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What Has Brown Done For You?

By Philip Klein on 7.12.10 @ 1:02PM

Scott Brown has announced today that he will vote in favor of the Democrats' financial regulation bill, helping to clear passage through the Senate:

“I've spent the past week reviewing the Wall Street reform bill. I appreciate the efforts to improve the bill, especially the removal of the $19 billion bank tax. As a result, it is a better bill than it was when this whole process started. While it isn't perfect, I expect to support the bill when it comes up for a vote. It includes safeguards to help prevent another financial meltdown, ensures that consumers are protected, and it is paid for without new taxes. That doesn't mean our work is done. Further reforms are still needed to address the government’s role in the financial crisis, including significant changes to the way Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operate.”

This decision follows Brown's vote for the Obama administration's second stimulus bill. While it was always clear that Brown was a moderate who would cast some votes with Democrats given the constituents he's representing, so far, he hasn't proven of much help to the conservatives who helped get him elected. Though Brown's election derailed the health care push for awhile, it did not ultimately defeat the legislation. And since then he's had a liberal voting record on key issues.

View all comments (81) | Leave a comment

Bob K.| 7.12.10 @ 2:50PM

At least he got rid of the Kennedy's!

Joshua| 7.14.10 @ 9:13AM

Really? I thought the Grim Reaper got rid of the Kennedys.

Fannie Hussein Frank | 7.12.10 @ 4:02PM

Great, more taxpayer dollars for Fannie and Freddie.

Steve851| 7.12.10 @ 4:08PM

Get real. This is the absolute you can possibly get for a Mass Senator. Be thankful

Kyle| 7.12.10 @ 4:13PM

Be thankful for what exactly? At some point the Dems are going to tell Brown to pound sand on his requested improvements to legislation. They'll say, "hey, you vote about 100% with us anyway, do we really need to do anything to keep you on our side of the roll call".

Jim Hlavac| 7.12.10 @ 5:41PM

You know, I specifically recall telling Senator Brown to never vote with the Democrat-Socialists on anything when I sent him $30 because he said he would vote against the Democrat-Socialist's program of destroying America.

And now he's gone and sold us down the river. Sorry, he's got to go.

I would rather have had a NO in there for a few years, then just more Yes to Socialism by Brown or Coakley. What would have been the difference then? And I could have save $30 bucks.

Josh| 7.14.10 @ 9:16AM

You believed a politician? I believe the saying is "if you fall for it, you deserve it". Just take your $30 out to dinner next time instead. Or better yet, save it.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 6:18PM

Hi Jim,

You're right. What an ingrate Brown is!

For $30 you ought to be able to insist on at least three specific policy prescriptions and get to write the victory speech!

Brown should return your money to you and apologize. Who does he think he is?

Wally| 7.12.10 @ 7:07PM

He's a RINO! DUH!!

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 8:03PM

And for an extra $20, you ought to be able to date one of his daughters.

Interloper| 7.12.10 @ 9:02PM

Leave his girls alone, it's not their fault their dad's a schmuck!

He's the slut who posed naked--figures.

J. Kelley| 7.12.10 @ 6:19PM

Brown would have to be a RINO to get elected in Mass. But he would not have been elected without the help from the Tea Party. After this November maybe we can get rid of all RINOs. It is better to not have any Republican who reaches across the isle. The Dems always use them for cover. As bad as things are now, and it will take a long time to recover from this mess. But it is all in the Dems court. If McCain had been elected President, the Media and Dems would lay all the blame on Republicans. That is as close to a good thing as I can find.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 6:26PM

Dear Mr. Kelley,

Good idea. Let's get rid of all of the RINOs, either right now or after November.

Then the Senate Republican Caucus can hold their meetings in a phone booth.

J. Kelley| 7.12.10 @ 7:04PM

Brown,Collins,Snowe, Graham and we have got rid of Spector. McCain is now a Conservative so to get re elected. So that is 5 RINOs We will have to have a large phone booth. It is better to have Real Republicans even if we don't have the majority. Let the Dems be Dems. There are no Dems In Name Only.

loulou| 7.12.10 @ 10:32PM

McCain is still a RINO. He's pretending to be conservative in order to defeat JD Hayworth.

I don't trust that doddering fool any farther than I can throw him.

Come on, Arizonans, give McCain the boot!

