Free Republic

Senator John F. Kerry, laboring to achieve a foreign policy victory that would be a highlight of his career, gained crucial support yesterday for a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia from his Republican counterpart, Senator Scott Brown. Brown’s backing gave Kerry additional momentum heading into a possible vote today. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry is President Obama’s man in charge of trying to lock down the two-thirds support of the Senate — 67 votes if every member shows up — required to ratify the New START pact. Kerry and other senators have predicted passage but...

After basically evading reporters all day, the Massachusetts Republican recently announced that he will support the arms reduction treaty. Brown told reporters following a closed-session intelligence briefing that he had given the issue “due diligence” and hoped see the treaty ratified. “I believe it’s something that’s important for our country, and I believe it’s a good move forward to deal with our national security issues,” he said. A cloture vote is expected on Tuesday.