Scott Brown lets Tea Party down

Today Scott Brown voted with Democrats on cloture for the jobs bill. Of course, this is just to avoid a filibuster. It's not at all clear he will vote for the bill although his statement certainly holds out that possibility. Meanwhile, the tea party people on twitter are howling with outrage at the "betrayal." Doesn't he know they worked so hard to get him elected so he would say no to everything Obama wants?

Of course, to anyone who knows Massachusetts, this is no great shock. Despite all the silly talk about a conservative revolution, I knew he would be more moderate than anyone expected. Brown doesn't appear to be the brightest bulb in the lamp, but he knows the only reason he won is because Coakley was such a dismal candidate. If he wants to keep that job, his constituency is basically liberal and he can't be a knee-jerk no voter and expect to get re-elected. Of course, that will lose the tea party support that also helped him win. If I were a betting sort, I wouldn't put money on his being more than a placeholder in the long run.

Update: Ironically, Dem Sen Nelson, whom I'm told received some 500K in support from DNC, voted against cloture. Pretty bad investment of resources.

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