JB| 7.12.10 @ 6:52PM

This is great! Let's all attack Scott Brown! I mean, it's not like a permanent Democratic majority in the Senate would be a bad thing, right? I mean, what could go wrong? Just think of all the wonderful times we conservatives can have sitting here in our online enclaves railing at the Leftists ruining the country and patting ourselves on the back for our ideological purity while we clean the weapons we know we'll use to water the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants! It's so much easier than building a legislative majority for Republicans in which conservatives would constitute at least a plurality. Definitely easier, because then we wouldn't have to put up with backstabbing losers like Scott Brown.

Wally| 7.12.10 @ 7:09PM

What's the difference? Brown's voting WITH the Democrat majority--in case you haven't noticed, braintrust.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 7:13PM

I see the Republican circular firing squad is limbering up again. It must be election time!

Wally| 7.12.10 @ 7:16PM

Hope you're the first to go, moron.

J. Kelley| 7.12.10 @ 7:32PM

Republicans will do very well this November. We will win the majority in the House. And if we don't win the majority in the senate, it will be close enough to block the Fringe Left Obama Adminstration. This is wishful thinking about the circular firing squad. I can see November from my House.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 7:42PM

Dear Mr. Kelley,

If you're successful in your stated objective of drumming out of the Republican party "Brown, Snowe, Collins, Graham" and those of their ilk, then your stated hopes of a GOP near-majority in the senate are nothing more than a crippled fantasy.

Rebecca| 7.12.10 @ 7:52PM

RINOS cripple Conservatism. You are blind.

Tony| 7.13.10 @ 3:33AM

Massachusetts is wall-to-wall socialists. Brown needs to get re-elected in a few years. The MAJORITY of the voters who sent him to Washington were DEMOCRATS. He needs to be cool for a bit. He has voted the RIGHT way a couple of times. So what if he ultimately didn't kill ObamaCare? That was never going to happen, anyway. Picture "Marcia" Coakley - the incompetent commie - casting these votes. Believe me - it could be worse. Once the R's have taken over the Senate, THEN we can start weeding out the weak sisters. For now, I'm afraid we're stuck with this one. There's no other way.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 7:34PM

The exaltation of one's ideological purity and the indulgence of polishing one's conscience are idle luxuries to be enjoyed only by those who are unserious about public policy in a democracy.

Rebecca| 7.12.10 @ 7:37PM

RINO is just another term for political whore.

Rationalize and euphemize at your own peril.

J. Kelley| 7.12.10 @ 7:48PM

This hope and changey thingey has not been good public policy. Let Liberals be Liberals and Conservatives be Conservatives. That is what a democracy is all about. I can see November from my house.

Nobama| 7.12.10 @ 7:50PM

Good post! Thank you.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 7:54PM

If you can't follow Reagan's 11th Commandment, then the House you're going to see in November will be a Democratic one.

Nate| 7.12.10 @ 8:01PM

You're clueless. Brown's voting with the Democrats--how does his disloyalty help our side?

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 8:17PM

Dear Nate,

Here's how Senator Brown's "disloyalty" helps our side: congressional mathematics.

As I'm sure you know, the majority party in each chamber controls the legislative agenda, passes the budget, chairs the committees, holds the hearings, decides who gets investigated, and approves presidential appointments, judicial nominees and international treaties (in the Senate). That's pretty important, practical, real-world power.

If the ideological purists in the GOP think they can reach a majority, especially in the Senate, without the so-called RINOs then, to mix a metaphor, they're just whistling in the wilderness.

Nate| 7.12.10 @ 9:04PM

Brown's helping to pass the horrific financial bill--how does that help our side? He may as well be a dummocrap!

You are blind and stupid.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 9:09PM

Roger that. Thanks for listening.

Nate| 7.12.10 @ 11:29PM

I did "listen" to you; unfortunately, you have no answers for my objections. Why is that?

Hawkdriver| 7.13.10 @ 12:10PM

PCC,
You are correct. It is still frustrating to watch but your logic is sound. But can we still hold our breaths for a little while and jump up and down!

Wally| 7.13.10 @ 4:52PM

Three RINOs helped pass the monstrously intrusive financial legislation now in the Senate: Please explain to me how this is a good thing.

We accept and praise RINOs and their apologists at our own peril. We have to do better.

