Will Scott Brown's 1st Vote On Jobs Bill Help Or Haunt Him Later?

Prior to winning this year's Massachusetts U.S. Senate Special Election, Scott Brown ran on the premise of being the GOP's "41st Vote".

However yesterday he along with 4 other Republicans voted for the Democrats' Jobs Bill.

Going forward is this a sign of things to come?

Is Scott Brown a true Conservative, a Moderate or just another Capitol Hill Politician?

Will his 1st vote help or hurt him within the GOP?

Stay tuned.

Check out the article below on this topic.


GOP Filibuster Fails As Scott Brown And Others Break With Party


Scott Brown was in and out of the Senate chamber and had voted against his party before most of his colleagues had even arrived.

"It's a small step, but it's still a step," Brown told reporters after casting a procedural vote in favor of the Democratic jobs bill, bucking his party leaders and the strategy of opposition they have carried out since President Obama took office.

For Senate Democrats, it was much bigger step. Four Republicans followed Brown's lead, giving the jobs legislation 62 votes, two more than needed to cut off a GOP filibuster.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) thanked the newly-elected Republican from Massachusetts. "I hope this is the beginning of a new day here in the Senate. Whether this new day was created by the new Senator from Massachusetts or some other reason, I'm very, very happy that we were able to get this done. But there are some winners. Not any individual Senator, not Democrats or Republicans. The winners are small business people throughout this country."

Brown was followed by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who was followed by her home state GOP colleague Olympia Snowe.

Sens. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.), who are retiring, also backed the bill.

Voinovich's vote came after he was given an assurance from Reid that the surface transportation reauthorization bill that Voinovich prizes will be given high priority.

Voinovich, who was patted on the back by a grateful Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) after the vote, said that he could see himself working jointly with Brown and Democrats for the remainder of the term.

"I think he and I are going to do a lot of music together," said Voinovich. "My vote was reflective of what I thought made sense."

Voinovich didn't stick around for any loyalty lectures after his vote. "I have no idea," said Voinovich when asked what leadership thought of his vote. "I voted and took off."

Brown also said that he had "no idea" how the rest of his colleagues would vote. But it was good enough for him. "It's not a perfect bill. I would have liked broader and deeper tax cuts, but I was comfortable with that first vote," said Brown.

Of the 41 Republicans, 29 opposed the measure, while six skipped the vote. More Republicans skipped the vote than voted in favor.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), meanwhile, muddled the message of Democratic unity behind the jobs bill. He voted against it.

Voinovich wanted reporters to know about the terms he'd reached with Reid. After voting to break the filibuster, he handed out paper copies of statements to reporters waiting just off the Senate floor.

"I spoke to Majority Leader Reid prior to this vote and he assured me that he understands the importance of a surface transportation reauthorization bill," the statement reads. "I reiterated that it is the best way to create jobs, provide an immediate stimulus to the economy, rebuild our nation's infrastructure and reduce our carbon footprint. Leader Reid gave me his commitment that he will bring the reauthorization of a multi-year surface transportation bill to the floor for a vote this year. I look forward to working with Sen. Reid, Sen. Boxer and others to do so as soon as possible so we can put Americans back to work."

Shortly after, the White House released a statement by President Obama on the cloture vote:

The American people want to see Washington put aside partisan differences and make progress on jobs, and today the Senate took one important step forward in doing that. I'm grateful to the Democratic and Republican Senators who voted to support these investments in infrastructure and small businesses. This is one of many efforts we need to tackle our economic challenges, and we will continue to work with Congress on additional job creation measures. Jobs remain our top priority, and I look forward to working with members from both parties to get legislation signed, and the American people back to work.

EARLIER UPDATE -- 4:45 PM ET:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) intends to challenge Republicans on Monday evening to prove that they are willing to do something -- anything -- to create jobs.

Reid will tout a trimmed-down jobs bill built with business tax breaks and other components that Republicans have backed in the past. His office put together an annotated catalog of the depth of Republican support for the various provisions in the bill.

