Sen. Brown attends parades, hints at upcoming votes

PLYMOUTH, Mass. --Five months after his improbable rise to national politics, Senator Brown's outsized position is at the center of nearly every national debate, perhaps never greater than this week.

Sunday, Brown attended the Plymouth parade and offered 7NEWS a hint of where he stands on some hot button topics.

On the financial reform bill, of which he is the decisive vote in the Senate:

"I'm going to be making a decision soon, but I'm liking what I see," said Sen. Brown.

House and Senate negotiators took the step of writing out a big bank tax Brown opposed, using bailout money instead.

"It's money that's already in the system. If people think that the banks are just going to write a check for 19 billion, they're wrong. They're going to pass it off to the checking account, and the ATM users, and the people getting loans," said Sen. Brown.

Each maneuver Sen. Brown made exposed him to opposition attacks, accusing him of the wheeling and dealing he ran against in January.

Two ads were launched by liberal groups attacking Sen. Brown's support of a measure stripping the EPA of some of its powers.

"To think that I'm in bed with big oil, I'm in bed with Wall Street, I'm in bed with all these big... I'm a Washington insider in a little over 100 days. People understand it's disingenuous," said Sen. Brown.

Many parade goers in Plymouth said they give Sen. Brown the benefit of the doubt.

"There's a couple of issues I think we were concerned about,” said Janet Poulis Volano.

"He gets it. And he understands that he has to play a little bit on both sides," said Alden Shores.

"It seems like the country is totally right or totally left. It's nice to have someone in the middle, somewhat," said Ken Sullivan.

His role as Senator no. 41 will likely last only until the midterm elections change the balance of power.

Sen. Brown’s balancing act, however, probably remains so long as he wants to sit in what he calls "the people's seat."

"Bipartisanship, by the way, is a two way street. While I voted about 30 percent of the time with the Democrats now, not one Democrat has voted with me," said Sen. Brown.

Brown had positive things to say about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan but would not commit to voting for her.

He also says he would support an extension of jobless benefits as long as it's not paid for with borrowed money.

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