Joshua| 7.14.10 @ 9:22AM

Except it never happens. As soon as Republicans gain the majority, they become Democrats. The cold fact is, the only difference is which cronies get paid off. This right/left argument is just a red herring. Like raising a ruckus over a few million in earmarks on a several billion dollar aggressive war bill. They are all statists.

Kenneth E. MacAlister Jr.| 7.12.10 @ 8:25PM

Ah yes, leave it to The Stupid Party to elect more Democrats under the GOP banner. The Japanese had their own GOP in the '40s. They were called Kami-Kazis. Nate you're absolutely right, but don't expect a reasonable answer from any Republican voters. They have all bought into the mantra which says Brown is not Ted Kennedy (even if he votes like Teddy) & a RINO like Brown is the best the GOP could ever do in Massachusetts. Settling for a Democrat in GOP clothing displays for all to see the utter spinelessness of The GOP & their fear of true principled conservatism. They would rather settle for a Democrat-lite liberal Republican in the hope of winning over Independent voters than to put up the cash & fight to elect a conservative candidate who is the complete opposite of a Ted Kennedy-type leftist Democrat. When was the last time the Democrats settled for a solid conservative to win in a state like say Oklahoma? They run leftists in EVERY state for EVERY position from local to Federal level. I hate the Democrat Party & everything they stand for, but they at least have the determination to not settle for anything less than their idea of a perfect Democrat candidate (far-left) in EVERY election. This is why The GOP will continue to lose when it counts & be sold out by many of their own on crucial votes. If you have no spine, you deserve to lose.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 8:45PM

Dear Mr. MacAlister,

In capturing the House and Senate in 2006, it is widely acknowledged that Democrats recruited and supported non-leftist candidates such as Heath Shuler (D-NC) in the House and Jon Tester (D-MT) in the Senate in constituencies deemed to be moderate-to-conservative.

Facts are stubborn things.

John - TMF| 7.12.10 @ 9:21PM

Ah yes!!! Thank you for the excellent lead in... "The Heath Bar" I remember him! Left college early because well he might as well have, gets drafted by the 'Skins.... Then he has the raw ego to hold out for more money, and then when the 'Skins are dumb enough to pay him, he shows up, and STINKS worse than an unshoveled dairy barn.

I remember Heath Bar... I have not a clue as to who Tester is or what he was except that he is a DEMOCRAT. What they have in common is that they vote the way Nancy "Queen of Hearts" Pelosi tells them to vote, like good little Democrat minions.

They lie to get elected, act like run of the mill Dem/Marxists in Washington, and then go home to lie again. Of course this speaks crashingly well of the voters who return them to Washington as "conservatives".

Now, let us indulge in Heath Bar's greatest failure, football.

I need 11 players on a the field in order to play football. If I only have 6 guys out there I need to get another five. If I get them, I have 11 players and will be able to field a team. If I got those 5 players from the opposition's scout team I might think that I am being clever; after all they know my offense... and defense. However, I shouldn't be to surprised when they spend most of their time chatting up the other side, not blocking and not tackling.

There is a lesson here PCC... You can't win a game with the opposition's players in your lineup.

Brown is a severe, though completely expected on my part, disappointment.

You "believe" that truly Conservative candidates cannot win in the North East. Well the reality is that you arrived at that opinion because the Mainstream Media/Education Establishment/Polling Companies/Democrats (all the same thing) have fed you a complete line of bull and you have swallowed it whole. You must have a huge bottle of some really special ketchup to keep eating it.

Regards,

The Mighty Fahvaag
(ps... my mother, God rest her tortured soul, scolded her RINO loving sister.... "At some point, you gotta STAND for SOMETHING!!!!" I agree.

J. Kelley| 7.12.10 @ 9:21PM

Dear PCC,

How did these non-leftist vote on bills the Democrats pushed through against the will of the people? There are no Democrats in name only. they always vote the party line. Those who voted no, would have voted yes if the Speaker needed them. Our "moderate" "Middle of the road" Senator voted yes on Health Care against the will of the people back home. If the Democrats do not vote the party line they are put in the back row to never be seen again. You are comparing apples and oranges.

loulou| 7.12.10 @ 10:35PM

Once Heath and Tester got elected they turned into Pelosi-Obamabots. If they were moderate, they would not be Democrats.

nickatdabeach| 7.12.10 @ 8:34PM

Screw the Republicans -- we NEED Conservatives, no matter what party, no matter what color. GOP is almost the same as Dems -- WE NEED CONSERVATIVES to undo this marxist socialist agenda, and we NEED it now. I say impeach Obama is the bottom line. We can't afford 2 more years of his racist crap. Holder too.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 8:51PM

Dear Nick,

I agree with your sentiment that we need as many conservatives as possible.

