AP: GOP's Scott Brown Wins Mass. Senate Seat

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

GOP's Scott Brown wins Mass. Senate seat

By GLEN JOHNSON and LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writers – 1 min ago

BOSTON – In an epic upset in liberal Massachusetts, Republican Scott Brown rode a wave of voter anger to defeat Democrat Martha Coakley in a U.S. Senate election Tuesday that left President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in doubt and marred the end of his first year in office.

The loss by the once-favored Coakley for the seat that the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy held for nearly half a century signaled big political problems for the president's party this fall when House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates are on the ballot nationwide.

More immediately, Brown will become the 41st Republican in the 100-member Senate, which could allow the GOP to block the president's health care legislation and the rest of Obama's agenda. Democrats needed Coakley to win for a 60th vote to thwart Republican filibusters.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_massachusetts_senate

[Hissyspit]

1. .

[emsimon33]

2. Thank you, Rahm Emanuel

[RBInMaine]

3. OH BULLSHIT! She ran a SHITTY campaign. Get into reality. SHE blew it.

[pundaint]

20. The only thing she could have done was be a left-wing fighter. This was a loss due

to DLC, and Obama's ignoring the People, and making up lies to themselves about how the Left is irrelevant. And they would do well to learn the right lesson from this wrist-slap, and not require a boot in the butt in November.

[dotymed]

354. You are right.

Maybe, but I doubt it, Obama will realize that the "left" is very important to his and other Democratic futures. The "will of the people" is not with the tea baggers. But, by playing their game, with their people.....Rahm, his brother, Geithner, Summers..etc..he is quickly losing any goodwill that he started with, which was a lot. He needs to put on his FDR face and start pushing the correct agenda. It is really sad that this is Ted Kennedy's reward for all of the great work he did on part of average Americans. Obama's policies are responsible for this loss, and unless he changes them, it is just the beginning.

[TheEuclideanOne]

358. Exactly

Couldn't have said it better myself. I sure hope he realizes something from this election. It will be a big turning point from this administration. If he does not learn from this, his "not learning" will be the point at which he jumped the shark. This will be the point of no return, unfortunately.

[mike_c]

389. bingo!

Agreed, 100 percent.

[Name removed]

378. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. 
[link:www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html|Click
here] to review the message board rules.

[No Elephants]

24. It's both.

[TheEuclideanOne]

355. Wrong, no matter how many times you repeat it. This race was about healthcare

The potential filibuster proof seat..... the tie breaking vote. The right is on fire about this and, unfortunately, they have good reason to be. What has really happened is that the left is not the same left that elected Obama. The healthcare bill is a disaster, so the left is totally depressed about it and the right is fired up. The left sees a bunch of broken promises and is dissillussioned. So, who's fault is that? Is that Coakley's campaign manager's fault?

[SergeStorms]

360. +1,000,000

;) My thoughts, and the truth, exactly.

[toopers]

392. Yes she did . . .

she came across as a blind supporter of Pres Obama and that killed her!

[TheEuclideanOne]

395. It didn't have to. You can be a blind support of Tiger Woods

and get people to back you, then six months later, after 14 strippers come out and tell their stories, you will look like an ass. In that scenario, the area that changed is Tiger Woods, not the Tiger Woods supporter.

[barb162]

286. I thought Obama went there this weekend , not Emanuel. n/t.

[SergeStorms]

361. So, the puppet went.......

but not the hand. Is that what you're saying? :)

[barb162]

403. No, the hand went.

Obama is his own man, I think.

[truthisfreedom]

4. Groan.

[SlingBlade]

5. This is a big Fuck You from the

Democratic base you morans.

Go kiss some more Lieberman Ass, Go make some more back room deals with those
goddamed Bluedog Dino's, Go suck some more corporate cock

Fuck It !

[RBInMaine]

6. Fine with the populism, but COAKLEY lost this with her very, very SHITTY campaign. No sour grapes.

[SlingBlade]

8. No Sour Grapes ? WTF

This was the Lions Seat Dude.

[RBInMaine]

9. I called for her, donated to her 3 times, and SHE ran a SHITTY campaign. THAT is the lesson.

[SlingBlade]

11. Thanks for your hard work my friend

Sorry, But I am REALLY pissed here.

[RBInMaine]

12. Hey, very disappointing. But we LEARN from mistakes and go on. She and her team will definitely do

that, IF they are honest and have character. Look, now Brown will have a RECORD to run on in two years, and MA Dems can get a better candidate that will take that asshat on. Will he be truly independent, or will he toe the R party line and remain beholden to Wall Street and the TeaHaters. MA Dem get another crack at him in two years. You never, ever, ever sit on your hands in an election. Sorry, but she stunk.

[rucognizant]

298. Sorry RB in Maine

We don't seem to be capablle of learning from our mistakes this past 9 1/2 years ( & before)
Sorry, but she stunk. SO WHY DID SHE WIN THE PRIMARY? STILL POINTS TO THE VOTERS!

[toopers]

393. What both parties fail to realize . . .

is that they cannot win with just the voters who identify themselves as members of their party. Whichever party realizes that you have to include the independents in your plans will win generally win the elections. We as democrats have to realize that we did not win the last election as much as the Republicans lost it (figuratively, and literally).

[HALO141]

401. +1

[No Elephants]

419. This election was more about the two bases than anything else.

The Republican bases was excited. They came from as far away as Walla Wall, Washington to support Brown. People from all over the country donated via his web site. The Democratic base was dispirited and stayed home.

And the way the DNC, prominent Democrats and Coakly handled this did not help.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

17. Don't ever feel things were a waste if you at least tried to move things foward....

Anyone out there working to make it all happen, are always the heroes in this story, win, lose or draw. :patriot:

[BP2]

26. Thank you for supporting her and sending money DIRECTLY to her campaign. Your money

always has the most impact when it goes to the candidate rather than flowing through the party.

[pundaint]

22. Accurate, and colorfully put, but it wont make Readers Digest

[SleeplessinSoCal]

311. I don't see how this all happened. And I've been watching everything with my eyes wide open.

[HALO141]

402. Really?

I don't believe it's possible to have watched it happen with "wide open eyes" and not understand how.

The entire country is not either "progressive left" or "neo-con." There's a whole bunch of gray area in between. The political world really is flat and two diametrically opposed groups are trying to pull everyone else off their respective edge. There's a significant portion in the middle who simply don't want to get dragged and when those in charge start acting like royalty instead of the elected public servants they're supposed to be it royally pisses off almost everyone.

If the Obama administration hadn't created such a shit storm Coakley could have gone on vacation and STILL won.

[workinclasszero]

320. You got that right! nt

[ima_sinnic]

343. +++1000

why should the Democratic voters bother to vote when ineffectual "bipartisanship," secret deal-making with republican "democrats" and corporate billionaires, and ignoring the concerns and needs of the "lower classes" (i.e., the poor as well as the fucking middle class!) are standard operating procedure?

[BP2]

7. Thank you Rahm for tell the Base to piss off. Congratulations - It worked. eom

[RBInMaine]

10. No. SHE blew it. Put the blame where it really belongs, with her and HER team. SHE FUCKED IT UP.

[RowdyRacer]

16. Plenty of Blame to Go Around...

Sure, Coakley ran a poor campaign...however, those who think that the squandering of their majority potential by Obama and the rest of the Dems are in denial.
Get this through your heads, people - the Democrats have no intentions to govern in a way that offends their corporate sugardaddies. When forced to decide between constituents' best interest and corporate money, the constituents will get fucked EVERY TIME.

[RBInMaine]

18. Ah, that is a cop out. Dems are WAY better than Pukes. SHE and her SHITTY TEAM ran a SHITTY race.

[AllHereTruth]

291. I beg to differ

Liberals and Progressives are better than Consertavites.

But Democrats are no better than Republicans when it comes to greed or self preservation. They both suck the teet of Big business and Big pharma. They both shit on the little guy with glee.

Get that through your head before you defend the 'Democrats' or the DLC.

[fitonkpo]

23. AMEN! EOM

[nxylas]

331. Bbbbut this proves that the people *want* to be ruled by corporations

At least that's what the M$M tells us. It was fear of socialist healthcare that caused people to vote for Brown in a state that, um, already has the universal mandate that the senate bill is proposing.

[BP2]

25. Yes, she did fuck up. But 20 percent of our Democrats switched to the Puke instead of just

not showing up! This was after Barack and Bill stumped for her.

How could she fuck up SO badly that one-fifth of Massachusetts Liberals vote Puke red?
Please tell me.

I submit to you that if there was more consensus building going on amongst the Base, instead of Rahm
thinking he has the Base stuffed in his cozy, little front shirt pocket, Brown-noser would not have
won Ted's seat by a whole 5 points.

[No Elephants]

306. There were no exit polls, so I don't see how anyone could actually know if any Democrats

voted for Brown. IMO, whoever said that--wherever you heard it--is either propagandizing or bullshitting.

I've heard a couple of people say things on TV they worked to elect Kevin White, but were going to vote for Brown. Hell, being a Democrat thirty or forty years ago doesn't mean you were a Democrat in 2008.

Besides, I don't even know if they were even telling the truth about what they were 30 years ago. Or even that they live in Massachusetts. (A lot of people came here from other states to help drive the "momentum."

Sorry, but I don't trust anyone who said they were going to vote for Brown and I don't trust the media spin.

I think you should stop spreading around stuff no one can possibly prove.

[barb162]

287. link for that, please n/t

[No Elephants]

312. You are asking for a link for those exact words? You can't be serious.

But, it's been said in word and deed, and not only by Rahm.

Calling people the "left of the left" just because they had the "nerve" to keep fighting for a public option, which Obama Biden ran on is one example. Rahm, Gibbs and everyone else scolding Democrats who wanted a public option as "making the perfect the enemy of the good," when in fact, the public option the house passed was far from "the perfect."

But, let's flip this burden of proof. What did Rahm do to let the base know how much he appreciated them and all their donations in stunning numbers and all their unselfish work getting his boss into the White House? What has been done for the base, as opposed to the so-called "center right" DLC types?

[ProgressOnTheMove]

13. Ow, that one stings, BUT a little ointment and we keep rolling progress will not stop.

[RBInMaine]

15. LESSON: Run a god damn real campaign. She and her people SUCKED OUT LOUD. No excuses, no sour

grapes.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

28. I can be dismayed Ted's seat went to Mr. Truck if I want to. Let me grieve a little.

[TheEuclideanOne]

388. You sound like a broken record.

I don't see much in replies by you to people who offer a reason other than "SHE RAN A SHITTY CAMPAIGN!". Is that all you got? If it is, then you need to understand how a discusion board works. When you post a Statement in ALL CAPS, people can read it... fine...maybe it stands out a little. If you keep posting the same comment over and over again, they do not replace the prior one. Not sure if you noticed that or not. If you look at the discussion board you will see that every single one is still there. People can see it each time and it does not get any more validity the more you repeat it. What MIGHT give you more validity is if you reply to people that add comments to your over-repeated statements. Personally, I think that it is more that just a bad campaign. In fact, even the best of campaigns could really had no affect on the outcome.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

14. Ow, that one stings, BUT a little ointment and we keep rolling progress will not stop.

[timo]

19. oooof

Teddy rolls over tonite

[BlueIdaho]

21. There is plenty of blame to go around.

[New Dawn]

27. Hey Rahm, your best friends in the GOP are thankful.

They could not have won tonight without your reactionary idiocy.

