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Blessing in Disguise
· Wednesday, January 20, 2010
It really is the peoples seat, and yesterday the people took it back.
But in electing Scott Brown instead of Martha Coakley to replace the late Ted Kennedy in the US Senate, Massachusetts voters did more than hand the GOP its most improbable and thrilling come-from-behind victory in a generation. They did more than embrace a charismatic, upbeat Republican and reject a dour, gaffe-prone Democrat. And they did more than prove that no political party has a permanent lock on any states electoral loyalties.
They also gave President Obama and the Democratic left a blessing in disguise - if only they are wise enough to recognize it.
Brown ran explicitly against Obamas domestic agenda, above all the radical healthcare overhaul that the president has made his priority. Not long ago, such a strategy would have been dismissed as suicidal. But the harder the administration and congressional Democrats have pushed their health legislation, the more unpopular it, and they, have grown. In Boston on Sunday, it spoke volumes that Obama made not a single direct reference to the healthcare bill he champions - and that Brown promises to oppose.
Politically, ObamaCare has backfired. Much of the goodwill with which the president entered the White House has been squandered, and any effort to try to force a health bill through Congress now will drive whats left of that goodwill over a cliff.
But Brown and the voters of Massachusetts have killed ObamaCare. In so doing they have provided the president a priceless second chance to adjust his political course, move toward the center, and deliver at least some of the bipartisan cooperation that was at the heart of his once-enormous appeal. If Obama seizes the opportunity that Massachusetts and its senator-elect have given him, the brightest days of his presidency may be still to come.
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KN
Oh - so now it's okay for the R's to participate:
"Regardless of the size of their minority caucus, Senate Republicans have always had an obligation to join us in governing our nation through these difficult times. Today's election doesn't change that. In fact it is now more important than before for Republicans to work with us rather than against us if we are to find common ground that improves Americans' lives," Reid said. (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/19/brown-win-forces-democrats-evaluate-health-care-reform-game-plan/)
When just last week the Democrats and the President opted for private negotiations with "key" people, none of them being Republicans. Of course it's now more important, as Reid stated. The D's don't have their super majority any longer and can't practice the tyranny of the majority while ramming their ill conceived bills through.
Posted January 20, 2010 at 10:54:51 AM
Brian
Jeff, you make some good points, but you also fall victim to some dangerous assumptions. You assume that the President truly wishes bipartisan cooperation, or that he even has any intention of folowing through on any of his campaing promises, short of "We are fundamentally changing this country." His campaign utterances were nothing more than empty platitudes designed to swing the fence-sitters his way. It's obvious from his actions over the past year that he has no intention of making government more transparent, or honest, or above-board. The tip-off was his promise to fundamentally change this country: Our fundament, the Constitution and our personal liberties, need no change. It is our surface veneer, Congress and the Presidency, that we need to change in order to protect and preserve our nation.
Posted January 20, 2010 at 4:27:34 PM