Tuesday, January 19, 2010
G.O.P. Takes Massachusetts Senate Seat
To paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, "They knew Ted Kennedy, & you, Martha Coakley, are no Ted Kennedy." Beware Democrats. Massachussetts elected a Republican governor 4 straight times before Deval Patrick made it. This result is what happens when you don't run a first rate candidate for an open office when voters are feeling surly. Republicans made that mistake in several of the special congressional elections. They found a good one in MA. Once Scott Brown got a leg up, after Coakley's dismal final debate performance, all he had to do was keep his mouth shut & shake a lot of hands. The Shadow of Doom was on Martha by then - she who had spurned the help & advice not only of Obama's people, but of the Kennedy family themselves.
In Jersey, we were stuck with incumbent Jon Corzine. Some of us unreconstructed librals felt we were being stuck with him four years ago & wanted a candidate maybe a little less smart, a little less wealthy, but a little closer to the ground, a guy who could steer the machines as much they steered him. Corzine seemed to have a concept of the Office he was seeking somewhat different from the reality. Which is the same thing that happened when he ran for United States Senator & discovered freshman senators with no experience are treated like go-fers. I scoff whenever Jersey is called a "blue state." This state didn't suddenly "flip." The Democratic majority in Trenton was sweated in & only a fool would think it's permanent.
Democrats were gonna fall below 60 in the Senate in November anyway. It shouldn't have happened this way, this soon. =
***
Another thought after reading commentary from Massachussetts. I don't think the election was mainly a referendum on Obama, or even health care, for the people of that state, except as a kind of background noise. Coakley wasn't too "liberal." That was hardly an issue at all running for a seat popularly held by Ted "Health Care Reform" Kennedy. There were many local factors, including a deep geographical divide in the state Democratic party (imagine if Dick Codey had run & beat Corzine in the primary last year. The Norcross Camden machine would have sat out the general election). What matters is that it is perceived, reported , & treated as a referendum, which makes it so, & Democrats must deal with it accordingly. I think the people of MA may be sorry, if not shocked, when Sen. Brown does what said he would do & votes his party line.
Nothing pisses off independent voters more than indifference.
In Jersey, we were stuck with incumbent Jon Corzine. Some of us unreconstructed librals felt we were being stuck with him four years ago & wanted a candidate maybe a little less smart, a little less wealthy, but a little closer to the ground, a guy who could steer the machines as much they steered him. Corzine seemed to have a concept of the Office he was seeking somewhat different from the reality. Which is the same thing that happened when he ran for United States Senator & discovered freshman senators with no experience are treated like go-fers. I scoff whenever Jersey is called a "blue state." This state didn't suddenly "flip." The Democratic majority in Trenton was sweated in & only a fool would think it's permanent.
Democrats were gonna fall below 60 in the Senate in November anyway. It shouldn't have happened this way, this soon. =
***
Another thought after reading commentary from Massachussetts. I don't think the election was mainly a referendum on Obama, or even health care, for the people of that state, except as a kind of background noise. Coakley wasn't too "liberal." That was hardly an issue at all running for a seat popularly held by Ted "Health Care Reform" Kennedy. There were many local factors, including a deep geographical divide in the state Democratic party (imagine if Dick Codey had run & beat Corzine in the primary last year. The Norcross Camden machine would have sat out the general election). What matters is that it is perceived, reported , & treated as a referendum, which makes it so, & Democrats must deal with it accordingly. I think the people of MA may be sorry, if not shocked, when Sen. Brown does what said he would do & votes his party line.
Nothing pisses off independent voters more than indifference.
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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
I, for one enjoyed standing with my friend Chris Christie this morning as he took his oath of office to govern the State. I hope he will not be as disappointing as my former boss Christine Todd Whitman, who it turned out was a RINO. I went from the swearing in to the cocktail reception at the Prudential Center and finished the night by sending a true conservative to Washington from MA. Just a year ago the pundits claimed the GOP was dead. I guess they were wrong. Today I am proud to be a citizen of NJ and an American. FINALLY CHANGE I CAN BELIEVE IN!
# posted by 
: 10:53 PM
: 10:53 PM
Ideologues always believe the ideology won. But that's rarely the case. A person wins, & we get change to the extent he or she is able to effect the change.
Hopefully, this is the beginning of some change in the country, from left wing socialism back to freedom. I don't envy Christie's position now, with NJ in such an awful financial situation. Hope he can fight the NJEA.
# posted by : 6:23 AM
: 6:23 AM
Bob, my friends who were not in NJ called me in November and asked "WTF happened last night in your state?"
I reminded them that all politics is local and an indifferent Dem party and voter discontent with property taxes were effective tools in having people vote for some sort of change. I think the same holds true for MA. All we see are the national headlines about what was probably a very local issue.
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I reminded them that all politics is local and an indifferent Dem party and voter discontent with property taxes were effective tools in having people vote for some sort of change. I think the same holds true for MA. All we see are the national headlines about what was probably a very local issue.
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