Building off of yesterday's discussion, today I will talk about the meaning of Senator Brown's victory back in January and why I believe a Republican took the late Senator Kennedy's seat in the bluest of states.
First off, let me establish the fact that America is a center-right nation. Regardless of any individual election, our country remains moderately conservative in nature. This is an important thing to understand as many overlook this fact. What the Democrats did in November of 2008 is the exact same thing that Republicans did in 2002 and 1994. Whenever a party does very well at the polls, they always misinterpret the result as a radical shift in public perception. I would argue that elections are in fact instances in which America attempts to re-balance herself. Prior to 1994 America was very much thrown to the left. We had just elected a charismatic young governor, the first baby boomer, as our president. Congress was very much to the left. The Democrats interpreted this as a sign that America had itself shifted into a more liberal form. And then we had 1994. The year when Republicans took back Congress with a vengeance that would make Stalin blush. Newt Gingrich and his new right took it to Clinton. Wasting our time with witch hunts throughout the administration all because they thought that that was what we the people wanted. As you can guess this is not what we want. In reality, all we want is a government that will protect us while staying out of our way. And we proved it when Clinton was re-elected in 1996. I realize that Mr. Perot would take offense, but it is true. The exact same thing happened in 2006. The Democrats took Congress back from a party whose leader at the time really was more of a "divider" rather than a "uniter" Perhaps this man was too busy being the "decider," but we will leave that for another day perhaps. America's attempt to move back to the center culminated in 2008. A year when we elected our first minority president who coincidentally also promised to end partisanship. We gave the Democrats a filibuster proof Senate and we gave Speaker Pelosi an overwhelming majority in the House. It was high time to get things back to the center, right? Wrong. President Obama has proven to be the most liberal president since JFK. He has consistently ignored legitimate concerns from the right dismissing the Tea Parties as "folks waving tea bags around." Speaker Pelosi has proved to lead the most partisan congress in recent memory. And to top it off now they are attempting to force Healthcare through against the will of the people. Well the people have spoken back.
Scott Brown's victory in January for the seat of the late Ted Kennedy was a clear message to Washington: Take us back to the center Mr. President. To put this in perspective, let us discuss Massachusetts. The first state in the union to allow gay marriage. It was one of the first to create its own universal healthcare system. And it is a state where the Democrats control 90% of the legislature. Prior to Senator Brown, the composition of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation was completely Democratic. This was clearly a message to the Democratic Party. Now Liberals argue that Martha Coakley ran a poor campaign and that is, while completely true, not really the main point. This seat is essentially a Kennedy family possession. A Democrat should be able to win this seat sitting down over a Republican. This election along with recent gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey are symbolic o the people screaming no to the intense shift to the left.
Sadly the President Obama and the Democrats have not taken notice of this and continue trying to ram their agenda through. And now Speaker Pelosi is attempting to pass the Senate Bill without actually voting for it. The controversial Deem and Pass procedure would allow the Senate bill to pass given that the House would only vote on the Reconciliation amendments. This makes it easier for the moderate Democrats to vote on the bill without actually taking responsibility for doing so. What all of us need is moderation. And I can only hope that the GOP, if they do take back the House in November, will not make the very same mistake. They need to take us back to the center, and leave us there.
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I do agree with your protestations that Congress does seem to be ramming healthcare through, but it my opinion it's about time! There is broad public support for a healthcare overall, and this bill in no way could hurt us. This bill has center-right written all over it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting take on this issue, and I agree with you on many of these points, but I take issue with one thing you asserted. On one hand, you claim that,
ReplyDelete"Whenever a party does very well at the polls, they always misinterpret the result as a radical shift in public perception"
While on the other you claim that the election of Scott Brown and the "recent gubernatorial elections in Virginia" are
"symbolic o the people screaming no to the intense shift to the left."
You cannot claim that the election of Scott Brown in any sort of a nation-wide mandate.
You have to take into account that Scott Brown won at least partially because the Democrats had a shit candidate.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, Massachusetts already has universal health care, so the current health care bill was not as big of a concern to people there.
As I said, elections are mandates for the government to move to the center. The Democrats over-estimated their victory as a push to the left when in fact it was a merely a push back to the center from Bush's right wing administration. A push to the center is thus in no way radical, it is only natural. And to the first point, any attempt to mandate insurance coverage from Washington is not in any way center right in nature.
ReplyDeleteScott Brown was helped by the fact that Ms. Coakley ran a poor campaign, but Healthcare has been the central debate in Obama's presidency. Massachusetts certainly did not elect Senator Brown because they are in any way satisfied with President Obama. I will reiterate, Brown's election is not a push to the right, it is only a push to the center.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with the claim that Obama is the most liberal president since JFK. I'd even argue that JFK would be a Republican if he were around today, economically. Obama has been running a center-left administration, no matter how much the right wants to portray it otherwise. This bill is no radical piece of legislation; to say so is just a talking point.
ReplyDeleteAnd Republicans need to stop citing Scott Brown's election as a nationwide "no!" to healthcare reform. They already have universal healthcare, so of course they aren't going to be as enthusiastic about it. If they didn't have that, then I'd bet they'd have voted Democrat. I like Brown, but Republicans are definitely reading that election wrong.
Maybe once the Republicans start offering solutions rather than complaints, then they'll have more support. So far, there is no sign of that though.
Mitt Romney supported a mandate in Massachussets. Do you oppose that?
ReplyDeleteNo, I believe that whatever happens is fine as long as it is left to individual states. I am against a federal mandate. I believe that a federal mandate is indeed unconstitutional and is yet another example of Washington overstepping the bounds.
ReplyDelete