[kpete]

29. Scott Brown wins Massachusetts Senate special election race

Source: Washington Post

Scott Brown wins Massachusetts Senate special election race

State Sen. Scott Brown won a remarkable upset victory over state Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) tonight in a Massachusetts Senate special election, a victory likely to spawn broad-ranging political and policy consequences heading into the midterm elections.

With 71 percent of precincts reporting, Brown held a 53 percent to 46 percent lead over Coakley. Coakley called Brown to concede the race moments ago, according to a Democratic aide.

Brown's victory is the first for Republicans at the Senate level for Republican in Massachusetts since 1972 and he becomes the lone GOPer in the 12-person federal delegation from the Bay State.

While it is a historic win within Massachusetts, the implications of Brown's victory for the national political scene are even more critical.

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/scott-brown-wins-massachusetts-senate-race.html

[Cornus]

30. Sad day...nt

[FarLeftFist]

198. OH NO now what are the Dems going to do, they ONLY have an 18 vote majority...

Back to business Dems, it was far from a landslide and with the political climate the way it is we should still have plenty of hope. The Dems came out in full force too to vote. Now let's continue trying to push America forward.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

233. It is a case of re-make re-model

quick

[No Elephants]

316. Off topic, but Jon Stewart did a bit on that. I think it was yesterday or the day before.

[happy2day]

385. FarLeftFist on Majority

FarLeftFist, do you actually think these Democrats in office now are not going to change to protect their cushy jobs?
We lost New jersey, Virginia and now the "Throne" of Massachusetts, this is a catastrophe, the dominoes have began to topple and I don't know what the hell to do to save November and 2012, WHAT THE HELL is going on?
I know hard core Democrats that have been faithful to the Party for generations that are bitching and tired of this Tax and Spend bullshit and bailouts and are saying to hell with it and starting to flow dead center and slightly right, if there is a giant "Shake Up" in November than the Obama Dog and Pony show is over sosomeone needs to get their heads out of their collective ass's and right this ship or it WILL sink and take us all down with it.
So, WHAT is the answer?

[Faith No More]

229. We gave the dems everything they needed

to bring about meaningful change in this country and the spineless, self serving assholes are throwing it all away. WE SENT YOU TO DO A JOB AND YOU'D DAMN WELL BETTER DO IT IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR JOBS!!!!!!

[poverlay]

268. I actually heard someone tell Rachel tonight that the Dems were just tired. TIRED! Rachel just

just about choked the living $^$@ out of him. Like it was just as well that HCR was going down the tubes. These poor people are TIRED. Haven't they done enough?

They need a vacation. Poor tired bastards.

[FarLeftFist]

271. Let's talk serious for a minute,

If the HC bill fails and Americans and small businesses are seeing their premiums go through the roof, remind me again who wins in the end.
Be careful GOP you could be treading on political suicide.
All the Dems have to do then is say 'I told you so', the inevitability of those rise in prices by the ultra-greedy insurance companies could offer a dim future for the republicans, it's not a matter of 'IF' but 'WHEN'. But what does 37 million uninsured matter, by 2020 that number will only be at 58 million.....Then will they admit they were wrong?

[SergeStorms]

357. So........

you don't think any of this is backlash for a Democratic HCR bill that sucks balls? :shrug: I think that's exactly what it's saying. People HATE the damned HCR bill that's being tooled behind closed doors in Washington, and they used their votes to send that message.

[jimlup]

31. This makes me feel sick to my stomach

:puke:

[Name removed]

80. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[edbermac]

100. 59-41 for us, asshole.

Enjoy your brief stay.

[bc3000]

202. 58... We can stop counting Lieberman now, right?

[No Elephants]

317. Why stop with Lieberman? How about the most powerful member of Congress,

head of the Senate Finance Committee, Baucus? How about Stupak and Nelson? And so on.

I think one of the reasons they would never have used budget reconciliation is that they don't want America to see that they cannot even get 50 plus Biden to agree on anything.

But, what do you expect when they let a corporatist Blue Dog head the Senate Finance Committee and let someone who campaign for frickin' McCain head the committee of his choosing?

[SergeStorms]

359. Bingo!

All this talk of a Democratic "majority" in Congress has been a red herring right from the start. To count many of these "Democrats" as REAL Democrats is ludicrous. DINOs There's a reason that phrase was coined, and you named some of the main people it was coined for and about.

[RoccoR5955]

32. BOO HISSSSS!

unrec!

[Akoto]

33. Teddy must be rolling in his grave right now. n/t

[No Elephants]

156. He's used to it since health insurers wrote the Senate health care reform bill.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

237. and Vicki must be sick to her stomach

[barb162]

292. I suspect he might be. n/t

[bdamomma]

365. I totally agree, they blew it big time.

[Xenotime]

34. GOP Steals another election

[No Elephants]

37. Not stolen. Coakley gave it to Brown.

[marshall]

46. True, and Brown didn't even run that great of a campaign

Couldn't Massachusetts come up with somebody better than Coakley to campaign for such a hallowed seat? Surely out of all the Kennedys there must have been one among them who could have taken it on (and I'm talking about a REAL Kennedy, not that third party spoiler).

[No Elephants]

89. If Vicki Kennedy had been appointed the place holder, I believe she would have won.

In fact, I believe a Republican may not even have challenged her. She turned it down, saying, "In our family, we believe there is only one Senator Kennedy." No one else wanted it, though Joe considered it briefly.

I believed Mike Capuano, my Congressional Rep, would have been a much better candidate. He was not known statewide, though, as was Coakley--and he was not a woman and gender played a big role in the primary. (IMO, Massachcusetts tends to go for identity politics.)

He was not dynamic, but he knows his stuff and had national experience. And, he might have turned out Boston more than Coakley, but I don't know. His district knows him, but I am not sure how many others do.

Irony: Word here is Brown never thought he'd make Senator. He ran because he wanted to make himself better known statewide so he could run for statewide office, like Treasurer or Secretary of State.

But I think Brown did do smart things in his campaign. Not honest, though, but calculated to win. Calling himself independent. Not putting "Republican" on any of his campaign materials. Kicking off his ad campaign with a video of Jack Kennedy. Campaigning like a populist. Etc.


Martha, on the other hand, ran a lousy campaign and national Democrats were asleep at the switch until it was too late.

Although, I think if the election were two weeks from now, it might have turned around.

[Art_from_Ark]

245. "In our family, we believe there is only one Senator Kennedy."

And here I thought there had been 3-- John, Robert, and Edward.

[OnlinePoker]

258. John wasn't a senator...only a congressman

[Alexander]

266. Wrong. John was a Senator from 1953-1961. He used to hold this very seat.

Teddy won this seat in a special election after John won the presidency. The Kennedys had family friend hold it for them, who then resigned.

[No Elephants]

325. He was Ccongressman first, then Senator, then President (then martyr).

[No Elephants]

315. Obviously, she meant her nuclear family, herself and her children.

Among many other things, she has way too much respect for her husband to diss his beloved, martyred brothers, and Caroline and her family and Bobby's kids and their family.

[420inTN]

279. Re: Coakley's campaign

I have to hand it to Brown in regard. Of all the campaign ads I heard, he was only "positive" on position based, whereas many of Coakley's ads were negative against Brown.

Personally, I think it is in the candidate's (any candidate) advantage to run position ads than negative ads. If one candidate runs position ads while the other runs negative ads, then the one running the "cleaner" campaign will get more of a sympathy vote than the one running the negative ads.

Also, it didn't help Martha when she said that Curt Schilling was a Yankees fan.

[PhD]

285. Not necessarily

Most studies show exactly the opposite is true. In this case, I think there was simply so much voter angst against the status quo that Brown's approach worked and Coakley's backfired.

[No Elephants]

342. That is a lie. A Republican group's ads went negative first. Coakley's ads

went after Brown's positions. This was especially necessary since he first tried to pass himself off as JFK;s successor and even Ted Kennedy's. He never mentioned being a Republican, referred to himself as "independent, etc. And, as a Republican state senator holding no important position, few knew him before this campaign. So, it was necessary (and IMO, perfectly appropriate) to point out things like he had filed a bill in the State House to bar hospitals from giving emergency contraception to rape victims.

However, Brown's ads also went after Coakley's positions. He also attacked her for her negative ads and for allegedly politicizing the MLK dinner here. Those kinds of attacks were way more personal than anything Martha or any Democratic group aired.

Please do not believe a liar like Brown or the corporate media spin.

[hack89]

348. Having lived with the ads, I disagree

Her problem was she had no ads while he was introducing himself to the electorate - she basically disappeared from the public scene for several weeks. Once she got a clues she came out with a barrage of negative ads - the first impression she gave many voters was one of panic.

Brown hit on the Democrats weakness - health care. He understood that it was not their number one priority - it started and ended with jobs.

[420inTN]

382. I listened to plenty of MA ads

I didn't hear a single one officially endorsed by Brown (i.e. "This is Scott Brown and I approve this message.") that was negative.

Brown's not responsible for ads run by 3rd parties. Of course, I realize that it's easy to pass the attack ads off to 3rd parties while your official campaign ads are position based (i.e. "I'm Scott Brown and this is what I will do if elected...").

[No Elephants]

421. I heard ads by Scott Brown that were negative against Obama and Coakley.

And I know Brown is not technically responsible for ads run by third parties. That is why I specified that the first ad that went negative was from a RW group.

What Brown described as negative were ads by Coakly that attacked his political positions. He did the same to her, Obama and Democrats in general--and then some.

[PhD]

283. The placeholder could not run

The law stated anyone appointed to fill the seat could not run in the special election.

[No Elephants]

313. No. That is not so, nor could it be so. That was Kennedy's request and his placeholder is loyal

and honest.

State law cannot take the right to run for federal office away from anyone.

[wpelb]

188. Wasn't that the point of the primary?

Whoever is strong enough to win the intramural battle should be fit to put up a good fight in the general election. Ms. Coakley won the primary; she should have been ready to play hardball against the GOPher. Instead, she apparently thought she could mail it in. She thought wrong.

[Carni]

207. I agree

Flame away but wtf were they thinking in the primaries by electing this person?

Zero charisma and apparently zero dedication...

Maybe the great "insiders who know all" of the Democratic party faithful should just stay the hell home on primary voting day because they apparently don't have their finger on the pulse of the voters.