However, 40 conservatives and 60 Democrats in the Senate will get you precisely nowhere.

Conservatives cannot win power on their own; they can only do so via the Republican party, and that means tolerating and supporting some moderates.

Everything else is just barroom talk.

Interloper| 7.12.10 @ 9:06PM

It would be nice if RINOs supported us! Wouldn't that be a good thing, braintrust?

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 9:31PM

Dear Interloper,

There is no polling evidence to suggest that moderate Republican voters abandon their party and vote for Democratic candidates in races where the GOP candidate is a conservative.

Indeed, in such races, the determining factor often comes down to Independent voters, as it almost certainly will in many of the upcoming Congressional races.

If you're talking about support within the House or Senate, it would be both unreasonable and unrealistic to expect the so-called RINOs not to look to their constituents' inclinations before casting their vote.

After all, it was these so-called RINOs' accurate reading of their electors' views that got them elected in the first place.

John - TMF| 7.12.10 @ 9:45PM

Ok... more antidote to the Gallup/WaPo/ABC Kook Aid...

There are very few "Independents" in the middle. Over the last two generations the Left side of the GOP has abutted and overlapped the ephemeral right side of the Democrat Party.

The Establishment GOP is chasing its own left arm when it goes shopping for moderate votes. The media (again just to make sure that this point is hammered into bell like clarity) is a creature of the Democrat Party. It's polling arms are deft at arranging fake facts, tortured numbers, and shaped samples. The net result is poor decision taking by Republicans.

The "Independents" that abandoned the GOP are not in the middle. They are mostly on the Right of the Establishment. They are also limited and single issue voters, most of whom also hold the Conservative position on that particular issue, not the liberal position.

George Bush's numbers were bad at the end of his term because he lost the RIGHT, not the supposed middle. He lost the right because of his Medicare Prescription Drug plan (a sop to the supposed Middle), and Comprehensive Immigration reform - AKA Amnesty- (also a sop to the Moderates) . If GWB had wised up and quit pushing government pill popping, and legalizing droves of illegals... I bet he'd have left office in much better shape. He'd have also had more of that political capital to head off the financial disaster in 2007 (with a still Republican Congress), instead of having it melt down at the end of his term.

If the GOP wants to win again, and win consistently it must go back to the Right, run right and STAY Right....

Please throw away the tropes fed to you by the Democrats. They do us no good.

R/TMF

loulou| 7.12.10 @ 10:38PM

You are absolutely correct.
The "moderate" Republicans are pantywaists and afraid of their own shadows. They will only go so far as to be "compassionate conservatives". Any further is scary. Ooohh.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 10:51PM

Run Right and Stay Right in your district if it works for you, but it's senseless to dictate policy positions to fellow Republicans in other districts where those same positions would be electoral suicide.

If conservatives cannot tolerate the existence of successful Republican politicians such as those who represent the voters of Maine, then the task of achieving a Republican majority, let alone a conservative majority, is made that much more difficult.

While some people would prefer to stand on the sidelines rather than sacrifice an iota of their ideological purity, others prefer to roll up their sleeves and get on with the messy business of governing, even if it means a little compromising along the way.

John - TMF| 7.12.10 @ 11:12PM

I see... I see...

I see that you are confused.

Lemme un-confuse you before you hurt yourself further.

We aren't looking for IDEOLOGICAL PURITY, capice? We are looking for LOYALTY.

You keep conflating the two. If Scott Brown is pro-choice... well that is sad... and needs to be debated. If Scott Brown is a bit naughty and has a fling at being a touch of that weird brand of morally relative social liberal... ok.. we can debate that stuff, too. I might actually listen. I won't agree, and I will be guaranteed to work my best juju on him to get him turned around... but that's argument.

I am looking for LOYALTY when the votes come down the pike that mean defeating the Progressives (I do know what the word means)... who are threatening to eviscerate this nation.

