In Massachusetts Senate Race, A Vote Of No Confidence

The Washington Post ^ | 1/21/10 | David S. Broder

[steve-b]

When I spoke with Rep. Richard Neal, the veteran Democratic congressman from Springfield, Mass., on the afternoon of the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, he told me, "It's an alarm-clock moment for us."

That is no exaggeration. Scott Brown, the little-known candidate who pulled out a victory over state Attorney General Martha Coakley, is the first Republican to win a Massachusetts Senate race since 1972 and will be the only Republican in what has been an all-Democratic congressional delegation from the Bay State.

Ron Kaufman, the longtime Republican National Committee member from Massachusetts, said that "it was a perfect storm" that made it possible.

"We had a really good candidate," Kaufman said. "A military veteran, a family guy, a fiscal conservative, moderate on social issues, a pro-choice Catholic....

Obama may recover, as Ronald Reagan did from a similar second-year slump, but it will take a significant change of direction to turn things around.

[screaminsunshine]

He must be reading the “Tea Leaves”.

[TomGuy]

Juan Williams this morning on America's Newsroom (FoxNews) said that

the Massachusetts voters gave Obama a D.

That is interesting since MA is 3-1 Democrats over Republicans.

[KC_Conspirator]

Its the democrat boot licking David Broder! His last article was on, incredulously, how compentent Obama and Janet Napalitano were in arresting the underwear bomber; despite that the rest of America thought they were inept and talking about Napalitano resigning in disgrace.

[SGCOS]

Obama tried to blame the Mass election on George Bush.

In an interview with Stephee, "people aren't only upset with the last year, or the last two years. They're upset about the last 8 years."

This Obama guy is one sick dude.

[AlphaOneAlpha]

“Its the democrat boot licking David Broder!”

Well, it looks as though the left hack Broder got the latest WH propaganda mgt memo. Start the acts of contrition...tell the people we are now listening.

I say bull crap, crush them all. They’ve already proven that they don’t give damn about the American people they supposedly were elected to represent. Poll after poll on all kinds of topics has confirmed this.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Obama may recover, as Ronald Reagan did from a similar second-year slump,

Reagan's swift rise from the ashes has been used repeatedly as a lib talking point. But, it's a stupid argument. It's like saying that being down 27-0 in the first quarter is okay because, once upon a time, the great {fill in your favorite football team here} were down like that, and they won. The bottom line is, most teams that are down 27-0 in the first quarter are going to lose, and lose big.

[Sgt_Schultze]

may recover, as Ronald Reagan did from a similar second-year slump

Not likely Mr. Broder. The empty suit's plans require the US to adopt European socialism. How could one expect employment rates to remain low when in Europe, where they practice European socialism, the jobless rate is persistently higher than it has been in the US?

[outpostinmass2]

Brown is not Catholic. Look, these guys don’t know Massachusetts. If they write simple things that are wrong then you can assume everything else is just conjecture.

[DNME]

Keep in mind that Scott Brown will only be in office for two years before he has to run for re-election.

That should give us enough time to determine if he is a conservative or a RINO.

But as a Massachusetts resident, I’m expecting RINO. I hope I’m wrong.

[Nonstatist]

Massachusetts enacted its own bipartisan health reform four years ago under Republican Gov. Mitt Romney.., and that reform insured almost everyone in the state without raising taxes and without creating a government insurance company.

They also faulted her performance in the television debates and contrasted it with the way Kennedy had rescued what looked for many weeks to be a faltering campaign against Romney in 1994,

I would also add that Massachusetts has been and remains tough territory for female candidates.

Look at Broder spin. Watch out, his glasses might come off! ...Blah blah blah, it was all bad luck, too bad Croakly was a woman (!)

Nothing to be learned here, can't we all just move on ?? (no we can't Broder)

[Charlemagne on the Fox]

Broder writes that Brown “pulled out a victory.” It wasn’t even close enough for the Dims to cheat.

[steve-b]

That statement comes out of a direct quote, so it’s somebody else’s mistake, not the writer’s.

[RobinOfKingston]

Often these things are a matter of degree. Rather than a "vote of no confidence," it is my considered opinion that this was a "vote of absolutely no confidence."

[Paleo Conservative]

Keep in mind that Scott Brown will only be in office for two years before he has to run for re-election.

Closer to three years. I'm pretty sure he'll be have no primary opposition, so he'll be able to sock away all the money he gets in the primary season for the general election. He won't face reelection till November 2012, the same day Obama will be up for reelection.