Some thoughts on the election of Scott Brown...

Massachusetts and the nation are still talking about the special election ten days ago in which Scott Brown was elected to fill-out the remainder of Ted Kennedy's* term. Everyone seems to agree that the voters are angry, but the perceived source of their anger apparently differs depending upon one's preferred ideological prism. The President made the claim, with a straight face, that "the same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office". Taken to its logical conclusion, we should thus conclude that the voters of Massachusetts are so blinded with hatred of G. W. Bush that we elected... a Republican to demonstrate our anger? Sorry, even Biden doesn't believe that one.

The punditry, and even to some extent the MSM, are seeing this as an out-and-out revolt against the statist (well, the MSM wouldn't use that word) plans and policies of Obama, Pelosi, et Reid. Undoubtedly there is truth to that, and I believe that it was not only a factor in this race but that we will be seeing it used as a blueprint in many other contests this November. Indeed, the second-best news I heard on election night was that John Loughlin, the R.I. state rep. who has stated his intention to challenge Patches Kennedy for one of the Ocean State's two House seats, had hired three of Brown's top campaign advisers literally as soon as victory had been declared. But I digress.

A few points which seem not to have gotten the attention they deserve:

1.) "It's the terrorism, stupid" - Astoundingly, the President in his SotU failed to refer to the central national security issue of our time except in the most general terms. But much of Brown's campaign, indeed the issue on which he first seemed to catch the attention of the voters of MA, was the handling of enemy combatants, a.k.a. "suspects". Brown was adamant throughout that he opposed trying KSM as a civilian and that he was equally opposed to giving the so-called "Christmas Bomber" access to Constitutional protections. Even here in The Peoples' Republic polls showed that voters strongly agreed with these positions.

2.) "All politics is local" - Tip O'Neill's aphorism is thought not to be applicable in this instance since it was a special election which was in effect nationalized. But even to the extent which this is true, it seems likely that Brown's election was as much a repudiation of Massachusetts Democrats - who have been in charge much longer - as those in Washington. Consider - above and beyond the leftist policies and individual corruption that are the hallmarks of a Northeastern one-party state - the following events of the past several years: the voters approved an initiative petition to roll-back the state income tax but the legislature simply refused to implement it; they twice changed the law concerning Senatorial succession, both times at the request of Sen. Kennedy and both times for the naked purpose of favoring Democrats; and they used a parliamentary trick of dubious legality to prevent the citiznes of Massachusetts from voting on the question of so-called same-sex marriage which had been imposed upon the state by judicial fiat. People here have been getting madder and madder, and the grumbling has been growing in intensity since before most voters had any idea who Scott Brown was.

3.) "You can't beat somebody with nobody" - Alas, this has been the problem in most Massachusetts elections for years. Mediocre - or corrupt - or both - incumbents, ripe for the picking, have been opposed by underwhelming and underfunded candidates, often RINOs, who nonetheless manage to register a 30-35% protest vote from voters who have no idea who they are or what they stand for, other than opposing a sitting Democrat. But Massachusetts has been more congenial territory for Republicans with a bit of name recognition who have some record of accomplishment, e.g. Romney. Had the state GOP nominated the usual sacrificial lamb, the egregious Miz Coakley might yet have been elected.

Hopefully if you've read this far you've found it interesting. Gotta run now, time for #2 son's basketball game. More to come...

*for reasons relating to the so-called "Kennedy Seat" and his own attempts to nominate his successor, the late senator has earned the moniker "The Duke of Chappaquiddick" in these parts.