Scott Brown: I'm Not A Tea Party Member, 'I'm A Republican'

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), the freshman legislator who won a special election in the blue state of Massachusetts thanks in part to widespread support from the Tea Party, said Tuesday that he doesn't consider himself a member of their ranks.

"I'm a Republican from Massachusetts," Brown told USA Today when asked if he identified with the Tea Party.

As a candidate for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in 2010, Brown had a notoriously complex relationship with the conservative groups. While he understood the grassroots power of the Tea Party, as evidenced by his willingness to hold fundraisers touting his support of the movement, he also seemed hesitant to get too cozy with them, perhaps considering the liberal nature of Massachusetts.

On Tuesday, Brown made himself quite clear on the political distinction.

"I'm a Republican, period," Brown said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "I have respect for the Tea Party. I'm a fiscal conservative - I always have been. When you talk about national security, I'm a hawk, probably more than anybody that I know in Massachusetts."

Brown later continued, saying that he had no plans to be a "social crusader" or an "ideologue," and that he was prepared to test his record against that of a potential challenger from the right.

"If you're talking about a primary for me, hey, nothing wrong with a primary," he said. "I welcome all challengers."

At least one former backer has already promised to fund a more conservative competitor.

Comments

[Markrsm]

02:29 AM on 02/25/2011

Dear Friends,

Both parties are pre-owned, and they do what the lobbyist ask, nobody cares about the people, we need to throw them all out in 2012.

[CrazyCarl]

08:34 PM on 02/24/2011

Well, it would be an EXTREMELY nice treat to have the Republican Party back - prior to it's hijacking by the religious right. Then we could actually have intelligent, reasonable dialogue. Until more GOP'ers like Brown speak out against these lunatics, like the Tea Baggers and religious nutbags, the Republican Party of today will soon be of little significance.

[nolamaygf]

08:07 AM on 02/24/2011

Scott, all of the compassion in the world isn’t going to make Lindsay Lohan respect herself. At this point she needs to experience the consequences of her conduct. If that doesn’t change her, she has no hope.
http://articlebullet.com/250045/south-beach-java-review.html

[Lizzy28]

05:05 PM on 02/23/2011

Tea Party = GOP

[calimom123]

05:01 PM on 02/23/2011

Kind of like saying "I'm not REALLY a Nazi, but I have a lot of respect for the Nazis"

What'll it be, Scott?

[alicam]

02:11 PM on 02/23/2011

"I have respect for the Tea Party"
That's all I need to know to not like him.

[mcmutter]

02:18 PM on 02/23/2011

talk radio spreads ignorance ...

[grf67]

02:08 PM on 02/23/2011

If he wants to be reelected, he needs to run as a democrat. The dems will not sit out any of the coming elections and they far outnumber the repubs in MA.

[alicam]

02:13 PM on 02/23/2011

I think dems are so frustrated and dissappointed they will sit out the next 10 elections. I, for one, will only be voting out of citizen obligation, not because I truly support anyone.

[namora]

02:27 PM on 02/23/2011

As a progressive democrat I can't afford to sit out an election for dog catcher. All you have to do is look at the corruption and graft being perpetrated on the people of Wisconsin to realize that eternal vigilance and action is the only hope for a free America. Wage slavery should not be an option.

[Lizzy28]

05:03 PM on 02/23/2011

No no they won't. Not with all the shenanigans that are going on as we type.

[JR49]

01:40 PM on 02/23/2011

Well at least once he was right. He is Republican as all of them are. We don't have Tea Party. We may have RepuTea Party but still they are all Republicans

[Geelee]

01:06 PM on 02/23/2011

My name is Scott Brown and I am a user of people. I may or may not have been abused, but I am willing to do what it takes to sell a book and make money. I cannot be trusted even with my internal thoughts. I am a Republican ...a very typical republican.

[redbud9]

12:42 PM on 02/23/2011

I saw this interview and it sure seemed like he was packpedaling on the people, who, to a large degree, put him in office. I don't recall him telling the Tea Party during his campaign that he wasn't one of them.....just another politician.

[JimR]

01:56 PM on 02/23/2011

I don't recall him telling the Tea Party during his campaign that he WAS one of them.

[Itstillthecross]

02:28 PM on 02/23/2011

He didn't, just the thought that anybody with a R after his name was able to get elected in the "Commonwealth" was enough for some to align him with the true Republican party (currently known as the Tea Party).

[redbud9]

02:57 PM on 02/23/2011

Perhaps not, he just alluded to it. He attended their functions, gave speeches at their fundraisers and took their money, while saying the things they wanted to hear.

I don't live in MA so it doesn't matter to me. I actually like an independent politician who does what they think is right, BUT then he should have told the Tea Party at their functions that he would not necessarily do what they wanted him to, but that he would stand on this own. It's politics, which always disappoints me.

[massnana]

12:00 PM on 02/23/2011

Atty Gen Martha coakley insulted Red Sox Nation. In MA there is only one thing more important than politics, and that is The RedSox. period end of discussion. It really is that simple!

[jkb5371]

11:23 AM on 02/23/2011

Scott Brown was never a far right Republican, he has always been moderate...if you were to compare him to anyone it would be more of a Bill Weld type...fiscal conservative, liberal on social issues.
He accepted Tea Party support..big deal, it doesn't make him a member any more than the fact he supports a woman's right to choose makes him a member of NOW.

[mervr1]

11:20 AM on 02/23/2011

"I'm a Republican, period," Brown said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "I have respect for the Tea Party. I'm a fiscal conservative -

Guess what Scott, the so-called Tea Party are nothing more than Republicans themselves..there is no Tea-party, just another faction of the GOP.....so yeah you agree with them, because they're Republicans just like you.

[massnana]

11:04 AM on 02/23/2011

Ma dems are NOT on Brown's side.

[JimR]

01:57 PM on 02/23/2011

37% of voters in Massachusetts are registered as Democrats.

51% of voters in Massachusetts are registered as "undeclared."

[grf67]

02:10 PM on 02/23/2011

That leaves only 12% for the repubs. This may not be good news for him.

[massnana]

10:59 AM on 02/23/2011

He is a republican in Massachusetts. Obviously a conflicted person. How he got elected is because of out of state money. Something we frown upon here. If he says he is in the tea party he will have zero chance of re election, but his "tell all" book has taken care of that for us very nicely.
Please take your dirty laundry in off of the line. the question is how you can be a fiscal conservative and a security hawk at the same time. One of the tea party new england organizers lives down the street from us. She is not from Massachusetts. It is people like her that came here for one of our high paying benefitted jobs that helped to elect him. I met her once at the local drug store she was not a friendly person. My hope was that the prescription she was picking up was for birth control.

[jkb5371]

11:30 AM on 02/23/2011

Out of state money is perfectly acceptable for elections that have national implications. There are only 100 US senators, their votes affect all of us.
Obama, by the way held a rally during his presidential run in Germany. That is far more unsettling than money moving between states.

[Geelee]

01:47 PM on 02/23/2011

Yes and it was very impressive in that it did send a message from the German people about what they thought of the current President of the time. George Bush. They would have come out in equal numbers for Hillary Clinton had she shown up there. At least that is what my friend Elke wrote to me in an email.

[redbud9]

12:44 PM on 02/23/2011

Out of state money is ALWAYS a part of politics. Unions go all over the country supporting candidates who will legislate for them. Both parties regularly shuffle money around where it's needed.