I am starting to suffer through the same misguided shit as a result of the election of Creigh Deeds in the VA primary (that turned out great also)

This shit is getting REALLY tiresome--GOP lite does not work.

[No Elephants]

323. If you really want to know why Martha won the primary, you could ask, or

you could go to the Massachusetts forum at DU or whatever. Or you could check out this post for my thoughtful and considered opinion, for whatever one person's opinion may be worth: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=244x2468#2511



BUT, If all you really want to do is diss Democratic voters in Massachusetts, the nicest suggestion I can muster is that you go fuck yourself--and I don't put that word in posts very often.

Massachusetts Democrats voted for McGovern when ALL the rest of the electoral votes went to someone who had to resign; and we voted for Mondale when "Reagan Democrats" were busy voting for the man whose policies started this country on the path where it now finds itself. We went for Obama against McCain in November 2009 by 62%.

We've had at least one Democratic U.S. Senator continuously since 1952 and two Democratic Senators continuously since 1978 (with one liberal "Lincoln Republican" before that--Brooke hadn't woken up yet to realize Republicans were no longer the Party of Lincoln)). Our state legislature is about 95% Democratic. And yes, we've had Republican Governors, but they all ran as liberals, even lying Romney. Besides, our legislature can override gubernatorial vetoes in its sleep.

And Coakley ran in the primary on the exact same liberal platform as Mike Capuano, a member of the House Progressive caucus. For that matter, all four Democratic primary candidaes.

Don't lecture Massachusetts Democratic voters about Republican lite.

[Carni]

405. Ah! Well I think you answered my question...

Apparently long winded self important wind bags such as yourself voted for her in the primaries.

I can understand why you are so hostile, you must be kicking yourself right about now for your utter lack of judgment and political savvy!

[No Elephants]

423. You're question was "What were they thinking in the primaries?'

Apparently, you had no real interest in the answer and prefer jumping to the wrong conclusion about Massachusetts, the primary and me and my vote and dissing all of the foregoing. So, I can only refer you back to my suggestion as to what you can do.

[Carni]

427. And I have a more constructive suggestion for YOU

Next time (regardless of what state you live in) just stay home on primary voting day and let people with actual brains make the decision!

[rhett o rick]

254. Rahmbo gave it to Brown. nt

[Flatulo]

53. Please...

Sorry to disappoint you, but Martha was very unpopular west of the Boston area.

I held my nose and voted for her, but frankly she was a terrible candidate.

I hope the Dems can learn from this.

[No Elephants]

102. Boston did not turnout today.

[Flatulo]

112. The weather sucked, but my small town had an amazing turnout.

Long lines and traffic jams.

I did not see a single Coakley sign out there, but the Browns were out in force.

[No Elephants]

123. Exactly. Boston is more Democratic than small towns. & It was not the weather.

In the 2004 Presidential, people waited on line in Boston for 4 hours or more in pouring rain to vote. I know, bc I was one of them--and I have the luxury of voting in off hours.

[420inTN]

280. Howie Carr...

was pimping Scott Brown and telling all of his listeners for weeks to vote absentee if they thought the weather would be rough and they couldn't get out on election day.

Let's face it, the repugs had a better turn-out today.

[No Elephants]

328. Yes, they did. Tha's what I said.

That's what happens when Democrats in Massachusetts don't turn out--the Republican turnout is the better turnout. That's a given.

Registered Democrats in Massachusetts outnumber registered Republicans by better than 3 to 1. And those registered "unenrolled" outnumber both the Republicans and the Democrats. However, most of the unenrolled usually vote Democratic. Massachusetts voting history tells you that.

There was a a turnout of over 70% in November 2008 and around 50% today. The Republicans had a phenomenal turnout, for them, today. That's a variance of over 20%. So, who stayed home today? Who made up that 20%. Obviously, the Democrats and maybe also some of the unenrolled who usually vote Democratic.

The real question is, why did they stay home. I maintain it was motivation, not weather, because bad weather did not keep them home in 2004.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

241. so many reasons why

Pissed off at Coakley.

Pissed off at being unemployed.'

Pissed off at the White House over bailouts for the rich.

Pissed off.

I don't blame them really. But I blame the spin meisters for saying this was about Health Care Reform. How would Coakley have been 20 points ahead in December if this vote was about HCR?

[NeuteredEagle]

252. HCR still looked like it was reform

To a lot of Democrats and progressives in December.

Now, it's clear --- HCR is reform-in-name-only (RINO). It will turn Americans into slaves to private insurance companies by forcing them to buy a defective product.

Running a Democrat-In-Name-Only (DINO) against Brown, a teabagger, failed. Teabaggers will always win because they aren't wooden, spineless, gutless shills who come off fake. They aren't people you are uninspired by.

Brown promotes populism---wrongheaded populism but populism nonetheless. The Democrats need more populism, more progressivism --- not more bipartisanship and campaigns that pander to the "center."

[SleeplessinSoCal]

310. Democrats are going to start eating their own today. It won't be pretty.....

[No Elephants]

314. She was 31 points ahead, but a lot happened since December 8.

And Brown ran on being THE vote to block health care and the rest of the Democrats' agenda, while Martha ran on joining the Democratic majority in health care. When Obama came to Massachusetts, he talked about needing her vote on health care.

Bear in mind, too, that Massachusetts already has mandatory Romneycare. So, if you like it, you have no incentive to pay more so the rest of the country can get it. And if you don't like Romney care, you don't have much of an incentive to spread it nationwide.

And liberals, many of whom stayed home today, don't like the Senate bill.

In all, it's not that all that far fetched or unrealistic to say health care reform--and the clusterflock Democrats made of it-- played a large role in people voting for Brown.

[RBInMaine]

68. Please be real. No sour grapes. Her campaign STUNK ! Lesson: CAMPAIGN FOR THE SEAT !

[SergeStorms]

364. With all due respect.........

You're probably wrong about this. You sound like a broken record and refuse to believe there could be ANY other reason for her defeat. Please, put a cork in it and stop spamming the board with your standard answer that everyone has read countless times. :hi: Just sayin'.

[24601]

95. Sure, the GOP runs every other elected office in MA - putting them

in place to steal....What? This will be the GOPs ONLY statewide office? You mean the Dems run everything in MA?

...that's very different, never mind.

BTW, keep crying wolf and when it does happen, nobody will believe you.

[Name removed]

108. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[No Elephants]

144. Keep kidding yourself that Hillary would have been more popular than Obama.

[DumbBassRepublicans]

243. HILLARY may not have been more popular than Obama....

but I sure and the heck like to think she would've been more
competent, more forceful, and less wishy-washy, especially in dealing
with the PARTY OF NO...!!!
You CANNOT act in a civilized manner when dealing with republicans...
You MUST fight back against them, harder than they do against us..!!
Obama is a great speaker, but how far has that gotten us..??
He'd better develop some balls, and real quick..!!
And what's with Emanuel.... I thought he was supposed to be a fighter..!!
I hope I'm wrong, but I'm starting to get the feeling that the
Obama Administration has blown the opportunity that was handed to it
in the election...
ANYONE, and I mean ANYONE, could have won the election AFTER Dubya....
Obama was given a clean slate to govern the way he promised in the campaign...
HE HASN'T LIVED UP TO HIS PART OF THE BARGAIN, AND IS NOW VIEWED AS JUST ANOTHER POLITICIAN..!!
KIND OF OBVIOUS, ISN'T IT...???!!!
But don't take my word on it...
Just check out Massachusetts, Virginia, etc.
SAD, REALLY, REALLY SAD...!!!
:cry:

[No Elephants]

326. That is your opinion, not fact. However, since you are new here, maybe

maybe you don't know.

Living in primary is not especially favored here. If you notice, the post about Hillary that I was replying to was deleted.

There is a forum for Hillary supporters to the DU Groups. I recommend you check it out.

On edit: Just for the record, I am not the one who alerted on the post that was deleted, nor will I alert on yours. But someone alerted or a mod happened to spot it and it's gone now.

[meforprez]

398. Huh?

Isn't that what a message board is about? Opinions? You're sit there and tell someone what they can an can't say?

[No Elephants]

417. I thought I made it clear that it was not my rule. FYI, I have no rules for what people can say.

[xsquid]

180. +1 on most of what you said.......

either we can accept that people are unhappy with whats going on and try to fix it or keep using the same lame excuses, it was stolen, the weather, etc. and go down in flames. Democrats outnumber Republicans 3-to-1 in the state -- 37 percent of registered voters are Democrats, 12 percent are Republicans and 51 percent are unaffiliated. If we can't see this as a wakeup call then theres more problems coming.

[AtheistCrusader]

296. They didn't steal a damn thing

It was handed to them on a silver platter, all gift wrapped and everything.

[wisteria]

35. The media got what it wanted. Those in Massacusetts who voted for this ass are going to be sorry.

At least they still have Senator Kerry.

[idrahaje]

60. Just think of it this way, better now than November.

Might be good news for Dems in November if Brown messes up.,

[dencol]

143. Might be good news if Dems learn from it...

It's time for them to start enacting some of this change they got people to hope for. Continuation of wars, giveaways to corporations, and a health care bill that favors the insurance industry is outrageous and will continue to keep the left home, and sway many independents to pols who are at least predictable.

[No Elephants]

152. I fear their takeaway will be

"Holy crap. A decisive victory for a Republican in freaking MASSACHUSETTS! The is series!1111!!! We'd better tilt still further right."

[SergeStorms]

366. I have a sneaky feeling......

you may be right about the "we'd better tilt still further right" business. Democrats don't seem to be able to discern what people are really trying to tell them with their votes. I hope we're both wrong, but if the past is prelude..... we're screwed.

[TheEuclideanOne]

199. Exactly!!! Let it hurt! Let it burn!!!

Let this serve as a lesson as to what WILL happen in November if things do not change. Wake Up Obama! Take some accountability. If we had a HealthCare bill that is not such a disaster, this may have never happened. If you delivered on what you promised, this may not have happened. This will continue, but only if you let it!

[The Wielding Truth]

168. Brown will no doubt lose his seat over scandal before 2011.

He has no scruples.

[No Elephants]

174. You are correct. He deceives and lies. I hope to heaven your prediction is also correct.

[The Wielding Truth]

200. I'm a good gage of character. He is slick and that is his advantage.

[barb162]

293. The talking heads said he has run about ten times and won every time

Not that I know this guy, never heard of him until a few weeks ago, but if he's that bad, how does he have a 100% win column, especially against a well-funded Democrat.

[No Elephants]

304. I don't know how well-funded she was until after she was in free fall, though.

She's been criticized for taking so much time off after winning the primary on December 8. Today, her campaign said that was bc she was out of money after the primary and had to do fund raising. I don't know how true that is, but that is what they said. She raised a lot from health insurers, too, which Brown hammered on whie campaigning.

[liquid diamond]

213. So are those that stood by and let this shit happen.

I believe there were some pissed off progressives that stayed at home.

