Scott Brown: Democrat?

I friggin called it! As soon as Mass. elected Scott Brown to the senate, I friggin knew exactly how it was going to play out! Scott Brown will (like Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)) buck the republican leadership on virtually every issue and vote with the democrats. And it's brilliant! And it can only help the democrats and the people of Mass!

"Why are you so sure about this, Dick", I hear you say. "Hasn't one of the strengths of the Republican party in these recent years of there minority status been their ability to close ranks and deny the Democrats the ability to do anything productive at all?" Yes, this is quite true. And very very very very irritating, espcially in this era of hope and change. But Scott Brown comes into his seat at an immensly intersting time. Mass. has historically elected democrats, particurally of the Kennedy variety, but by electing a republican, one would think that they were bucking this trend. But Scott Brown is not an idiot. He knows that his job, which he essentially snuck into because Teddy died, is hanging by a thread come the 2012 elections. If he goes too far to the right, he will anger his moderate and liberal constituants, leading to his being dumped for a more moderate candidate. But if he plays it smart, i.e. by voting with the majority party and becoming a very moderate candidate, he can have his electoral cake and eat it too! By trading his (fairly important, as he can bring the democrats back up into a filibuster-proof 60 seat majority in the senate!) vote for concessions on the health care bill and others that will appease his conservative base, while helping the democrats to pass useful legislation, which appeases his liberal base, and still receive enough pork for his hometown state to make everyone happy! My guess is that with all of the pork-barrel spending he grabs for Mass. will create more jobs and lead to a higher standard of living there, as well as securing his own job for the indefinate future! It's a triple crown of win! We get health care, Mass. gets a literal shit ton of pork-barrel spending, and the democrats get a 60 vote filibuster-proof majority once again! Scott Brown is a friggin genius! He is going to play this whole situation for his own gain, and will come out of it smelling like midas took a huge dump! God, I LOVE IT!


And that's just the short term! The real changes will happen when other Republicans realize that by following his example they will gain everything and lose virtually nothing. Sure, the Teabaggers are going to raise a stink about this, but what are they, like 5% of the total voting population? Fuck them! Besides, what are they are going to do against a unified moderate-liberal front? But what really gets me all wired is the possibility that this could be the opening death knell of the Republican party as we know it! Strike One (for the republican party): the teabaggers are already setting the repubs up for a fall as they split the republican party vote along ideological lines, allowing the democrats to maintain or even increase their lead in the house and senate. Strike Two: As other republicans see how well Scott Brown is treated by the Democrats (in terms of money brought home to his constituants)it could lead to more republicans jumping ship and cashing in on the democratic money train. 

It's a wonderful time for politics, but I really just hope that we finally get some health care going. Anything, really. This lack of progress is really starting to get stuck in my craw. Patience, thats the key. Patience.

Dick