabag Hayworth

(You know, his primary opponent in the Arizona senate race? The one far to the right of Attila the Hun? The one who ideologically seems to want to approach anarchism from the right? Well, that one. And McCain is trying to surpass him of all people!)

[Cha]

40. Yes, I do know..and all the repukes are

trying to out do each other except scott brown for some reason on the Jobs Bill which brings me back to my original question? :)

[Betty Karlson]

41. You mean: why do the teabags not have the same interest

as the freebies?

Easy:
The freebies are ideological and partisan hacks
The teabags are a discontent movement. Teabags want the government to fail because of what it represents. Bush made the government too powerfull and eliminated too many checks and balances. By continuing those policies, Obama becomes a quite scary figure for those who disagree with him. Michelle Bachmann is crazy for her "re-education camps" comment, but it represents a real fear in her circles.

Freebies only want to see the government fail depending on what it proposes. The moment the GOP returns to power (God forbid!) some teabags will oppose the GOP with the same vigour. (Minus the latent racism vis-a-vis the president.)

[Betty Karlson]

42. Other guess:

the dropping of the public option was the price to pay for the cloture on the jobs bill?

[1monster]

38. He told reporters, "I'm not from around here. I'm from Massachusettes." Maybe the moderate Repubs

will regain control of their party...eventually.

Or maybe it's Massachusettes and occupying Teddy's old office?

[FrenchieCat]

3. Temporary malfunction.....

"He stepped into the hallway, then waited for reporters to assemble around him."

Brown voted YES, so that he can NO on everything else.....and look like he's from
a different party than the Party of No. :eyes:

Elementary!

[Arkana]

31. This is exactly it and I wish everyone would stop fawning over Snotty Scotty.

He WILL bite us in the ass so that his teabaggers come back to him.

[EC]

5. Could it have been all planned?

He's from a blue state and needed the cover. This was a bill the Republicans didn't really want to stop, so they gave him the pass on this one...but I'll bet he'll vote NO from now on...

[democrat2thecore]

9. Nope. I don't think so. See my post #8. -nt

[sadbear]

6. McChinless let/made him vote yes

The republicans aren't going down via obstructing a jobs bill. They're taking heat for showing up at ribbon cuttings at (economic stimulus) events they all voted against. So they'll let this one pass and try to take all the credit for it when it succeeds.

[democrat2thecore]

8. He Hears The Footsteps of Joe Kennedy

Remember, his campaign can't stop as he's up for re-election in 2012. Joe Kennedy asked not to be considered for the interim appointment that ultimately went to Paul Kirk because many believe he wants to actually run for the seat. Timing wasn't right this year, 2012 is a different story with the seat now in Republican hands. Brown's definitely his own man, knows he was elected with a majority of ANGRY voters (not Republican/conservative voters) and can't be a typical "gimme" Republican vote.

A Brown/Kennedy race would be a barnburner in 2012.

[Cha]

12. You think Joe Kennedy would

want it?

[democrat2thecore]

16. Yep!

Ted, Jr. is looking at Connecticut as well.

[Cha]

22. Interesting..I thought all

Kennedys were out of politics after Patrick leaves the House from Rhode Island.

[JenniferJuniper]

36. I don't think Joe Kennedy is the answer

Even if he had the interest. I like him, but he's not the brightest member of the family and I think Brown would kill him in any debates. If MA Democrats learned anything from the Coakley debacle, it shold be that you can't just throw someone out there with a well-recognized name and expect him or her to win a general just because he or she is a Democrat.

[Mass]

50. You realize that this is what they use to say about Ted Kennedy.

I agree that nobody should be chosen because his last name is Kennedy and do not expect him to run anyway, but dismissing somebody as not the "brightest" member of the family would have deprived of one of our greatest senator in Ted Kennedy.

[karynnj]

47. The Boston Globe had an op-ed suggesting Elizabeth Warren

The debates with her would be awesome. (Imagine how good a Kerry/Warren team for the state in the Senate could be.)

[Mass]

51. That is a name I could support happily.

[karynnj]

54. I think she would be awesome

She would have instant authority, extremely rare for a freshman, on so many committees. Imagine her on the banking committee - she can't be on Finance because the senior Senator is there.

[Born_A_Truman]

10. Oh, his shine rubbed off quickly

Limbaugh will be attacking him tomorrow.