That means.... that there is absolutely no reason to compromise, make nice, suck up, or kow-tow to the Democrats.

The appropriate votes for all proposed Democrat positions should be NO. This financial boondoggle, Fascist grab of more power should have never gotten out of the debate stage. It should have never gotten to the Senate floor.

Scott Brown and the Main Twins are proving themselves to be nothing more than Democrats with R's airbrushed over the D's by their actions, not their philosophies...

Once again... you cannot win with the opposition's players in your huddle.

You have to actually stand for something.

r/TMF

Wally| 7.12.10 @ 11:32PM

PCC's not confused--he/she's a troll. The moron cares too damn much about the 'wisdom' of voting for RINOs.
Screw you, PCC.

John - TMF| 7.12.10 @ 9:29PM

Quit drinking the Lefty koolaid dood... How about 55 Conservatives - reliable, loyal and smart... and let the Dems run around with their hair on fire?

BTW... the most powerful SINGLE Person in Washington, DC is the Minority Leader of the US Senate with 40 solid reliable votes.

Some how I doubt that Minority Leader Chuckles Schumer sitting on 47 completely loyal lock step votes is going to have any "Scott Brown or Maine Twin" loyalty problems on his side of the aisle.

NO RINOs!!! NO NARs!!!

It is time to actually STAND FOR SOMETHING!

r/TMF

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 9:34PM

55 conservatives in the Senate? Why not 65? Or 95?

Which one of us is drinking the Kool-Aid, dude?

John - TMF| 7.12.10 @ 10:00PM

I'd go for 65... 95 would be great...

I quit Kiddie Drinks ages ago... I have to much gray hair and way too much experience.

What I do know is that prophesy is often self-fulfilling. If you defeat yourself you absolutely cannot win.

You start out the with the assumption that we "can't". And that is pretty much were it will stay.

My old man was a combat soldier. He was a tough SOB who took not one lick of crap from anyone... He was a great teacher... and a better motivator. I was going to fail a physical fitness test because I just couldn't climb a rope.

He looked at me... with one of those withering sideways glances... sighed... hurrumped...

"But Dad.. I said I tried, but I just CAN'T"

"You said that already. I don't believe you. The problem is that you do."

I climbed the rope the next day... shinnied up the stupid thing like I had been doing for my entire 14 years... (and had never done to that date...)...

You see... I had convinced myself that I couldn't do it... so... I failed... continually... until I stopped believing my own lie.

Sorry PCC... you are defeating us.. not me.

r/TMF

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 11:07PM

Dear TMF,

All power to your father, his military service and his success in motivating you to climb up a rope.

My father served in the Army Air Corps in WWII.

So what?

John - TMF| 7.12.10 @ 11:25PM

If a man does not learn at least some of the lessons of life from his father, he is doomed to learn them from life.

Life hurts a hell of a lot more than the old man's disapproval, and is a damned sight less merciful.

Your old man was in the Air Corps in World War II? He deserves gratitude. I bet he was full of war stories, examples of human failings and accomplishments, cowardice and heroism....

Maybe you missed his story about how by mid 1942 the Japanese had kicked our butts and the Germans had conquered almost all of Europe and a big chunk of the Mediterranean basin...

Maybe he told you about how men using old tactics with preconceived prejudices had been defeated by bold strokes and how the Allies had to suffer in pain and blood before they would toss away those old notions and prejudices.

Or maybe he didn't, or maybe you didn't either listen or care to learn.

That's what.

r/TMF

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 11:55PM

Dear TMF,

You're right. He didn't.

Rebecca| 7.12.10 @ 9:07PM

Doesn't RINO stand for Republican in Name Only? If you call a cat a dog, what do you expect it to act like? Mr. Brown is personally likeable and has some good qualities. He is why pinning any hopes on moderates is futile. They are unpredictable. I would rather see conservatives and liberals fighting it out than moderates muddling like Mr. Brown muddling through. There is nothing worse than a Stupak type of politician that likes to grandstand and at the last moment reverses course. Charlie Brown and Lucy all over again.

I am disappointed too in Mr. Brown. He may be a one trick pony, has no historical family name to keep him in office.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 9:18PM

When one insists on ideological purity, the chances of ending up with representatives like Bart Stupak (a Democrat, by the way), who insincerely pledge their fidelity to extreme positions in order to get elected only to reverse course under leadership pressure once in office, are greatly enhanced.