The Senate previously considered a bill that was much more generous to K Street, though it had less to do with job creation. It was building bipartisan support when Reid stripped it down to a more targeted plan.

Reid said that the Senate will have the opportunity to take up other job-creation provisions in the future once this first bill passes. "The answer is not to do nothing," Reid says in prepared remarks. "It is to do something to create jobs, and then create more jobs, and then create more jobs after that. That's why this is not the only jobs bill or the last jobs bill we will bring to the floor."

"But, we can't do it alone," says Reid. "Republicans share the responsibility to govern. If they support this bill -- as they have in the past -- and if they join us now to pass it, we will do many, many more just like it. However, if they once again put partisanship ahead of people -- if they once again try to distract from the issue at hand -- they will only confirm their reputation as the Party of No. They will only confirm the American people's fears that Republicans refuse to do anything to help them."

Reid then makes a direct challenge: "So to my Republican colleagues, here is your chance. Show us you're serious about legislating. Show our constituents you're serious about leading. Show the skeptics that you know putting people back to work is far more important than putting points up on the political scoreboard."

If Republicans choose to filibuster the bill, Democrats will have a political weapon in their hands and will press the Party of No line forward.

"Most important, I ask my reluctant Republican colleagues to show those Americans who deserve a job to go to every the morning that we're willing to do our jobs this evening," Reid said. "It's remarkable that we have to hold a procedural vote on a bill that will create jobs. It will be regrettable if the minority prevents us from moving forward, from taking that first step, from giving millions of unemployed Americans the hope that tomorrow will be better than yesterday."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Sunday that Republicans were willing to go along with Reid's earlier bill until he broke it up.

"What was a mystery to us is how the bipartisan bill got shelved. I thought it was moving along a bipartisan path. Many of my members were going to support it. And all of a sudden the majority leader decided to skinny it down," he said. "I mean, the point is he needs to bring up the bill. We need to have amendments and vote on it. I think -- in fact, Senator Bayh referred to this in his retirement announcement as one of his frustrations. I share his frustration. I thought that bill was on the way to being called up, amended, debate and voted on."


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Scott Brown Is Sworn In, Takes Over Kennedy's Senate Office

Scott Brown Sworn In As New Senator From Massachusetts


Republican Scott Brown was sworn in Thursday as the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts to fill the seat formerly held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.

His Senate colleagues applauded after the ceremony on the floor of the Senate chamber conducted by Vice President Joe Biden, in his capacity as president of the Senate. Democratic Sen. John Kerry, also of Massachusetts, accompanied Brown into the chamber.

"It's time to do my job," Brown told reporters earlier in the day when he arrived on Capitol Hill.

Brown indicated his top priorities will be job growth and deficit reduction. He said that while he has "great respect" for Kennedy, a liberal Democrat, it's "a new era."

Brown's win in a January 19 special election stripped Democrats of their 60-seat Senate supermajority and raised fears among many congressional Democrats of a potential GOP landslide in November's midterm elections.

Thursday's ceremony occurred a week earlier than originally planned.

Massachusetts officials had said it would take a few weeks after the election to certify the result of Brown's victory. In a letter to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Secretary of State William Galvin on Wednesday, Brown's attorney said the senator-elect had planned on being sworn in on February 11, but had been told that several Senate votes would be held before then.

"For this reason, he wants certification to occur immediately," attorney Daniel Winslow wrote.

The certification occurred Thursday, allowing Brown to officially fill his seat later in the day.

Brown will be taking over Kennedy's coveted office space in the Senate Russell building. Sen. Paul Kirk, who has held the seat since his appointment after Kennedy's death, currently occupies the office and will move out.

Several Senate sources tell CNN that the Senate Rules Committee, which assigns office space, decided to give Brown the office space as a matter of convenience.

Because of his seniority, Kennedy had one of the most coveted office suites in the Senate complex. It is located in the Russell building, down the hall from the Rotunda, and has balconies that overlook the Capitol.


