Free Republic

Scott Brown, the Massachusetts Republican who won late Senator Edward Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat, could be sworn into office on Thursday if he is formally certified the winner, Senate aides said.

Sen.-elect Scott Brown, the successor to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), will be sworn in to office Thursday afternoon, giving Republicans 41 seats in the upper chamber.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) said Tuesday that Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts has been “way overblown.” Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), disputed the assertion that voters in Massachusetts’ are very liberal.“This whole notion that it’s a liberal state -- how many Republicans do I have to mention who got elected up there?” Kennedy said, citing Republican governors such as Mitt Romney, Paul Cellucci and William Weld.Kennedy added, “This is way overblown. Bottom line is, it just served a lot of people’s political interests to spin this story the way they wanted it.”

Thoughts...Can we get a lawyer to rescind ALL VOTES cast by Kirk since the day Scott Brown was elected? IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT KIRK BY LAW IS NOT SUPPOSED TO VOTE AFTER SCOTT BROWN WAS ELECTED AND HE STILL IS. ALL VOTES CAST BY HIM SHOULD BE NULL AND VOID.

The Republican who captured the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's seat says he wants to be sworn in immediately, not next week as planned. An attorney for Scott Brown says in a letter Wednesday to Massachusetts Gov. Deval (deh-VAHL') Patrick that the senator-elect has been told there may be votes in which he wants to participate.

The Massachusetts secretary of state has delivered certified election results attesting to Scott Brown's U.S. Senate victory, moving him toward his swearing-in. Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to sign the official certification form at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, allowing Brown to be sworn in as scheduled on Feb. 11. Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray says Brown could be sworn in earlier if U.S. Senate officials agree. The later date gives Brown time to hire a staff and complete preparations for his new job.

THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT Brown's Campaign Buoyed By Tea Party The Group's Members 'Want To Know Who's Next,' Says One Local Leader In Massachusetts by Neil MunroTuesday, Feb. 2, 2010 Tea Party activists claim some credit for Scott Brown's Senate upset in Massachusetts, and there's good evidence that the decentralized movement played an important, albeit indirect, role.Way back last April 15, Brown courted the movement by appearing at two anti-tax Tea Party events. "I've been up there for 11 years, and I've never voted for one tax increase.... You have to hold your legislators accountable," he told the crowd at...

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: For those reading 2012 implications out of Sen.-elect Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts, Mitt Romney’s monthly PAC newsletter provides some insights. Brown, R-Mass., is featured in two pictures in the newsletter, and Romney takes full ownership of his victory: “As supporters of the PAC, you deserve a thank you,” the newsletter from Romney’s Free Strong America PAC reads. “Your support made it possible for Governor Romney to get behind Senator Brown from the very beginning, when polls showed him a 30-point underdog and everyone assumed the outcome was pre-ordained in favor of the Democrats.” “Governor...

Tea Party activists from across the country poured money into his campaign coffers and littered the blogs with pleas of support to Massachusetts voters for him. But Senator-elect Scott Brown, a Republican elected just two weeks ago to the U.S. Senate seat long-held by Ted Kennedy, does not give them all the credit for his victory. Barbara Walters, guest hosting ABC’s This Week pressed Brown on his thoughts on the grassroots movement that has claimed much credit for his win. “The Tea Party movement was important to your victory. How influential do you think the Tea Party movement is going...

The Senate has voted on three pieces of legislation today that required 60 votes–to raise the debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion, to reduce the deficit by establishing five-year discretionary spending caps, and Ben Bernanke’s confirmation–all of which interim Senator Paul Kirk (D-MA) has voted on. In addition, there have been other Senate votes since Scott Brown was elected as Massachusetts senator that Kirk cast a vote.

Breaking...

An issue that refuses to go away, which surrounded the Scott Brown Senate campaign, was when Senator-elect Brown (R - MA) would be certified and sworn in as Massachusetts’ new U.S. senator. The Washington Times spoke to Mr. Brown’s spokesman Felix Browne, who said they expect the GOP’er from Wrentham to be seated in the Senate by February 11. On Thursday, Senate Democrats passed a $1.9 trillion increase in the federal debt limit. This legislation was passed with all Democrats voting for it and all Republicans voting against it. The bill now goes to the House and if passed, another...

The people of Massachusetts sent a message to Washington last night—stop the government takeover of health care, and the out of control spending. We need your help to send Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate immediately. The people of Massachusetts deserve to have their chosen representative take his seat as soon as possible. Make your voice heard, please sign this petition today to seat Scott Brown immediately in the U.S. Senate.

Zo's rant about the Scott Brown election.

President Obama exhorted Senate leaders just over a month ago to pass the health care bill. We are on the precipice, he declared, of health care change. At the time, I figured he'd simply misspoken. A precipice, after all, is a situation of great peril or the edge of a dangerous cliff. Now I think it was a Freudian slip. The health care bill was a cliff. It had become tainted with Chicago-style pressure politics, industry and congressional payoffs, secrecy, profligacy and policy confusion. When the Democratic Party stronghold of Massachusetts elected a Republican senator to the Kennedy seat, Obamas...

Joseph P. Kennedy II said today he regrets not seeking the U.S. Senate seat vacated by his uncle, but the former congressman has no plans to run against U.S. Sen.-elect Scott Brown in 2012. Kennedy, who was in Brighton today delivering heating oil for his nonprofit Citizens Energy, was asked whether Brown’s victory made him regret his decision not to run to succeed his uncle, the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

BOSTON – Scott Brown says he has already told Senate Republican leaders they won't always be able to count on his vote. The man who staged an upset in last week's Massachusetts Senate special election, in part by pledging to be the 41st GOP vote against President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that he staked his claim in early conversations with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Whip Jon Kyl. "I already told them, you know, `I got here with the help of a close group of friends and very little...

U.S. Sen.-elect Scott Brown vowed today not to toe the Republican Party line - saying he’d publicly shame the GOP if they try to bully him. “I’m going to be my own person,” Brown told the Herald in his State House office today. “I don’t believe they’re going to say, ‘If you’re not with us we’re going to hold these committee assignments,’ I think I’m going to be treated pretty fairly,” Brown said about his renegade status, adding he has no qualms about calling out any political arm-twisting.

The Democrat-vs.-Democrat anger roiling the ranks of Congress is being wrapped in smiles and standing ovations Wednesday as President Barack Obama outlines the nation's top priorities in his first State of the Union speech. But for most of the Democrats cramming the House chamber, there is no issue more pressing than getting re-elected in November. And it's not clear that pursuing Obama's priorities will help them achieve theirs. In personal and profane terms, House and Senate Democrats have huddled behind closed doors to list the debacles: The stunner in Massachusetts that cost the Democrats a Senate seat. The slow-motion collapse...

While the dust has barely settled from Scott Brown’s miracle win in Massachusetts, shellshocked Bay State Democrats have begun pondering how to upend the newly minted GOP star when he stands for reelection in 2012. Defending the congressional delegation’s seats during the supercharged 2010 cycle is certainly priority No. 1 — but ignoring the proverbial elephant in the room until after the November elections would be political malpractice, according to some Democrats. The list of potential challengers to Brown when he seeks his first full term will be long, but the nature of his populist-fueled upset arguably widens the pool...