But then, nuance is for wimps, isn't it?

Interloper| 7.12.10 @ 11:36PM

No, troll--RINOs are wimps; that's our point. They don't have any honor or principles--similar to loser libs just like you!

Go back to HuffPo where crap like you belongs.

If it's BROWN--FLUSH IT!

RLJ| 7.12.10 @ 10:31PM

On the day he was sworn in he famously declared that he would be the 41st vote, not the 60th vote. That was mostly about Obama's first 2,000 page bill-health care. Now we have Obama's second 2,000 page bill-wealth care. Brown never got a chance to vote on health care. So now he gets his chance to vote on Obama's second big bill and he votes with Obama.
With friends like this, who needs enemies.
RINOs like Brown, Snowe and Collins don't even throw us a bone. We would be better off without them.
In this next election, we will more than pick up enough conservatives to stop the Obama agenda in the Senate. We won't have to count on the likes of Brown, Snowe and Collins.
I am tired of waiting for bones for these three.

PCC| 7.12.10 @ 11:00PM

Dear RLJ,

I hope your predictions about the upcoming elections are correct, but I doubt it.

There's virtually zero chance of a Republican majority in the Senate without Brown, Snowe and Collins.

If that proves to be the case, then we'll see if you'd like to throw away those three Republican votes for three Democratic ones, or whether you're just letting off some steam to win applause from the cheap seats.

Interloper| 7.12.10 @ 11:36PM

Buzz off, Concern troll-you don't belong here.

PCC| 7.13.10 @ 12:10AM

For those of you who disagreed with me withour being disagreeable, it's been a pleasure talking with you.

As for the others, to whom I believe I said not a single uncivil word, yet was treated to the following insulting remarks....

"moron"
"you are blind"
"clueless"
"blind and stupid"
"troll" several times
"moron" (again)
"screw you"
"crap like you"
"buzz off"

....I think your ignorant remarks do the conservative cause a great disservice.

NO TROLLS!| 7.13.10 @ 12:53AM

You got outed, dumbtard. Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya, troll!

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Hawkdriver| 7.13.10 @ 12:23PM

This is a conservative conversation not a liberal/Progressiver conversation. Please keep to facts and not name calling. If you want to Dumb down your conversation please go back to MSM, Huffington, etc...

Wally| 7.13.10 @ 4:47PM

How do you know? Been peering into your crystal ball again?

We accept RINOs and their apologists at our own peril. You should know this.

James Devlin| 7.13.10 @ 6:20AM

Great to have Scott Brown. Good that he voted against Wall Street chicanery. Now and then one of the parties supports one of the bad guys--Wall Street, the warmongers, or big government itself. Scott Brown should vote against ALL of these.

martin j smith| 7.13.10 @ 8:00AM

If Brown ran on strict conservative platform could he have gotten elected ? I do not know myself but just asking. That said, perhaps some effort could be made to see if a better candidate could be elected in Kennedychusettes.

Ray| 7.13.10 @ 9:59AM

Not a chance. The conventional wisdom was that he was TOO conservative to win in MA (being anti-gay marriage and not completely pro-choice is detrimental to a GOP candidate's chances here). Yes, Brown votes in ways I wish he wouldn't, but if he didn't, he would have zero chance of reelection in 2012. As it is, he's managed to temper the worst parts of Democratic impulses and gain fairly valuable concessions on the bills he has voted for (unlike Coakley, who would only have voted against bills if they weren't far-left enough), while successfully blocking things like Cap-and-Trade and Card Check.

Kyle| 7.13.10 @ 11:51AM

I don't understand why we are so resigned to believing that the state of Massachusetts is full of non-human progressive socialists and is doomed to stay this way forever, so the best we can ever hope for is a Republican who will vote with the Democrats most of the time.

Ray| 7.13.10 @ 1:31PM

Party activists (including Democrats, cf Bill Halter, Joe Sestak, Andrew Romanoff etc.), need to learn to accept compromise instead of instant gratification. If the Republicans want to do well in Massachusetts, then they need to nominate candidates acceptable to at least some Democrats (who have a huge organizing and party identification edge in MA). That means that some compromises need to be made. As more and more GOP candidates are elected, and more people become comfortable identifying as Republicans, then it's safe to start to move towards the right. But right now, the GOP can't nominate Jim DeMint, or even Lindsay Graham, in MA, because that would lend credence to people's pre-existing conceptions of Republicans as baby-eating, racist, capitalist pigs. It's the same reason the Democrats can't nominate Bernie Sanders in Utah. As it is, Scott Brown is a pretty good deal. He votes with Minority Leader McConnell 73 percent of the time.