:wow:

[JI7]

11. "Brown was leafing through a Senate face book,

learning to recognize his new colleagues"


so he doesn't already know who all the Senators are ? i can maybe understand the house where there are hundreds and they have to be re-elected every 2 years so too many changes.

but i would think anyone with enough interest in politics to run for Senate would already know who the rest of the Senators were.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

13. well, can you name all the current senators?(without looking it up online) n/t

[JI7]

15. yes

but then again i watch cspan regularly and pay attention to Senate elections in all states.

[democrat2thecore]

17. Only because we're total geeks. -nt

[Hippo_Tron]

33. We're geeks but Scott Brown does this for a living

[Hippo_Tron]

32. I could until the '08 elections

There's been too many placeholder Senators this cycle for me to bother keeping up, except at this point I think I might know all of them except the placeholder Crist appointed to replace Martinez.

[Inuca]

43. My first reaction as well :-) n/t

[karynnj]

48. It's funny because I think many of us can (in the context of the Senate) recognize

a large portion of them.

[Mass]

52. and he can probably as well. Consider this is a puff piece by Dana Milbank

and one of the numerous iterations of the media trying to present him as a regular person.

[jenmito]

14. I only wish his was the 60th vote.

But I still like this situation. :D

[jenmito]

19. The freepers have disowned him already because of this!

:rofl: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2457053/posts

[jefferson_dem]

20. Twitter is rich with schadenfreude opportunity, for anyone interested in such things.

:rofl:

http://twitter.com/search?q=@scottbrownma

[jenmito]

21. Yeah-I was JUST reading some of those! Here's my favorite:

"What pisses me off the most is watching the left cheer for a person #tcot worked so hard 2 get elected @ScottBrownMA BOOHOO"

[wisteria]

26. Oh, I know. LOL! n/t

[wisteria]

25. It is amusing to read the responses. n/t

[jenmito]

27. I've also been reading a thread with them turning on Glenn Beck:

"Ahhh, Glenn... We Never Knew Ye..."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2457066/posts :rofl:

[wisteria]

24. Senator Brown knew that a no vote on this bill would not be received well at home in Mass.,

and if he has any plans to keep this job after 2012, he knew he had to vote in favor of it.

[butterfly77]

28. fool me once..

I don't trust these bastards..

[patrice]

29. Huh?

[Jennicut]

30. He is a Senator from Mass, not freeper country. I live an hour away from the Mass border. Not teabag

country to me whenever I have been there. That being said, he may follow the Snowe/Collins formula of only voting with the Dems once in awhile to keep those moderate Dems and moderate indie voters on his side. Will he even vote for the final bill?

[harun]

55. Yah, a Northeast R, not from freeper land.

[donheld]

34. Is Brownie really a purple senator?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

35. Maybe he is going to do an Arlen Specter?

[argonaut]

44. That would be hilarious!

Although it's unlikely, obviously.

[karynnj]

45. Five Republicans voted for it and the attention is mostly on Brown

In this article, Milbank who has always written in snarky terms about most prominent Democrats, credits Brown with listening to the wisdom of the ages - not party spirit? Rather high praise there.

Yet, these sentences are more telling:
"Yes," Brown said quietly, and then, having become Reid's first vote, he rushed out of the room before Republican colleagues arrived. He stepped into the hallway, then waited for reporters to assemble around him.

Of course, he ran to be with the media - they have fed his ego for the past month.

[Mass]

49. So what? Every new england senator voted for the bill. Could the media stop fawning on this idiot?

[Mass]

53. F*ck the media. Brown voted like this because he needs a few moderate votes to be reelected.

So do Collins and Snowe. If they want to congratulate somebody, congratulate Bond and Voivonitch (sp), who do not need to be reelected and voted the right way. For Brown, it was an easy vote: not a lot of money (as he has already said). Now wait until there is a bill that actually does something.

[Mass]

56. Way too many puff pieces about this idiot. And now the Democratic leadership is also

drewling over him. Senator Schumer, no, senator Brown does not get it better than anybody else in MA. We have an awesome delegation, 10 democrats. This is a very stupid statement to make from somebody who wants to become majority leader.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2010/02/post_2.html

Brown ``got the message better than anyone in Massachusetts -- it's jobs and the economy,'' said Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York.