Republican Scott Brown’s historic Senate win in Massachusetts yesterday sent a clear message to Democrats in Congress: you’re next.
Brown’s win means the Democrats in the Senate are no longer filibuster-proof and they don’t have the 60 votes necessary to push the troubling healthcare bill through Congress.
Brown’s win in Massachusetts was astounding because Massachusetts had not elected a Republican to the Senate since the 70s. During the presidential elections, U.S. president Barack Obama won Massachusetts by 29 points.
But Obama will not go down without a fight. Obama’s former campaign manger, David Plouffe, added on ABC’s “Good Morning America”: “I’m very confident we can pass health-care reform.”
Well, good luck with that. Yesterday, Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat, released a statement calling for a suspension of further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated. It is likely that more Democrats will follow his lead now that they are no longer burdened with being the 60th vote.
Democrats have good reason to be worried. Martha Coakley, who was a shoo-in for the Senate seat vacated by the late Ted Kennedy, lost to a come from behind candidate who never would have had a chance were it not for healthcare reform.
Make no mistake about it: Coakley lost the Senate seat because of healthcare reform, not because she ran a losing campaign. In October, Coakley led Brown by 55 to 29 percent in the polls. It was assumed she would win by a landslide. But that was before Obama, Pelosi and Barney Frank decided they would ram their healthcare bill down the public’s throats.
A win for Republicans in Massachusetts signals a changing tide in American politics. A growing public revolt driven by angry Americans who were promised Hope and Change and instead got more of the same.
Sen.-elect Scott Brown said on Tuesday night, “[Democrats] will be challenged again and again across this country. When there’s trouble in Massachusetts, there’s trouble everywhere. And now they know it.”
Last night, Massachusetts made it clear that Americans do not want a one-party government running this country.
