Senator Scott Brown (R-MA), now made famous because he wore $750 pink leather shorts that he got from walking in a couture show on his first date with his wife, Gail Huff, voted today for the 'Jobs Bill.'  In a split 70-28 vote the Senate approved the $15 Billion 'Jobs Bill' with 13 Republicans, including Scott Brown, joining 55 Democrats in voting for passage of the bill.

Although Brown qualified his vote by telling the New York Times that if the House returns it “to the Senate full of pork, waste, fraud and abuse, I reserve the right to vote against it” it's clear that while he's looking out for his own future in the Republican Party he's also looking out for the future of the Massachusetts GOP.  In a typically Republican stance he added that "this jobs bill is far from perfect, and ideally would include deeper and broader tax cuts.”

Undoubtedly, we will see Republicans running for state-wide office latch onto Senator Brown's vote as proof that the Republican party is looking out for the best interests of the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  

Interestingly, many of the other 12 Republican Senators who voted for the 'Jobs Bill' were either retiring or in states which are not solidly in the Republican column.  While this may seem to have little effect on the Republicans' national platform it does open up areas for debate in liberal leaning states like Massachusetts.  While the 'Jobs Bill' will certainly not open up the Republican Party to discussions of creating larger and more frequent bipartisan coalitions it may give liberal and moderate Republicans in Massachusetts breathing room and hope that their candidacies will be taken seriously by the Republican primary voters.

Recently, the Republican Party has seen itself increasingly exposed to attacks from liberal and moderate groups for focusing too much on what many call 'ultra-conservative' groups, such as the Tea Party groups which have sprung up around the country.  By giving a bipartisan look to his first major vote in the Senate Brown may allow the moderate elements of the Republican Party, elements which are solidly entrenched in the Commonwealth's former exclave, Maine, and certainly have a large presence in Massachusetts itself, cover.