SCOTT BROWN AND THE GOP RIGHT – AT 8:07 A.M. ET:  It was probably inevitable.  I sometimes think that politics in America isn't divided between Democrats and Republicans, but between grown-ups and children.

We're seeing that now in the tension between Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts and some "conservative" elements (not really) in the GOP, who believe Brown should commit political suicide to remain ideologically pure.  From The Politico:

...the divide between Brown and the Republican conservative base is at risk of growing — as it did this week when Brown joined moderate Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and George Voinovich of Ohio to help Democrats overcome a GOP filibuster on an extension of jobless benefits.

“I assume there will be votes that he’ll throw to the other team to show that he’s the new guy from Massachusetts and not the new guy from Texas,” said Grover Norquist, a leading conservative activist in Washington. “But I just don’t think that spending money is the way to do that.”

Brown, 50, still maintains celebrity status on the right, and he’s one of the few freshmen to carry a national profile; on Sunday, he’s scheduled to be a guest on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” a rare Sunday morning appearance for a newly elected senator. And for now, most Republicans in the Senate and conservative activists off the Hill have given him a pass, saying he represents a different constituency than most of the other 40 Republicans and needs to position himself in the political middle in order to stand a chance at winning reelection in 2012.

Some on the right already have Brown in their sights.  And, yes, I would also oppose some of his votes.

But leave the man alone.  He, like Rudy Giuliani, operates in a tough environment for Republicans.  He's not going to be John Cornyn or Jim DeMint.  Brown was elected to fill the unexpired term of the late Edward Kennedy.  He has to run again in a few years in liberal Massachusetts.  Now, who would you prefer be elected to a full term, Scott Brown or a Kennedy clone? 

I prefer Brown, and will give him many a pass as he maneuvers through the minefield.  Brown has done more in one election to make the GOP a national party again than some of the purists have done in their lifetime.

Successful politics in America is never about ideological purity, unless you're talking about a small and specific geographic area.  Ronald Reagan compromised constantly, especially when he was governor of California. 

So leave the man alone.

April 15, 2010