[Name removed]

272. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[shanti]

277. that's exactly how i felt

when arnold was elected governor here in cali.....:(

[Name removed]

36. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[totodeinhere]

38. Now let the recriminations and finger pointing begin. n/t

[No Elephants]

165. One person's recriminations is another person's post game analysis.

[Joe the Liberal]

39. Sad day in America.....

the GOP stole this one, count on it, that's the ONLY way they can win any election in this country outside the south and Midwest.

[rayofreason]

64. What foolishness.

This election was not stolen - it was lost by Coakley and won by those who are opposed to Obama's agenda.

The question is how to move forward. Indulging in fantasies will not prepare anyone to meet the electoral challenges ahead.

[Socal31]

246. Maybe "Joe the liberal"

should change to "Joe the student of history." The pendulum will swing back the way we dont want it if precautions are not taken.

[wordpix]

40. Coakley & national Dems ran a "safe," don't-rock-the-boat campaign

It happened in my hometown, too. Instead of facing the issues squarely and taking the repuke incumbents to task based on their records, the Dems just sat back, said they would "bring change and transparency" and then in the last week, started to hammer somewhat weakly at the powers-that-be. That didn't work. When will Dems learn---you have to hammer hard at these repukes, like they do at us. :banghead:

[Zenlitened]

78. Agreed. -n/t

[defendandprotect]

91. The DLC knows what it's doing . . .

destroying the Democratic Party --- !!!

[snowshadow]

185. I totally agree!

When are the Dems going stop taking things for granted and come out with both feet running. I have yet to see a Repuke waste any time attacking their opponent. Where is Dr. Dean when we need him.

[defendandprotect]

190. Well . . .

We're trying to get liberals and progressives together to discuss issues

and ways to more strongly influence the Democratic Party -- other than staying

home rather than voting as Dems in MA seem to have done re this election! --

If you're interested . ..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=244&topic_id=2468&mesg_id=2497

[snowshadow]

259. I'm going to become a donor

The DNC can go directly to hell I really mad.

[defendandprotect]

282. You know . . .

someone suggested that forum and had I know in advance about the

donation, I don't know if I would have thought it a good idea to go there.

But, happy if you'll be checking in --

[No Elephants]

191. I disagree it was a "safe" campaign. She took off for two or three weeks after

the December 8 primary. She did not go among the people, shaking hands, until the last few days. She never went into minority neighborhoods. She did not know the issues. The national Democrats did not support her, financially or otherwise, until Brown had whittled her lead from 31 to about 9. None of that was "safe," and the result proves that.

We have to admit our mistakes, at least to each other, or we'll repeat them--and the race for this seat in 201i should start tomorrow.

[No Elephants]

201. Funny thing is, Brown ran on change and transparency, too.

[NorthCarolina]

41. This loss is mana from heaven for the DLC. They will claim a clear mandate

for moving the Democratic Party farther to the right (the MSM will of course help push that take on election results), and to shove the POS Senate Health Insurance Windfall legislation down the throats of House members.

[emsimon33]

51. If they do, November will be the worse bloodbath in the history of US elections!

[Ken Burch]

110. Cokie Fucking Roberts will be on NPR in the morning

Making smug comments about how "there was a swing to the left after the election". She's out buying fresh pearls tonight to celebrate(yeah, I know, NPR is radio, but for the COKESTER is all about bringin' teh gloat!)

[NorthCarolina]

138. Fox, CNN, and MSNBC Morning Crew will also be peddling this misinformation to the masses.

Rahm, Lieberman, Bayh, etc. will all be out pimping a *voter mandate* that indicates the Democratic Party needs to move to the right (they'll phrase it as "center" and not "right" of course, but we all know they're already right-of-center now).

[defendandprotect]

158. NPR was finished long ago as anything even neutral ....

[Ken Burch]

161. NPR now stands for "Neutered Pitiful Remnant"

n/t.

[defendandprotect]

182. It amazes me that anyone listens to NPR ... PBS also long, long gone ...one of

my PBS stations runs regular repeats of "Little House On The Prarie" --- !!!

:eyes:

[420inTN]

284. re: PBS

I wish my local affiliate would start showing repeats of Dr Who again. I loved that show when I was younger.

[defendandprotect]

149. Kick the DLC out of the party -- bring back Howard Dean . . .

[No Elephants]

170. Exactly my greatest fear. But, DLC head Ford is not doing great in NY, another liberal stronghold.

Still, I think the whole Party might miss the real point: The base did not vote today.

[scentopine]

176. With age comes insight I guess...

I will continue to state that it will only take one charismatic republican and all those "new democrats" will leave Obama at the altar. He has put all his faith in the center of the republican party. This continues to be a major mistake. But he's made his choices and now he must live with the consequences.

Republicans hate democrats and they hate liberals even more than the democrats do. The more we move right - the worse things get. I think you are correct. DLC will decide that not enough gasoline has been poured on the fire.

Right wing radio has done such an excellent job at turning democrats and republicans against liberals like me (no, I am not afraid of the L word) that democratic party leadership continues to paint itself into a corner - afraid of being labeled "Liberals". We are hated by both parties.

Soon dems will be bragging about how they are more republican than the republicans. Democrats should have launched a major marketing effort burnishing the reputation of the left, Obama should not have shied away from us and marketing needs to focus on the good things that happen with liberals (yes, we have our faults but nothing compares to utter devastation of republican world vision).

We really only have one party in America. From democrats we have unacceptable resolution regarding:

Torture Policy
Wall Street Policy
War Policy
Health Policy

On the big issues of morality and ethics, Obama leaves liberals like me (and those demanding change) ice cold. He's more reminiscent of early neo-cons. The neo-cons are still rummaging through a literal garbage heap of policy disasters looking for any sign of vindication. The trickle down Wall Street bailout was classic.

Soon we'll hear more talk about the brilliant plan of privatizing social security. And our "race to the top" education plan? CEOs are laughing all the way to the bank.

Here are the hiring options -

1. A skilled junior programmer who's $35,000 in education debt and needs $75,000k to start, and protected by US labor laws

-or-

2. Spend $20k training ten 26 year old contract workers in Bangalore at $10-$12/hr with no experience who you can fire if they get sick.

Guess which option Goldman Sachs will reward? So we will torture our kids with even MORE testing and computer tracking, etc and then outsource to India and China.

The right wing of both parties are blaming us for being too stupid to hire. But really, we are only stupid for not chopping off heads and putting them on pikes as a warning to others. The reality is we are governed by a class of people too stupid to learn skills that contribute benefits to society. Our masters only know how to tear our intellectual property apart piece by piece and sell it for pennies on the dollar to Asia.

Dems should have been focused on problems of middle class instead of Wall Street bankers. Now there is a real deal with the devil that I'd like to hear Pat Robertson talk about.

[NeoConsSuck]

204. MSM had already started that meme

Is Obama's liberalism the problem?

http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/is-obamas-liberalism-the-problem/

[No Elephants]

227. Even Woodward says Obama is far from liberal. (He's writing a book, of course.)

[Stumbler]

42. I feel like I should be disappointed...

But our representatives have already proven they can't get s**t done even when they had the 60-seat majority. *sigh* The more things change, the more they stay the same...

[emsimon33]

57. Because they were too busy demonizing those who elected them and pandering to the Right

The Right will NOT vote for Democrats, so why not pander to thems that brought you to the dance???!!!

[Vadem]

43. Tell me why she conceded with only 71% of the precincts ...

counted???

I would be damned if I would concede until 100% of the ballots had been counted and I guess that there are absentee ballots to be counted as well!!!

I am pissed off!!!!!

[quiller4]

69. I agree that is early but absentees are included in count and

went fairly heavily for Brown. I guess she and her advisors figured she couldn't make up the difference after Boston numbers came in.

[defendandprotect]

155. Whomever the "advisors" were on this whole fiasco, they should be out of politics--!!

[defendandprotect]

153. Agree . . . not a good idea --

[No Elephants]

211. Per her campaign: She heard the Boston turnout numbers.

Boston is the most Democratic part of the state.

[One_Life_To_Give]

363. Internal results are usually in before official

There is the official results and there are the party observers watching the counts. Typically the Party observers can call in the results and they will be tabulated before the official results are ever posted. So she probably already knew 100% of the results.

[emsimon33]

44. Prelude to the fall elections! Don't diss your base!

The Democrats hubris has been their tragic flaw. We do have a choice. We can just stay home!

Obama will now use this to continue to pander to the far right and ditch every campaign promise.

The blood bath in November will be the worse turn around in the country's history unless Obama stops listening to Rahm and the DINOs and starts bringing the change that he promised.

[workinclasszero]

322. If the wrong lessions are learned

from this fiasco, I'm afraid you are right. The reich wing, media outlets and the f'in DLC are going to tell the President that he went to far left(LOL! I wish!).

They will say turn right to save yourself, and it will be the end of the party and the end of America if he listens to them!

[SergeStorms]

369. IF he listens to them?

It seems as if he's already listened to them and now they'll push him even further right. We wouldn't be in this fix if he hadn't already listened and caved in to them, IMO. If he'd stayed true to his campaign promises we probably wouldn't be having these discussions right now. :shrug:

[Nye Bevan]

45. Sucks, but at least we get to go to bed early

Better we lose now and learn our lessons for 2010 and 2012 than wait until then to lose.

[brainshrub]

47. Democrats snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Jefferson23]

48. Very sad, sorry dear Senator Ted Kennedy.

[No Elephants]

221. Just think how his widow feels. She adored him and shared his hopes and dreams totally.

She called Brown to wish him well. Classy.

[Jefferson23]

240. I can only imagine how she feels, six years of a Republican to come and the

spin of how they beat Ted Kennedy's seat. This entire episode has been surreal.

[Eric J in MN]

255. The next election for the seat is in 3 years. NT

NT

[Jefferson23]

257. That is good news, thanks!

[No Elephants]

370. The next elecion for the seat is November, 2012. The Democrats should be

starting on that today. Looking for a dynamic candidate, planning strategy, assigning folks to watch and record Brown's every move and word (without violating his Constitutional rights of course). Because you can bet the Republicans will start on his re-election today.

[DonkeyHoTay]

412. Agreed - - Classy, caring & competent. Next time, Vickie.

We promise.

[icee]

49. Unmitigated disaster. How did this woman get on the ballot?

[MissDeeds]

119. That's what I want to know

And why didn't someone tell her that taking an extended Christmas vacation in the middle of a campaign was a bad idea - regardless of her 20 point lead in the polls? This is a mess, and the GOP will have a field day with it, especially since it was Teddy's seat they won.

[No Elephants]

230. No love for Martha here, but her campaign says it was fundraising. She was out of money after the

primary. (And she got little help of any kind from national Democrats until Brown had momentum and it was too late.)

