Well, well, well. After a surprisingly quiet 15 months, Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine has decided to make a stink. First came his vote Wednesday
against cloture for the Paycheck Fairness Act, claiming it would
hurt businesses and making him the only non-Republican to oppose the legislation. (Yes, even Joe Manchin voted in favor.) The bill failed.
Now King is saying, much as he did throughout 2012 when he was running for the Senate, that he might caucus with the GOP come 2015. When King finally did decide to join the Democrats two years ago, he was quite naked in admitting he did so because the party had retained its majority in the Senate, meaning more perks for him.
So if the chamber winds up in a 50-50 split following the elections this fall—a very real possibility—King could control the balance of power and demand, well, a king's ransom. Of course, if the GOP wins control outright, he might just bolt simply so he can get his pick of plum committees. Principled Angus King is not.
But he also doesn't seem to understand how far to the left of the Republican Party he is. King's not especially liberal—looking at Progressive Punch scores, he's the 47th-most liberal member of the Senate, with a lifetime score of 72 out of 100 on "crucial votes." But the most left-leaning GOP senator, King's fellow Mainer Susan Collins, rates just a 28. King would be extremely out of place among the Republicans, and for that reason, he's probably full of bluster about this whole caucus switching nonsense.
Of course, he could also just change his voting habits dramatically—and since Angus King's number one priority is Angus King, you can't rule out that possibility.