A) Vote for cloture on Obama's jobs bill and incur the wrath of conservative dittoheads and tea baggers - most of whom can't go to the polls in his state - but actually have a shot at getting re-elected in Massachusetts...
or
B) Be a doctrinaire, obstructionist conservative hero, but a likely one-term GOP Senator in that still vastly blue state. And maybe an answer to a question in a future edition of Trivial Pursuit®.
He chose A. And the right wing tweetosphere went ballistic.
Do these short sighted latter day critics not understand the political reality of representing Massachusetts? They should be thrilled with Brown's cloture vote (and maybe even some future votes like it), because it means he might get to keep the seat; a seat from which he will vote with them thousands more times - in votes both procedural and substantive - than a Democrat would. I believe the technical term is "picking your battles".
It seems, however, that these unthinking carpers would rather enjoy short-term political Schadenfreude than long term strategic gain. It's more about hurting Obama for them than it is about cleverly and stealthily advancing their overall agenda for years to come. Hence, the hyperventilating hissy.
Partisans on both sides of the Democrat-Republican divide hate their turncoats. But there's a major difference between a Scott Brown and, say, a Joe Lieberman. Brown would've been punished by the majority of voters in his state for obstructing the jobs bill, so he smartly chose to advance debate; the GOP ought to grin and bear it (and to be sure, leadership has) considering what it will yield them in the future. Even Mitch McConnell gets that keeping a historically blue seat red will require some occasional compromise. Lieberman, however, would have been rewarded by his voters for supporting the public option, yet killed it anyway. Democrats are right to be furious, as it will yield them absolutely nothing. Brown was answering to voters; Lieberman to donors.
Not to mention the fact that had Brown voted the other way, the outcome would have been no different, giving him even less incentive to risk alienating the Mass(es).
Don't get me wrong, I love watching the opposition get apoplectic.
But, sadly, Brown's savvy vote will do far more for Republicans in the long run than if he had chosen to just be a Palinesque demagogue darling with no real shot at a political future. As their (maddening) luck would have it, they're probably going to benefit from it despite themselves, kicking and screaming all the way.