[rpannier]

133. Maybe she should have stood out in the cold and wind at Fenway and shake hands

Instead of using it as a derisive answer to a legitimate question

[WriteDown]

267. That wouldn't work...

She may have run into Curt Shilling.

[No Elephants]

330. Unlikely. He's personal non grata there, since he deceived them into paying him

for an extra year. (According to my son, who is a big Red Sox fan.)

RWers seem to share a love of deception, n'est-ce pas?

;-)

[WriteDown]

384. Are you sure your son is an actual Redsox fan?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081016&content_id=3625213&vkey=ps2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Shilling is a legend and it pains me to say that being a Yankees fan.

[RBInMaine]

50. Hey, no sour grapes from us. She ran a SHITTY campaign. Nuff said.

[RedCloud]

65. That is what I am seeing too. It wasn't about Obama or health care.

It was her vacation and that feeling of being taken for granted,

[rayofreason]

74. That's only part of it.

If the administration does not do a better job in winning over the electorate, what happened in MA will be the template for Nov. 2010.

And then there is the issue of political competence. Right now Obama's weekend visit to MA feels like Copenhagen2. If he was going to jump in, he should have done it sooner.

[defendandprotect]

141. The "administration" right now is DLC . . . as Conyers has told us ...

"All Obama does is listen to Rahm!" ...

DLC is poison for the Democratic Party!!

[weminuche223]

226. Health care

Health care reform.... Push it through...fast....use the nuclear option if necessary... I dare ya!

[No Elephants]

333. It was both. If Massachusetts was pleased with the Democrats performance

this past year, they never would have elected Brown and Massachusetts Democrats would never have stayed home.

[GinaMaria]

194. Wouldn't it be sour grapes

to say we never wanted that seat anyway? It's putting down what you could not obtain.

from wikipedia:
Sour grapes is an expression originating from the Aesop Fable The Fox and the Grapes. It always refers to an unattainable goal and human reaction to it. It can mean to deny desire for the unattainable item. More often, it refers to the nature of humans to rationalize why they wouldn't want it anyway. The phrase has come to be synonymous with bitterness in most modern contexts.

[leftinportland]

52. Never concede to

a electronic vote count controlled by a corporate entity!!! Was there not a post earlier in the day where Coakley complained about vote irregularities.

[rhett o rick]

263. I agree. Something smells in Denmark. nt

[No Elephants]

339. Please see Reply 336. Kidding ourselves and playing victim is not the answer.

[rhett o rick]

387. The stink I was alluding to has nothing to do with stealing the election.

Why was Coakley the candidate? Apparently, she isnt popular in MA. Did the leaders of the Democratic Party not consider this election important enough to put more effort into a victory? What was the failure here?

[No Elephants]

336. Most, if not all, of Massachusetts uses paper ballots. The Governor and the

legislature are Democratic, as are most of the mayors around the state. If the election was stolen, shame on all of them.

Please be realistic. All the polls have shown Martha trending down and Brown trending up. It was not even close. Nothing was stolen.

[placton]

54. Let's just give Obama and the Dems more time

So they lose a few senate seats, and some governors, at least they are keeping those campaign promises? Thanks God we don't have Howard Dean as head of the party anymore! Wow, we might even have lost Ted Kennedy's seat, eh? This is all according to plan - and just wait til November!! Things will go really well then, you know, after the Dems have had more time!

[emsimon33]

61. Ah, you are channeling Rahm!

[Ahpook]

90. Yeah, its only time

I have heard that bullshit for years

[hughee99]

116. Don't forget, he's a chess master! n/t

[defendandprotect]

146. So sadly hilarious . . . We need Howard Dean back -- and Rahm out -- !!

[scentopine]

232. lol! - yes its only 25% of the grade - plenty of time to study and ace the final -nt

[mother earth]

55. Why the absence of exit polls?

[placton]

63. no exit polls as local media didnt pay for them

is what I read.

[defendandprotect]

106. Well, continue to think exit polls inconvenient when a STEAL is being pulled????

That was my first thought about MA --

OTOH, what does it take to beat a Nazi when only 20% of voters are willing

to identify as Repugs ... after 8 years of W???!!!

[No Elephants]

338. No exit polls because NO ONE paid for them is probably more accurate.

[defendandprotect]

101. I think they knocked them out after the Bush STEAL . .. didn't they?

Couldn't have anything so obvious around to prove a steal . . . !!!

I kept hoping that this was what was going on in MA . . .

I mean after all -- losing to a Nazi -- after 8 years of W Bush --

with only 20% of voters willing to identify as Repugs????

Doesn't make sense --

But it will sure hurt!!

Especially if it's any predictor for 2010 --

Wow --

[mother earth]

414. Bev Harris is reporting where there were handcounts, there

was a Coakley win, where there were machines the selected Brown prevailed.

This is a "predictor" of how hijacked our democracy is, we are played and played over and over again, and we still believe our vote will matter. We are never represented. Obama is showing us he's controlled, and we still don't understand. Maybe by the time Brown's term is over, we will.

I have a feeling the Bush 8 long years will seem like child's play....the other show has not yet fallen. The house of cards is falling all around us.

[varelse]

56. Ugh

bad news :(

[TheCowsCameHome]

58. A testament to Teddy's influence and power. He held it for 30+ years

without cracking as sweat.

There will never be another EMK.

[Democrat_in_Houston]

59. Damn.

I"m surrounded by Repukes. I think I'm not getting out of my house tomorrow.

[A R S]

62. I have but one word...

... shit.

[No Elephants]

66. Perspective.

A Democrat has been in Kennedy's seat since 1952.

The last time Massachusetts elected a Republican Senator was 1972, and that was Brooke, the first African American Senator since Reconstruction.

Registered voters in Massachusetts outnumber registered Republicans 3 to 1.

Most of Massachusetts's population is centered around Greater Boston, the mmost Democratic area. Turnout in the suburbs far exceeded turnout in Boston.

The conclusion that Democrats stayed home is almost inescapable.

Regardless of what they may say aloud, I hope national Democrats get the correct message. This was not about Massachusetts going right. It was about Democrats staying home.

[totodeinhere]

75. It's scary isn't it? n/t

[harkadog]

93. You are forgetting 51% of the MA voters are independent.

They far outnumber Dems. No evidence at this point Dems stayed home.

[Lorien]

181. I know a lot of people in MA. Plenty of Greens, Dems and Progressive independents

and not one repug among them. I think the Left mostly sat this one out. If our party couldn't pass HCR with a 60 seat majority AND overwhelming public support for the Public option, then what difference does it make if it's a 59 seat majority? Just a guess, anyway.

[No Elephants]

184. Yes, but "independent" does mean "lean right." You are overlooking Mass's voting history.

And there is evidence Dems stayed home. The reason her campaign gave that Martha conceded so soon? Lousy turnout in Boston (the most Democratic part of the state).

Au contraire, there is no evidence Democrats turned out.

[harkadog]

195. You may be right but we will have to wait

for the number crunchers to do their work in the next few days.

[DumbBassRepublicans]

289. And, of the independent voters....

51% (or more...!!!) are M-O-R-O-N-S...!!!!

LOL...!!!!

:evilgrin:

[MessiahRp]

103. +1

Of course they'll try to pretend not to care but the absence in the turnout is more proof that this right leaning Democratic nonsense has gone too far and driven the base away.

Coakley might have been a weak candidate but if Dems were living up to any of their pre-2008 Campaign promises or mantras, she would have rolled Brown tonight.

Rp

[defendandprotect]

111. Oh, so very well said . . . so true and so sad -- !!!

The conclusion that Democrats stayed home is almost inescapable.

Regardless of what they may say aloud, I hope national Democrats get the correct message. This was not about Massachusetts going right. It was about Democrats staying home.

That's it -- !!

[Confusious]

127. When have democrats gotten the messgae RIGHT in 30 years

Don't hold your breath.

Jumping the center, here we come.

off to the right with you ------------------------------------->oops, need some more -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> even more, etc, etc, etc

[janet118]

172. One problem with your analysis . . .

You failed to include the "Unenrolleds." http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/franklin_county_has_more_unenr.html">From AP
"More than half – 51 percent – of the state’s 4.1 million voters are not enrolled in any party."

Brown owned the "unenrolled" voters. They are a combination of people who think Mass. Repubs are too liberal, those who think Mass. Dems. are too conservative and the apathetic who vote for the next big shiny thing.

[alp227]

273. 1966 not 1972.

Brooke kept his seat till 1979, when he was succeeded by Paul Tsongas and then John Kerry.

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000871
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward Brooke

[No Elephants]

346. Um, my post said,

"The last time Massachusetts elected a Republican Senator was 1972..."


That, of course, referred to Brooke, Massachusetts last Republican Senator before Brown.

You say Brooke kept his seat until 1979 (January). Terms are six years long. The means the last time Massachusetts elected Brooke Senator was November, 1972. Which is what my post correctly said.

Your giving 1966 as the date when Massachusetts last elected a Republican Senator. That is wrong. 1966 is only the date when Brooke was first elected Senator, which had nothing to do anything in my post.

[alp227]

394. Oops, sorry. I got a bit confused right there.

[change_notfinetuning]

67. From the thrill of victory in 2008 to the agony of deceit of 2009 to the agony

of defeat today. With a whole lot of loss of moral compass in between. This better be bottom, but unless the president listens to the American people, rather than Wall Street, it won't be.

[RBInMaine]

70. BULLSHIT ! Coakley ran a SHITTY campaign. Get real.

[change_notfinetuning]

97. It's Mass. for Chrissake, not Maine. This is a cry for help from the heart of

the Democratic party.

[FailureToCommunicate]

179. You keep shouting the same one line over and over on Coakley threads. Do you feel better now?

[sakabatou]

71. Damn

[Odin2005]

72. Another STOLEN election.

[rayofreason]

79. Another SILLY statement.

Get reality-based or reality will bite you in the ass.

[Name removed]

81. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[No Elephants]

105. Nah. Santa Democrats and Martha Claus gave it to Brown.

[SpankMe]

114. Awww - cut the 'stolen election' nonsense!

The numbers are something like 53% to 47% at this point - too big a margin for the usual dirty tricks to work. We Democrats have clearly forgotten how to win elections - even in our own back yards. Coakley threw it by essentially not campaigning. That, and we couldn't get our own off their asses and to the polls. (Dem's sat this one out thinking a Democratic win was automatic in such a blue state.)

Lastly, the national party has dismissed the liberal base. We're toast in 2012.

Any suggestions as to how we reverse the pussification of our party?

[StreetKnowledge]

253. Any Suggestions?

Until Rahm and the DLC pigs are out of the party, there is no solutions.

And they won't be discredited until they lose to somebody like Sarah Palin.

And the chances of America as it is today surviving four years of a Palin Administration with a GOP Congress are virtually zero.

I got in heat a few months back by saying this, but I'll say it again. We've lost at being able to influence the Democratic Party. They don't give a fuck about us anymore, and I don't see a way of fixing it peacefully. The DLC runs the party, and we mean nothing to them.

