Interesting BG article on Brown - with nice comments on JK

[karynnj]

The jobs package could be a crucial test of whether and how Brown - who ran on being the 41st Republican vote to quash health care reform - will work with Democrats in Washington.

<snip to Brown wanting to become the new Bayh >
Brown told WCVB that he is forming a new caucus on Capitol Hill called the Take Back Washington Caucus. He wouldn’t identify the half-dozen senators who will be members, or say how many are Democrats or Republicans.

<snip to democrats blasting his "no jobs created" nonsense he won't back down from>
Democrats quickly blasted Brown’s comments yesterday and distributed press releases that Brown’s state Senate office sent out in recent months touting the positive impacts the stimulus had on his Wrentham-based district.

<snip>
Brown also said his opinion has changed for the better about Senator John F. Kerry. “I can just say that Senator Kerry and I have had a wonderful relationship,’’ Brown told WCVB. “He’s changed my entire philosophy and really feelings about him.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/02/18/stance_on_jobs_bill_could_be_crucial_test_for_brown/

Taken together, this looks like Brown is in over his head and he is going in every conceivable direction.

The comment on Kerry is likely to provide ammunition if he ran for President in 2012. The personal relationship and feelings can be ignored, but changed his philosophy??? (Imagine a Democrat saying those words about Dick Cheney in 2002 or 2003) It takes enormous chutzpah to try to create a caucus after less than 2 weeks working as a Senator, but it is interesting that he is trying to do so at the center. (I guess he was sincere in wanting to be a McCain maverick) This likely will lose him his RW fans if he really did it, but it makes sense if his goal is re-election as Senator.

But, he then sticks to what was a pretty dumb comment and it is clear that he knew better from his past MA comments - which is 100% out of the RW playbook.

Maybe the jobs bill will signal which of these goals he is going for.

(For what it's worth, the comments are interesting as there seems to be fewer Brown groupies than usual.)