Scott Brown Invites Wrath From Right

It turns out being a Republican from Massachusetts is a tricky gig. Scott Brown has jumped across the aisle a few times now, Politico notes, most recently by helping to break a GOP filibuster on a short-term extension of jobless benefits. He’s also sided against most of his party to back a John McCain anti-earmark amendment, and earned the wrath of Jim DeMint when he voted to approve the Democrats’ job creation bill. He even (gasp!) skipped yesterday's tea party rally in Boston.

“I assume there will be votes that he’ll throw to the other team,” says Grover Norquist, “to show that he’s the new guy from Massachusetts and not the new guy from Texas.” Asked if he was tacking to the center to preserve his reelectability, Brown tersely replied, “I’ll let my votes speak for themselves.” And speak they do: the Washington Post says that Brown has voted with his party 85% of the time. (More Scott Brown stories.)