[nxylas]

332. They already lost to someone like Sarah Palin

His name was George W. Bush. It didn't cleanse the infection.

[defendandprotect]

164. Originally, I was hoping that the hype of the "polls" was pointing to

polls covering a steal --

but from what I can see it looks like Coakley was a sad pick --

in fact, an insane pick --- certainly NOT someone to be considered to

replace Ted Kennedy -- !!!

It should have been a strong liberal -- progressive --

And, additionally loaded down with the hatred for the health care fiasco --

Hard to believe that Rahm ran this right into the ground . . . again!!!

Bring back Howard Dean --

And kick the DLC out of the White House!!

[Name removed]

73. Deleted message

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[TheCowsCameHome]

76. Did your Mom write that for you?

Or was it your sister..........

[Name removed]

85. Deleted message

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[Lint Head]

87. Scott Brown will be an embarrassment to the GOP.

It does nothing to stop President Barack Hussein Obama from forwarding his agenda.
The Democratic party is still in the majority. The largest majority in decades.
HCR will pass and Rush Limbaugh will still be a pedophile drug addict.

[defendandprotect]

137. Like W Bush was . . . ??? They'll revel in having another Nazi in office!!

[nolabear]

104. So, Dems. Are we going to let this guy and his ilk determine the course of our country?

This is what we've got--so what are we going to do with it? After the pizza delivery, I mean.

[Herman4747]

77. YOU WANT 60 SENATE VOTES for progressive initiatives NOW? You want to end unfairness...

THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE FOR CENTURIES?

THEN YOU WANT CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION FOR WASHINGTON, DC!!! LET'S GET OUR DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATORS TO PUSH FOR IT!!

[Herman4747]

162. Gee, I'm surprised at so few responses, Herman4747!

:wow:

[Lautremont]

224. .

[zbiker]

408. actually im not surprised

i think we haft to realize that this posters way of thinking is going by the wayside, forcing the progressive agenda on the rest of america has gotten us in a tight spot and now the tide is turning against us, ever since the powers that be decided that back door shinanigans were the way to handle things.
im of the mind that the midwest is waking up to our tacktics and they don't see any future in supporting this line of thought anymore. especially after a year of such high handed overeaching fundimental attempts at what could have been really good legislation.
mass was only the first to say " enuff is enuff" and really get national attention in a big way.
more will follow i am sure

[Goldstein1984]

239. And maybe a few territories would like some representation

Subject to U.S. law but without voting representation in Congress--sounds like they're colonies.

[defendandprotect]

82. Coakley couldn't even beat a Nazi . . . ??? Amazing work by DLC???

[change_notfinetuning]

107. Outcome of convenience for DLC? Time will tell. n/t

[Ter]

118. It's really offensive to Jews to throw that word around so loosely

N/T.

[harkadog]

151. That word and fascist is thrown around all the time on DU

It has made the words almost meaningless.

[defendandprotect]

215. Only if you don't actually recognize ...

what is really going on --

Nor understand the history of Nazis/fascism and the connections of elites all

over the world to it -- including Americans . . . such as Allen Dulles, Prescott Bush

and many others here.

Allen Dulles and Prescott Bush raised money for Hitler from elites all over the world

using Dulles' law firm -- Sullivan and Cromwell, I think it was -- Prescott was finally

stopped by our government and funds confiscated. There were many companies used as cover.

Holland America Line, if I recall correctly.

Keep in mind that American industrialists also worked to free Germany from the restraints

placed upon them after WWI -- barring their rearming. That didn't suit those here who

wanted arms and war -- and they finally got what they wanted and the rearming of Germany.

This is NOT "conspiracy-free America" as much as many of us might wish for it!

[defendandprotect]

208. Every people have suffered right wing/fascist violence . . .including Jews . . .

And every people among us have their own right wing doing horrors --

sad to say, including the Israeli people.

Nixon armed right wing Israeli fundamentalists, using religious fanatics as they

have been used many times before and since --

That buried the peace-loving Israelis -- and has resulted in this constant warmongering --

with W's blessing, of course!

"Nazi" is an alternate for fascist -- and no one is using it "loosely" --

America has had fascism/Nazis cross our threshold --

See Operation Paperclip --

We didn't so much defeat Nazis as move them into America --

They were used to FOUND the CIA -- and funneled into the FBI -- directed NASA --

and many other government agencies.

CIA has taken right wing money from any source -- including the KKK --

and has used it to keep right wingers in Congress --

Two whose names I'm aware of are Sen. Strom Thurmond and Rep. Jerry Ford --

Pat Buchanan also has gotten CIA money --

Additionally, often 50% of our Federal budgets for education were actually money for

the CIA.

[Ter]

305. How does any of that make him a Nazi?

Do you really think if he were a real Nazi he would have won? The right looked like idiots calling Clinton and Obama Communists. Let's not make us look as bad.

[Name removed]

83. Deleted message

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[TheCowsCameHome]

109. He'll do as he's told, just like you.

Now run off to bed. It's late.

[SlingBlade]

84. Cant wait to see the spin on this one ...

Is Your Political Party Lern'in ?

Abandon the Base, Kiss RePuke Ass and wonder why they just got their asses handed to 'em

Because you've lost the REAL DEMOCRATS, IDIOTS !

[defendandprotect]

96. DLC will be in extreme denial . . . but it's clear what they've done . ..

[Joe the Liberal]

86. It absolutely sickens me....

to see this solid blue state have some sleazeball, degenerate, scumbag filth republican as their "representative". I'm even more sickened and disgusted to see Ted's seat, that he held for decades on end go to this piece of garbage, cookie cutter, bottom feeding, dirtbag republican. :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Name removed]

276. Deleted message

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[Nyquil Man]

88. So we get all this because Martha Coakley can't run a damn campaign?

Jesus Christ.

[defendandprotect]

166. Obviously Coakley was a disastrous pick -- Rahm ran this into the ground...again!!

[junior college]

92. BFD

Obama bends over on his health care plan and lets the GOP walk all over him. He escalates the war in Afghanistan, leaves all the troops in Iraq. Leaves the Patriot Act intact and generally acts like a neocon on just about every issue. Who even cares anymore? Two choices: Apathy or Black Bloc. Take your pick. Fuck him.

[riverdale]

205. You forgot how he handed the entire treasury over to big banks

and screwed over the unions and the working man To hell with Obama.

[defendandprotect]

94. They better move Howard Dean back in if they want to win in future -- !!!

[harkadog]

98. +1

[SlingBlade]

115. K & R That Buddy, Dean !!!!

[BluDemocratGirl]

99. Fuck the GOP, Ignorant Teabagging Fools, and the Independent Voters

who stood up with that pathietic, porn star-wannabe bastard. Mrs. Coakley's campaign could've been stronger, but she ran it down to the drain. I'm pissed 'cause now the health care reform is now in jeopardy!

[Name removed]

126. Deleted message

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[defendandprotect]

134. On the other hand, I think the DLC got what it wanted . ..

defeat for the Democratic Party --

Where the hell is Howard Dean -- someone who believed in winning!!!

Agree re killing the bill -- and 55+ on Medicare for a start --

Unfortunately, I can't suggest that Obama is merely misguided . . .

when you meet with Pharma and assure they we won't break the cartel --

and won't push "negotiation" on drugs . . . well . . .

Hard to believe this is about anything but a corporatist president . . . !!

[Name removed]

278. Deleted message

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[barb162]

294. Fuck the Independents? N.O.T. a smart move.

Who wins without them again?

[Name removed]

113. Deleted message

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[mystieus]

120. Where were you the last 8 years?

[SlingBlade]

122. They, The DLC will deny it all day long

The REAL test will come in November

Hope Dr. Dean is ready to take over whats left of the late great democratic party

[TheCowsCameHome]

128. Tell me, does Rush have any birthmarks in his crotch area?

You'd know if anyone did.

[Javaman]

129. meh, you're a tool.

[BluDemocratGirl]

130. Wrong website!

Free Public down the street!

[Name removed]

145. Deleted message

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[HughBeaumont]

132. Your guys ruined the country and your life.

And the worst part about it is, your sect STILL hasn't received the memo.

[YvonneCa]

139. Welcome to DU.n/t

[texastoast]

154. 3, 2, 1

Buh-bye!

[Name removed]

117. Deleted message

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[Psephos]

121. Try the double pepperoni...

...with a side of cyanide. ;)

[TheCowsCameHome]

124. But he kept you pukes on the sidelines for 37 years, didn't he?

Heh, heh.

[WriteDown]

125. The debates lost it for her.

That is my conclusion.

[No Elephants]

135. Disagree. It was all of it. Lackluster primary, the weeks she took off after the primary,

having a distate for shaking hands until it was too late, staying out of minority neighborhoods, lack of support from national Democrats until much too late. In fact, it's harder to think of things she did right.

And then, there was Brown's dishonesty, too.

[WriteDown]

140. You have a heck of lot more exposure to this race than me..

so I'll take your word for it. Sounds like she was the perfect unwinnable candidate.

[No Elephants]

352. And he was willing to lie and deceive all day and night.

[Kablooie]

131. So there ya go. All the angst over healthcare was totally wasted energy. It's gone.

[Name removed]

142. Deleted message

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[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

212. And you're a teabagging idiot

[Fire1]

147. The angst for those who don't have any continues. n/t

[Kablooie]

150. You are right about that.

[Name removed]

196. Deleted message

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[Javaman]

157. It was never there to begin with.

everything was given away to appease the repukes. HCR wasn't reform at all, it was a tissue paper of a bill that would amount to a give away to the health insurance corps.

No public option, no single payer, no buy in to medicare, no drug competition, everyone is not covered, preexisting conditions are still not covered.

We got mandates with a freaking rebate. What the hell is that?

The reason why it never got off the ground was because it was framed as health care reform and not health insurance reform.

The entire nation would have gotten behind that.

But the powers that be, who are bought and sold via the health insurance corps, knew they couldn't phrase it that way without getting wrath from the corps. So instead, we the people were lead down this bullshit path of lies.

And if you honestly try to tell me that "this is the first step" bs, I will tell you this, whatever gets passed, the first repuke in office will dismantle it or turn it into a further give away to the health corps. Even when Social Security was passed, even some repukes back then knew its value. we have nothing of that like today. They are all against it. period.
This sham of a bill is the first step to nothing.

Unless Obama starts paying attention to the left, the ones that got him elected, we are not going to bother anymore.

[defendandprotect]

173. The bill should be killed --

Though Insurance corps will probably be upset at seeing all that $$$

flying away from them -- hear they need a bailout?

I don't know . . . the corps might continue to fight for the gold???

[JDPriestly]

136. I read Mass.'s message as: We don't want Romneycare and that's all the

Democrats are offering us.

