“I’ll never compromise my principle, but I’m certainly willing to work with folks on the other side of the aisle to fix the problems of the country.”

Chambliss, 69, has quickly emerged as a top target of the right after declaring on last month that he cared more about his country than Norquist or his 20-year-old no-tax pledge.

While the genteel senator did phone Norquist last week to try to smooth things over, Chambliss was back on the attack over the weekend during a speech to Cobb County Republicans. “I don’t want to be dictated to by anybody in Washington,” he told 150 GOP activists, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.