Comments on: Live Blogging the Massachusetts Senate Race

By: Mandos

Mandos — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:49:30 +0000

Even Democrats in MA aren’t enthusiastic about that.

Yep. Now, if Obama had seriously advanced a single-payer system, he might have brought out MA Democrats for Coakley in a much bigger way. He did not. The base is angry, and some of the base are saying "good", and that's not just in MA. However, as the party brass is deeply corrupt, they will learn the lesson that Serious People (like David Frum) want them to learn, which is to flee to the right---knowing full well what awaits them in 2010.

By: sinz54

sinz54 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:42:48 +0000

An excellent takeaway from Joe Mathews, New America Foundation:

Never trust blue state Democrats. There are a lot of Coakleys out there, pols who have been advanced and advanced without ever having been tested. The smartest, toughest politicians in the country are red state Democrats and blue state Repubiicans. Those breeds never take anything for granted and know how to win converts.

By: sinz54

sinz54 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:33:33 +0000

Mandos:

MA *has* health reform, and the only health reform that would have succeeded in MA is one that was better than RomneyCare. Otherwise, there’s no reason for the liberal base to come out

We in MA already have to pay state taxes for RomneyCare. So what ObamaCare makes us do, is pay Federal taxes to pay for the health care of OTHER states. We end up being taxed twice for basically the same thing, with our Federal taxes being used to subsidize Nebraska, Florida, Texas, etc.. Even Democrats in MA aren't enthusiastic about that.

By: kevin47

kevin47 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:18:29 +0000

“But all this hoop-de-doo about the ‘death of healthcare’ is hooey.”

For the most part, it’s the Democrats making the hoop-de-doo about the death of health care. For conservatives, the hoop-de-doo is the deflation of the myth that Obama’s election represented some sort of ideological shift among the American populace, and that he had some special power to persuade people that his ideas were the right ones.

Guess what? This remains a country where you have to defend your ideas on the merits. Argumentum ad Palinum isn’t going to cut it if you want to make a real difference.

By: rbottoms

rbottoms — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:12:32 +0000

Two words.

Re conciliation.

By: Mandos

Mandos — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:06:14 +0000

Also, Joe Lieberman is no longer the 60th vote and can no longer be used as a crutch/shield by the Democrats in the Senate for serving their sponsors rather than the base. This is silver lining for the Democratic left, even those who wanted Coakley to win.

By: Mandos

Mandos — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:04:36 +0000

If you had read any number of liberal and left-wing sites before today, you would have seen a panoply of comments actually hoping that Coakley would lose, in order to punish the Democrats for failing to use every means at their disposal for nixing any route to the Holy Grail of the American left—affordable single-payer health care. At FDL, it was a majority of comments, and that’s one of the Big Five if not the Big Three.

MA *has* health reform, and the only health reform that would have succeeded in MA is one that was better than RomneyCare. Otherwise, there’s no reason for the liberal base to come out, no reason to campaign, no reason to shout “Yes, we can.”

Scott Brown’s victory was thus a result of a strange subterranean alliance between the Republican right and the Democratic left, the latter to punish the Democrats. The Democrats will not learn this lesson, and may never learn it, and much of the base will be likely to feel that a loss in 2010 is required to bring the Democrats home to the left.

By: jdipeso

jdipeso — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:38:39 +0000

mpolito,

Great comment. Scott Brown is a good fit for Massachusetts. To pick up more Senate seats, Republicans must put up candidates who are good fits for their states. Let’s hope Scott Brown will begin the job of re-weaving Ronald Reagan’s big tent.

By: communists-basher

communists-basher — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:32:45 +0000

.. my wife said “One can only imaging how disappointed I and my family were in November 2008, we could not watch TV for the whole year. It was like a horror dream that came true and that you do want to wake up from but cannot. This victory gives us some hope…”

“I hope he fails”

By: mpolito

mpolito — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:22:35 +0000

This is a good win for a good, moderate Republican. I am a conservative, and I do not agree with Scott Brown on all issues, but any conservative with a brain knows that a Jim Demint can’t win in most blue states. Pragmatism, and welcoming moderates, is obviously important to any party that wants to win. I would like to point out, however, that the “conservative base” (against which many fair criticisms can be leveled) did line up behind Brown. They were wise and did not demand purity where purity just is not going to win. I think this shows that the conservative base is more pragmatic than it is given credit for.