Oh the times, they are a' changin'. A little over one year ago, Barack Obama won the state of Massachussetts by some 26 percentage points. For over 50 years, one of the state's Senate seats has been held by a liberal Democrat named "Kennedy." All of that came crashing down Tuesday night as previously unknown and underfunded Republican Scott Brown came from 20 points down in some polls to win the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat from State Attorney General Martha Coakley.
Brown said of his election, "They will be challenged again and again across this country. When there's trouble in Massachusetts, there's trouble everywhere -- and now they know it." Asked in a debate last week if he was willing to sit in Kennedy's seat and block health care reform, Brown replied, "With all due respect, it's not the Kennedys' seat, and it's not the Democrats' seat, it's the people's seat."
Of course, Democrat leadership has been quick this morning to blame the loss on Coakley herself, who, according to them, ran a "lackluster campaign." OK, so what if both former President Bill Clinton and sitting President Barack Obama campaigned, in person, for Coakley? And that Brown closed the final gap to win the election AFTER Obama's visit?
One of the major points of Brown's campaign was that he would go to Washington and vote against the current health care bill. How in the world can the national Democratic party ignore that? Of course, in their fantasy-driven view of the political world, not only can they do so, they obviously certainly will by dumping the blame for the loss on Coakley.
Coakley's campaign manager shot back that the loss was part of a larger wave that began with the New Jersey and Virginia Governor's races, both won by Republicans. Or, as Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia said, the Massachusetts election "became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process." Didja hear that, Dingy Harry and Nanner Botox? Nah, why start listening to the people now?
Brown's win, of course, destroys the Democrats' filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, prompting speculation that Reid, Pelosi, et al, would try to find a way to rush the health-care bill through before Brown could be seated. Given their tactics to date, including preventing members from having time to read the bill before votes were taken, and planning a conference committee process that excluded both Republicans and any media coverage, there should be no surprise at any further dirty tricks the Democrats deploy. The health care bill has long since become more about "passing something" as a political matter than it ever was about addressing realistic health care issues that exist in this country.
Sen. John McCain said in a speech Wednesday morning from the Senate floor, "Last night, a shot was fired around this nation ... saying no more business as usual in Washington, D.C. Stop this unsavory sausage-making process called health care reform, where special favors are dispensed to special people for special reasons in order to purchase votes."
Amen, Senator McCain, amen. While I will not be surprised at any desperate measures the Democrats may take in the next few weeks, I also know that the American people are watching, and their mis-deeds will not go unpunished. The 2010 election cycle is looking ver-r-r-r-y interesting, indeed.
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