Just months ago, Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.) rode to office in a pickup truck powered by Tea Party support for his promise to be the 41st vote against health care reform. Now he's siding with Democrats on financial reform, the president's next big legislative priority. He has extracted concessions for his position, but that's not the reason he's crossing party lines. He's part of a rare breed these days: moderate Northeast Republicans. "41" is no longer the most important number for Scott Brown; it's "2012," when he faces re-election.

Republican Scott Brown's victory in Tuesday's Massachusetts Senate race proved the power of independent voters, and the degree to which they are shifting away from the Democratic party, only a year after they helped propel Barack Obama into the presidency. We speak with Jay Campbell, a vice president at Hart Research, and with Ross Baker, professor of political science at Rutgers University.

Today, Massachusetts voters decide who will fill the Senate seat of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.