Kyle | 7.13.10 @ 2:48PM

Lindsay Graham is perfect for MA, but I guess we need to accept him in SC, because SC is a liberal state now. You are the one who allows Repbulicans to be seen as baby-eating, racist, capitalist pigs, because instead of laughing off these rare assertions, you think, "oh my, the liberals don't think well of me, how can I get them to like me?" How about challenging them, when they call you names? Ask them for some facts to back up their claims? Oh no, you just assume elect a guy like Scott Brown and call it even.

Jabrad| 7.13.10 @ 9:41AM

So the three republican women from New England have decided to support the democrats on this piece of legislation....Seems they do that with alarming regularity....Who needs them.....

PCC| 7.13.10 @ 10:11AM

Dear Jabrad,

Without recapitulating many of the points made earlier in this thread, please allow me to suggest that the Republican senators from Maine know what it takes to get elected in the Pine Tree State, as they were last re-elected with 61% and 74% of the vote.

I doubt they'll be taking political advice from many of the contributors of this thread any time soon.

Kyle Smith| 7.13.10 @ 11:55AM

My advice to them is that it only takes 51% to win and election, so how about voting against a few socialist bills. You might only get 60% of the vote, but that should be enough for you evil sisters of Maine.

They know what it takes to get elected? These women would be lucky if they knew how to make an apple pie. They are a couple of dunces.

Bob Miller| 7.13.10 @ 11:01AM

Complaining won't work. Get a conservative majority in the Senate.

Ann//Woburn| 7.17.10 @ 4:06PM

Dear Fellow Citizens,
look at it this way-- Mass. people got involved and active to get Scott Brown elected. People from all over the country sent $$$. I even heard about a Canadian couple who drove down and camped out at the Springfield office, making phone calls. When they arrived they said, "We're here to help you save your country!"
And since Scott's election, new conservative candidates have emerged from states across the nation. There is a group of all over the country. Republican Charles D'Jou ran for Congress and won in Obama's Hawaiian "home" district! Here in Massachusetts, only one Rep (Capuano) will be unchallenged this November. And a new cohort of conservative minority candidates has been hard at work. (See http://www.rightsidenews.com/2.....story.html)
So a lot was accomplished just by the election alone. But as Scott always says, "We can do better." Although the choice was clear, and we really had no choice when it came to Coakley vs. Brown, conservative citizen-activists still have a lot to learn. When Scott promised to be "an independent voice," we sort of thought that meant "independent of the White House". We weren't prepared for another "maverick" with all that entails.
Some of Scott's comments appear to indicate that HE thinks we sent him to Washington to stop the Obamacare, and after that he was free to do whatever he thought "best for us". Memo to future candidates: we learned a lot working on Scott's Senate campaign. Now we are learning some valuable, though painful lessons, as we listen to his questionable rationale for supporting financial regulatory de-form. We will work hard to get you elected in November. Then we need you in Washington not to conduct "paternalistic politics-as-usual", but to PARTNER WITH US in reawakening the vision of the Founders.
Electing good candidates one-- but only one-- piece of the process. We're learning to act like citizens again, and we're not going away!

Cindy wilson| 7.13.10 @ 11:59AM

Well some of us Kissed the Pooch on this guy! I recently sent a letter stating I would like my 50 bucks back please for donating to this idiot.

Audrey| 7.13.10 @ 8:50PM

I knew we were in trouble when I saw his naked pic in Play Girl. What did we expect?

juryrocket| 7.14.10 @ 12:31AM

If you eat meat everyday, you are not a vegetarian. If you find yourself praying everyday, you are not an atheist. If you find yourself lying to everyone you know, you are not an honest person. And if you vote for a 2300+ page bill full of unprecedented expansionary federal powers into the private sector, social redistribution, social engineering, and affirmative action mandates, you are not a Republican.
By the way, here's a good satirical summary of financial deform:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvabFm-cE9c