Although he has already raised millions in campaign cash, some Republican groups are starting to turn against Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown:
Scott Wheeler, who heads the National Republican Trust PAC, said the group never expected Brown to toe a consistently conservative line, given his home state. But Brown's vote for the New START Treaty with Russia in late 2010 was a bridge too far, Wheeler said.Anyone who expected ideological purity of a Republican Senator from Massachusetts borders on delusional to begin with, but it seems to me that drawing the line in the sand over that START treaty is a little rash. Regardless, Brown seems to be ok for now, but more defections will only make his road to reelection in a perennial blue state more difficult. I urge the GOP to look to the nomination of Sharon Angle for clues as to where this road leads.
The PAC spent about $95,000 on independent expenditure ads on Brown's behalf in the run-up to the January 2010 special election. That's a fraction of the amount other groups, like the Republican and Democratic senatorial committees, spent on the race. And the National Republican Trust isn't a major financial powerhouse; it raised $1.1 million through late November 2010, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, and spent $1.4 million on elections.
But the PAC has a national network of donors, and Wheeler promised he would use the committee's resources against Brown.
"We're going to finance a primary opponent," he said. "I might even ask him to give our money back."
