The video: Sarah Palin took a swipe last week at one-time Tea Party darling Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) for not being enough of a "constitutional conservative." Massachusetts voters may "put up with Scott Brown and some of his antics," like voting with Democrats on some key bills, Palin said on Fox Business, but "up here in Alaska... we wouldn't stand for that." After several days of silence, Brown finally shot back yesterday. "I'm a Massachusetts Republican," he said, which means I'm "an independent thinker."
The reaction: Brown is probably the best the Tea Partiers can hope for in the Bay State, says Allahpundit at Hot Air. If the options are a RINO (Republican In Name Only) like "Scotty B or Generic Massachusetts Democrat X in Teddy’s old seat, I'll take Scotty." What's really interesting about this spat, says Mark Halperin in Time, is that "Brown is the only person in the party now with the mojo and media platform to take on Palin — and he can actually help himself by doing it." Watch Palin slam Brown:
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