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Massachusetts Exit Polls Closed! Now The Wait

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Polls Close In Competitive Massachusetts Senate Race



Polls have closed in the Massachusetts special election, an unexpectedly competitive contest that could have significant implications for President Obama's agenda in Washington.

Republican Scott Brown's late-in-the-game surge in the state has commanded the attention of the Democratic Party establishment, which dispatched top officials over the past week to try to keep the seat formerly held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy in Democratic hands. Democrat Martha Coakley, the state attorney general, was thought to be a shoo-in for the seat until Brown starting gaining rapidly in the polls.

Early returns were not available. But Rasmussen Reports released some data from its election night survey of 1,000 voters. The survey found Coakley had a slight edge, 47-to-41 percent, among those who decided how they would vote in the past few days. Rasmussen reported she had a "big advantage" among those who decided who to vote for more than a month ago.

Voter interest in the race for U.S. Senate seemed high throughout the day. With the state poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the balance of power in Washington, poll workers reported a steady stream of voters at the ballot box despite the snow.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin was predicting turnout could be as high as 50 percent.

The two candidates are far apart on the issues, but even in this heavily Democratic state Brown built an insurgent campaign that started resonating with voters at just the right time.

"This is going to be the most significant special election in modern American history if Scott Brown wins," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. He predicted a Brown win would buoy every other "long-shot" Republican candidate in the country and add fuel to the party's momentum going into the midterms this fall.

More immediately, a Brown win would pose big problems for Obama's agenda items, not the least of which is health care reform. Brown, should he win, would break the Democrats' 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority, sending Democrats into a scramble to pass the health care bill before he arrives.

Though Republicans have occasionally been a political force in state politics, Massachusetts voters have not sent a Republican to represent them in the U.S. Senate since 1972. Every member of the state delegation currently in Washington is a Democrat.

Democrats outnumber Republicans 3-to-1 in the state -- 37 percent of registered voters are Democrats, 12 percent are Republicans and 51 percent are unaffiliated. Obama won the state by 26 percentage points in the 2008 presidential election.

Brown's campaign marked an upset just by being as competitive as it was against Coakley's.

The campaigns have been inundated with help from outside the state. Obama and former President Bill Clinton both came to campaign rallies for Coakley, and Obama appeared in a television ad.

"Every vote matters, every voice matters," Obama said in the ad. "We need you on Tuesday."

Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., pitched in by having his campaign team make phone calls to get people out to the polls. According to one Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee staff member who stayed behind in Washington, it was all hands on deck in the Bay State.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee in Washington also has "emptied out the building" of staff to send nearly everyone to Massachusetts to help Brown get out the vote. The NRSC reportedly quietly shifted $500,000 to help Brown's campaign in the last two weeks.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, contacted his extensive and valuable fundraising lists on behalf of Brown last week. Independent tea party organizations are also offering phone banking support to Brown.

"I came up to help out because of the excitement, we have so many people turning up at our volunteer phone banks we have to turn them away," said one such Republican operative, "Stuff like this is why I got into politics."

Lt. Gov. Tim Murray noted that the race closed its 15-point gap in recent weeks because of the increased attention but Republicans have typically run close races in the state despite a 3-1 Democratic to Republican voter registration gap.

"You can't take any election for granted in Massachusetts, probably, or anywhere around the country these days," he said.

Indeed, the swift rise of Brown, a relatively low-profile Republican state senator, in his race against the state attorney general has spooked Democrats who had considered the seat one of their most reliable.

Kennedy, who died in August, held the post for 47 years.

Brown has tried to turn Democrats' expectation of an easy win to his advantage, proclaiming, "It's not the Kennedy seat, it's the people's seat."

A Suffolk University survey taken Saturday and Sunday showed Brown with double-digit leads in three communities the poll identified as bellwethers: Gardner, Fitchburg and Peabody. But internal statewide polls for both sides showed a dead heat.

A third candidate, Joseph L. Kennedy, a Libertarian running as an independent, said he's been bombarded with e-mails from Brown supporters urging him to drop out and endorse the Republican. Kennedy, who was polling in the single digits and is no relation to the late senator, said he's staying in.



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