Since it has been said that Mr. Brown is not exactly a standard bearer for Conservatism, the full results of this Massachusetts Miracle is not quite clear.
This is a fair statement. This is less a victory for Conservatives as it is a victory for Independents. Folks that think there's an army of Conservative voters in Massachusets are insane. What happened is that independents turned on the Democratic nominee.
That in the end is more terrifying for the DNC than a clear cut Conservative victory. If independents are turning, even "safe" seats could end up in play.
On the other hand, some implications DO seem to be pretty clear already.
The Health Care "bill" which WAS being cobbled together by the liberal Democratics is now in serious trouble. Yes; it is true, the Democrat "leadership" could decide to ignore the message that the majority of voters in Massachusetts just sent, and try to cram some version of that misguided "bill" through Congress (and by using any one of several possible parliamentary type techniques to get that accomplished). But if the innate common sense imposed on Congresscritters by the discipline of having to run for re-election works, the "leadership" might not be as able at this point to pull it off.
It ups the stakes. Reid can now tell Lieberman and the Blue Dogs that they have to vote for the bill
right now or face being stripped of their committee memberships. For Lieberman, that could be the end. Without his influence to bring back pork to his home district he could be facing defeat in the next election.
It all comes down to how forcefully Reid wants to push this in the Senate. I think he could pass it quickly, but it would be ill advised at this point.
It is also pretty clear that the voters of EVEN a liberal Democrat dominated state like Massachusetts HAVE indeed sent a message.
That message being: You're losing the Independents.
The GOP lost the independents and found themselves out on their ear in 2006 and 2008. The DNC has to change or they'll be in deep trouble in 2010 and 2012.
Suddenly finding themselves one vote shy of a SuperMajority, the liberal Democratics are now confronted with the consequences of their leadership's appalling lack of concern with the will of the electorate. If you don't think there are consequences in what happened yesterday, you are deluding yourselves.
The message got sent and it has been received loud and clear by the folks in Washington who are obliged to pay attention to those things.
The big debate will be what that message is.
The Democratic base is ticked off because even with a 60 seat majority the Democrats couldn't seem to act on their agenda. Take health care. What's coming out of this mess is a disaster, pure and simple. Requiring health care coverage while failing to produce a public option is a windfall for big insurance companies, pure and simple. The voters know this and are ticked off.... at least on the left.
As far as the Right goes, its clear how they feel. At the same time they're willing to back Palin so who cares what they think.
The Independents are the mixed bag. Did they turn because of the outright corruption and double dealing that a few Blue Dogs required? Why does the mandate the Democrats were handed in 2008 seem to have been revoked in one of the bluest of blue states?
This is essentially the same crisis of identity the Republicans faced in 2006. Do you lean more to your base to keep them happy and in line and risk pushing moderates into the other camp, or steer towards the middle and make no one happy?
