(Photo: ABC News)
Scott Brown of Massachusetts may have taken away the Democrats’ filibuster-proof Senate majority, but the Republican senator-elect isn’t your typical conservative.
“I am a fiscal conservative. And when it comes to issues affecting people's pockets, and pocketbooks, and wallets, I'll be with the Republicans if they are in fact pushing those initiatives," Brown said in an interview set to air Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
But there are issues on which he might break with his party – most notably, abortion.
“You are pro-choice, yes?” Barbara Walters asked Brown in the interview.
“Yes,” Brown replied, explaining later that he feels the issue “is best handled between a woman and her doctor and her family.”
But Brown isn’t your typical pro-choice politician either.
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“Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, but I think we need to do more to reduce the amount of abortions,” he stated. “And the difference between me and maybe others is that I'm very – I'm against partial-birth abortions. I'm against federal funding of abortions. And I believe in a strong parental consent notification law.”
Last week, Brown became the first Republican to win a Senate race in Massachusetts since 1972, defeating the state’s attorney general, Martha Coakley, with 52 percent of the votes. His win gives the GOP enough members to block legislation, including the current health care reform bill, in the Senate.
In his interview with Walters, Brown said, “Everyone really is the 41st senator.”
“And what it means is that now there will be full and fair debate. And there will be no more closed – behind closed doors actions,” he added.
Brown had expected to be sworn in sometime this past week, but the timing of his swearing-in still remains in question.
The waiting period for the arrival of absentee ballots has not yet been waived despite the five-point margin with which Brown won.
Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin has sent a letter to the Senate clerk declaring Brown the unofficial winner of the seat.
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