Well, I wish Coakley had won, but I hope that Obama awakens gets out of the DLC bed. The DLC is really hurting him.

Maybe if he has an affair with an intern and the Republicans attack him for it bigtime, we will all rise to defend him. But even that, I think won't work this time.

The president needs to rethink his cabinet appointments. He has too many DLCers around him. There is no balance, and Democrats in a basically liberal state like Massachusetts are not excited about the DLC agenda.

[defendandprotect]

175. It's an obvious anti-DLC, anti-corporate non-vote by Dems . . . who stayed HOME!!....

[Name removed]

148. Deleted message

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[texastoast]

160. We have to clean up after shrubbie

And it takes time.

Edited to decapitalize shrubbie and to acknowledge that your screen name probably equals your IQ.

[bowens43]

159. make no mistake

this defeat is a direct result of the actions or inaction of the compromiser-in-chief.

Obama thinks that there is nothing worth fighting for, that no compromise is a bad compromise and that corporations are people too.....


Seriously, where's the motivation to get out there and vote?

and don't start with that 'you're not a good democrat' bullshit.

[texastoast]

167. I'll think I'll start with the "you-are-a-good-what" bullshit then

Making progress with such a post? Are we really making progress with such negativity? And do you know the minds of every Massachusetts voter?

Agreed that Obama is not perfect. And your alternative, please?

[Don Draper]

163. The Democrats only have themselves to blame

Our party completely squandered their mandate for change. As a result, the base stayed home. The cons are mistaken if they interpret the Brown victory as an indicator of the country shifting to the right. If we followed through on the sweeping change promised in the previous election, progressives would dominate in 2010. Now the country sees the democrats as pandering to the banks, corporations & lobbyists......our credibility is lost amongst independents; however, I will say "swing voters" who voted for Brown are complete idiots (especially after witnessing the destructive conservative policies over the previous 8 years which nearly sank us into a 2nd great depression).

It would also be nice if President Obama was more like candidate Obama.

[pjt7]

169. This was a vote against Rahm Emanuel & Timmy

Geithner.

If the D's try & force people to buy health insurances from industry, you will see some real rebellion.

[defendandprotect]

178. Exactly . . . and considering DLC control, it looks like that's what they wanted . . .

Rahm ran this into the ground . . . again!

Sometimes it looks like what he's really trying to do is kill the Democratic Party

while moving it to the right of Atilla the Hun!!

It's not just swing voters --- it's Dems staying home --

[Lorien]

183. +1. nt

[weminuche223]

186. Conservatives like Barney Frank?

"especially after witnessing the destructive conservative policies over the previous 8 years which nearly sank us into a 2nd great depression"

Such as Barney Frank & Co with their push for "Affordable Housing" (now called sub-prime) loans....and blocking attempts to regulate Fannie & Freddie?

[No Elephants]

353. Barney Frank today is not the same Barney Frank who first got elected.

He is a corporatist. If you have any doubt, look at the nine months he gave credit card issuers before restricted on them went into effect. Then, he was shocked, shocked I tell you, that they "abused" that time period by raising rates, changing their agreements with cardholders, and reducing the amount of cardholders' credit lines.

[pattmarty]

248. It seems most here missed the point of what happened in Mass..............

.................You got it. Sure she was a "bad" candidate, but we're talking Mass and a seat Kennedy held for over 40 yrs. People were promised change and all they got was a lot of nice speeches. Why in the fuck did something so important as healthcare reform take a whole fucking year to get picked to pieces and nothing still has been passed? The Dems better start looking for those old FDR and LBJ Democrats that actually did shit for working people. In 2006 2/3rds of Americans reported salaries of less than $50,000. That is an unfuckingbelieveable number 66%. So if that's the case why in the fuck did we give Wall st a fucking dime? The Dems need to get on the side of working people again (like what he campaigned on), That's what the Mass election means. If they don't "learn" this pretty simple lesson it will be a total bloodbath in November.

[Blasphemer]

171. I really didn't think it would happen. The GOP will be insufferable.... nt

[yellowcanine]

177. Well the Republicans have their filibuster margin. Now make them HOLD it, I say.

Enough with the wimpy pretend filibusters. Let them run a proper filibuster if they can. Make them keep talking and call for a vote the first time there are not 41 Republicans on the floor to vote.

[Jester Messiah]

187. Big f'n surprise.

One of the worst candidates and worst campaigns I've ever seen.

[Name removed]

193. Deleted message

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[Jester Messiah]

209. Rush Limbaugh can kiss my hairy ass. [nt]

[Name removed]

217. Deleted message

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[Jester Messiah]

225. Enjoy your time here.

While you can.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

214. Rush Limbuagh is a fat druggie pedophile

EOM

[Name removed]

189. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

192. Deleted message

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[GenoaMan]

197. This seat is important to the health care vote

I cannot believe that nobody here has pointed out that Massachusetts has it's own health care plan in place for its people. Why should they care about a federal health care plan?

[weminuche223]

219. Senator Jim Webb puts out a statement

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0110/On_to_Plan_C.html

Senator Jim Webb puts out a statement that puts the notion of a quick Senate vote out of reach and pretty much makes a certification fight moot:

In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process. It is vital that we restore the respect of the American people in our system of government and in our leaders. To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated.

[No Elephants]

367. Certification fight on what basis? Brown won decisively. That said, it was not

Webb's place to say anything.

[keitai]

203. The sad thing is

that DLCers will be pushing for the national party to go further right. And the Dems will be silly enough to take their advice.

[SandWalker1984]

206. Ben Nelson's contribution to tonight's defeat in MA?

Saw this over on another Dem site and thought that they made a good point about Nelson & the abortion compromise in the Senate bill:

"I wonder why the DNC and the White House (who began torching Coakley on Sunday night) don’t mention the fact that Coakley’s drop in the polls started when they demanded she bow down and kiss the feet of President Ben Nelson over abortion:

Coakley’s lead dropped significantly after the Senate passed health care reform shortly before Christmas and after the Christmas Eve “bombing” incident. Polling showed significant concerns with the actions of Senator Nelson to hold out for a better deal. Senator Nelson’s actions specifically hurt Coakley who was forced to backtrack on her opposition to the abortion restriction amendment."



Atta way Rahm & Zeke! Keep this up and you'll soon reach your goal - destruction of the Democratic Party as we know it.
:nopity:

[Rozlee]

210. Is it just me, or am I hearing Repuke voices in my head saying: "Porn King 2012"?

:puke:

[Name removed]

216. Deleted message

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[Robeson]

218. At least I want have to hear how stupid us Southern Demcrats are,,,

...from our Northeastern brethren. Looks like stupidity is nationwide.

[Synnical]

220. Only the Democratic Party could fuck up an election this badly

Lost Wellstone's seat and now Kennedy's.

But, that's why we have a large tent.

Sigh.

The plus and minuses.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[Name removed]

222. Deleted message

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[JCMach1]

223. poor campaigner+DLC+ Lack of Enthusiasm From Base= Special Election Loss

The lack of enthusiasm from base will almost always do a candidate in for a special election.

[New Dawn]

228. The DLC excels at driving progressive voters away from the polls.

Its looking like 2010 will be a repeat of the 1994 elections.

[Loki]

231. Massachusetts

What you did to this country tonight is disgusting. You voted for hatred, you voted for ignorance, you voted for Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and the vomit producing Republican Party. You deserve every rotten, stinking thing that party has in store for you. I say let the Republicans have this country and take it down, that is the only thing people will remember, that's the only thing that will make them understand just what they have done. Fuck you you fucking tea bagging assholes.

[Name removed]

234. Deleted message

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[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

235. Go choke on your white sheet

Idiot.

[DeadEyeDyck]

236. I know I am retarded by...

we had a 60 to 40 vote lead in the Senate this morning but now we have a 50 to 41 vote and the other side is dancing in the streets!!! I have beem to college but someone still needs to help with the math. Did we loose something here?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

238. 59-41, actually

But Congressional rules state that only Republicans can act like bullies with a bare majority. Democrats have to kowtow like a bunch of cowards.

[twitomy]

242. This is what happens when Dems stop representing the

middle class..

TARP
Bullshit "Stimulus"
HC "reform"

No surprise here...

[reformist]

260. Yup. The middle class isn't happy at all.

Maybe I'm reading my own personal opinions into the vote tonight, but I think it was primarily a voter reaction against misplaced priorities - democrats have become obsessed with health care, seemingly at the expense of everything else. Voters want to see more action on the economy, job creation, and even the deficit. Much more. And voters are not too fond of what's next on the table either - cap & trade, for example? Please! It may be a little counterintuitive and even self-destructive to then go and vote for someone who basically promises to do nothing, but it's the only way the people have of sending a message. Let's hope the Democrats got it.

[twitomy]

344. This whole year has been the most squirrelly political year

I can imagine.

Here you have the Dems pushing a HCR bill that one would think was written by Republicans, but is actualy opposed by Republicans, which now may be defeated because of the election of a Republican. An election called for by
the death of a great HCR advocate who would of supported something WORSE than the status quo, but whose death may actually unwittingly "contributed"
more to HCR than he ever did when he was alive by stopping something worse due to the election of an opponent :crazy: :crazy:


Time to move on and get this economy back on track.

[JimRob_is_a_douche]

244. Where are...

...all the "count all the votes" people now? I don't hear anyone saying we should make sure all the votes have been counted this time!

[No Elephants]

368. It was not only a decisive victory, it was a victory consistent with all the polls.

And in a state controlled back to front by Democrats, most or all of which uses paper ballots.

You don't cry "Count the votes" unless it make some kind of sense to do that.

[Pat Riot]

247. Ah

Shit.

[sce56]

249. From BradBlog

Several supporters of Democrat Martha Coakley were injured during her rush to get to the phone as quickly as possible in order to concede the race for the U.S. Senate in MA to Scott Brown even before AP called the race in favor of the Republican.

That, while some 25% of the precincts had yet to report even how Diebold's easily-hacked, oft-failed optical-scan machines (which are in violation of federal voting system standards and programmed by a company with a disturbing and criminal background), had even reported their tabulation and, more disturbingly, while 0% of the voters' cast ballots in Massachusetts had been counted or examined by any human being on the face of the earth.

"After months of campaigning, the Attorney General thought it was important to make sure neither her, nor her supporters voters were actually counted, so best to ensure that the Democracy Menace wouldn't rear it's ugly head right here in the Bay State," said Coakley's campaign manager Kevin Conroy.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) released a statement upon hearing the news, proclaiming he was "proud of the speed at which Martha was able to concede the race with even fewer of the votes counted by anyone --- zero in Martha's case --- than when I conceded the race for President of the United States in 2004." Kerry added that he had prepared his statement on Monday, so as to save valuable time on Election Night, since American Idol was also scheduled to be on.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

250. RECONCILIATION!!!

[residentfan]

386. Exactly

.. the question I have is it too late? Can they still do it? I don't understand the procedural stuff as well as I should. Harry Reid said he wasn't going to do this, also.. the weak kneed so and so....

[agincourt]

251. Man I wish the Democratic party

knew how to fight. We can't win anything when we have a majority. It reminds of the Jesus vs Satan fight on Southpark. The only way Jesus wins is if the devil bets against himself. We didn't win in '06 and '08, people just got sick of repigs. We just don't know how to hammer on the opposition effectively. Don't help that the repig loving oligarchy's got the job market chocked up either.

[tomhayes]

256. The House should pass the Senate Version of healthcare immediately

And fix it up incrementally.

Because no health care reform will get through this senate in the next 15 years.

[grahamhgreen]

262. If they do it will be the end of the Dem party.

[zbiker]

410. i haft to agree

this piece of legislation is a hornets nest and stinks to high heaven in a whole, if we were to try to push it thru on a fast track, it would kill the party for years, ahhhh if only we had done things different while we had been in the process of crafting our various pieces of legislation over the last year, things would be so much different now.
unfortunately the rest of the u.s. is tired of how we have been operating, and i suspect we now haft to pay the piper

[Blue Owl]

261. WTF

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[grahamhgreen]

264. Will the DLC'rs will support progressive reform now, or is it their intent to destroy the party?

We must commit to a public option, expansion of Medicare or single payer, or it's all over.

Not to mention a cut off of war funding and repealing futures and banking deregulation and tax cuts for wealth-addicts, etc...

[rhett o rick]

265. This is a major failure of the Democratic Party as run by Rahmbo and the DLC.

Either they (the current leadership) are totally incompetent or for some reason, didnt care who won. There is no excuse to lose this seat. There is no excuse and the responsibility is in the lap of the current leaders of the Democratic Party.

We need desperately to take the Party away from the DLC before they totally destroy it and us.

[Kweli4Real]

269. Okay ... Democrats/Progressives have been dealt a teachable moment ...

But what lesson(s) will we carry forward? Should the administration move leftwards to pick up/secure the Progessive vote? Move to the right to pick up/secure the independant vote? From the early analysis that I have read, the Coakley got killed by the independant vote. :shrug:

But the larger question Democrats/Progressives should ask themselves is: Is it better to be publicly fragmented regarding PRESIDENT OBAMA's administration and allow the worst of evils prevail;and thus, giving a measureof credibility to the tea-bagger movement? Or, to be publicly united behind PRESIDENT OBAMA, while pushing a progressive agenda with our individual congress-folks?

Make no mistake ... this election, in the eyes of the opposition, was a referendum on PRESIDENT OBAMA ... both the man and his administration. And us Democrats/Progressives (including our figurative leadership, e.g., Dean, Nader and just about every DUer with a keyboard and an impatient gripe, gave the right every advantage in this election.

P.S., I am not a PRESIDENT OBAMA apologist who sees no wrong in both his policy and approach; rather, I am an African-American student of the Civil Rights Movement who learned that wanting everything NOW usually results in you getting nothing "with all deliberate speed."

[Name removed]

270. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

274. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[alp227]

275. While eating dinner I heard this from the NPR hourly news bulletin

My Internet was down until just an hour ago so that's how I heard this news. Hardly surprising given that Brown was leading in the polls for the past week. This Republican victory in a normally Democratic state as well as the elections of Republican governors for New Jersey and Virginia (both states whose electoral votes went to Obama in 2008) will truly serve as a lesson to those Democratic candidates who wish to uphold their power in November. Now, when will the Dumb Losers' Club have a very nice cup of shut the F up?

At least later that hour Patti Smith was on Fresh Air promoting her new autobiography Just Kids.

I live in California, and if the slippery slope holds true, either Dianne Feinstein's or Barbara Boxer's seat might get swiped by a Republican. Or California will elect another slowpoke, ineffective Republican as governor. The horror possibilities are endless, so endless that I might have to move to Europe just to have good health care. :-(

[residentfan]

281. I had predicted this.

When I predicted this on DU I was torn to shreds and my thread closed down by a monitor. Not a way to discuss things, I think. I was, and am, very disappointed with the DU'ers who called me a "right winger" or "not a Democrat" (which, I admit, I am not.. but neither am I a Republican, I'm closer to an independent socialist). The Dems did this to themselves, in my opinion, by dragging their feet on the health care issue and allowing nuts like the so - called "teabag movement" to take away their momentum. Harry Reid compromised it to death, and now we are in big danger of it disappearing altogether. Not that it really is as much of a "reform" as it has become a give away for big insurance.

Regardless, I do not want to see further deterioration. Although I fear it may happen. I did NOT want to see this to happen. The Republican won, by what looks like around 9 to 10 percent. Coakley did NOT win by 3 percent as some DU'ers were saying would happen.

Let's be realistic next time when someone expresses their opinion. Look at all options, and listen to concerns.

[writingworker]

299. How Will Brown's Election Affect Continuing Extended Unemployment Benefits?

How might Scott Brown's United States Senate victory in Massachusetts affect efforts in Congress to continue extended unemployment compensation benefits past their current expiration date of February 28, 2010?

This is something we must all deal with now.

Even though many Republicans in Congress have joined most if not all Democrats in supporting past UC extension efforts, we cannot assume quick or easy passage in the Senate of the UC extension currently under consideration.

Certainly, the major jobs bill that the U.S. House of Representatives passed in December, which includes a six-month continuation of extended UC benefits, now faces at best a rocky road. Extending UC benefits in the Senate might thus require--in both houses--quick introduction of and action on a separate, "stand-alone" bill much like the one passed by Congress in November. I am sure that all of you who follow Congress' repeated "cliffhanger" efforts to keep extending much-needed UC benefits, for millions of us literally a matter of survival, keeping many of us from hunger and even homelessness, know that this matter, to use the famous words of Franklin D. Roosevelt on similar issues over 75 years ago, requires "action--and action now."

To keep extended unemployment compensation, this most vital of lifelines, going, however, the U.S. Senate must agree with the House to extend benefits past February 28. Without timely action by Congress, millions of us will lose that lifeline in the short weeks following that date.

A post-Great Depression record nearly 40 percent of Americans out of work through no fault of their own--some 6 million of us--have been out for six months or more. I'm one of them. You most likely know and care about others, possibly family members and friends, with the same plight. Yes, extended UC benefits indeed are, for us, vital to our very survival.

Extended UC benefits have helped me remain in my apartment, keep food in my pantry and in my little dog's dish, pay my utility and medical bills, and otherwise avoid destitution. They have been vital to assuring me some semblance of stability and peace of mind as I continue to search for a new job--something to which I may now be closer than ever before, but still far from assured. (Although I'm still concentrating my job search in my own local area, I am, as I've been all my adult life, quite flexible as to field and industry; I've applied for jobs located as far as 360 miles away.)

Without extended UC benefits, true disasters, including homelessness and the serious problems that can arise without access to decent health care, now confront millions of us who have worked hard and "played by the rules" all our lives. I personally know many others who have lost their jobs--not only many of my former co-workers but also many friends, including some of you reading this. I am sure you now do, too.

The Senate went back into session on Tuesday, January 19. There's not much time between then and February 28.

I therefore urge you to join me in contacting your two U.S. senators this week and urge them to reauthorize extended unemployment compensation for at least six more months, and preferably through at least the end of calendar year 2010. Get at least 10 others you know to do the same--this week.

It is really best to write to your U.S. senators as well as call them, sending your messages with the help of their own respective Web sites. Just look up your senators' names on Google or the like and go to their sites--they all have pages where you can contact them by e-mail and that give their "snail mail" addresses. You can telephone your senators toll-free by calling 1-888-245-0215.

Extending UC benefits as long as they're needed is all-important toward bringing about a real, broad-based, and lasting economic recovery.

Spread the word to as many people as you can about this. Time is short.

[NecklyTyler]

327. Snot Brown works for us - flood his office with calls about how WE want him to vote

Brown still has to represent the people, and vote the way his constituency demands. Let him know our demands

[fourtwenty]

415. are you kidding me?

he is a conservitive.... and an unabashed tea-bagger, the people of Mass have no idea what they just did to themselves.... he represents the HMOs that financed his campaign and no one else

[Ganja Ninja]

349. Well it isn't like we were using our 60 vote majority to ram through anything.

And it isn't like we had a dependable 60 votes either.

[No Elephants]

371. Good point. I don't think that is how the Party powers that be feel, though.

[WVRICK13]

356. BUZZZZ BUZZZZ

good morning Democrats your wake up call has arrived. Get out of bed and do something or lose it all. DAMN, we had a Super Majority and the White House and we still fucked it up. Stop being nice, we have seen where that gets us. Beat the shit out of the Republicans now that you have a harder fight.

[RedState_progressive]

372. Obama is the reason...

A year of Obama "NO CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN - NO CHANGE
AT ALL), of  throwing progressives (who elected him) under the
bus, first Deeds, now Coakley, both of whom should won in a
walk if the electorate hadn't been decimated by Obama
Corporate policies and Bush-Clintonite/DNC/DSCC/DCCC/DLC
traitors.
Obama is the best n#$$%^ the super-rich have ever had.

[robcon]

288. Evan Bayh has it right

"If you lose Massachusetts and that's not a wake-up call, there's no hope of waking up."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/01/bayh-warns-catastrophe-if-dems-ignore-massachusetts-senate-race-lessons.html

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

290. I don't need a lecture from a guy whose wife is fist deep in the health care racket

Screw him.

[depakid]

295. The wake up call is to stop pandering to the likes of Evan Bayh, et al.

Whose failed ideology got America into this mess in the first place.

[barb162]

297. He's damned right. Can't be any plainer than that. . n/t

[Ganja Ninja]

350. The day we wake up is the day we kick the likes of Evan Bayh out of the party.

:kick:

[No Elephants]

373. Yes, but Bayh is probably among those who think the loss means Dems should

go further right.

[diva77]

300. The votes were "tabulated" by the Diebold Op-Scans - that should have been a

red flag warning for Coakley to withhold her concession. The paper ballots should have been hand-counted at the precinct level with public oversight on election night. What we have, result-wise, from Massachusetts tonight is "Election Masquerade Theatre" at best.:eyes:

[No Elephants]

420. The result is consistent with all the polls. In fact, he did less well than the polls indicated.

And, since Massachusetts is run top to bottom (Governor, legislature and most mayors) by Democrats, if anything is wrong with the machines or with the vote count, shame on Democrats.

[greengestalt]

301. Good Riddance

With Democrats like these, who needs Republicans?


I mean, they carried out the same wars, the same stupid policies, when Americans were clearly tired of both. And that "healthcare" bill was absurd. The insurance companies were taking so much, it'd have been so simple to eliminate them, break up the huge monopolies and make everything direct patient to doctor. The doctors could use the hospitals at cost and bill the state, and the overall cost for reasonable life saving and health maitenance care would be minimal compared to today.


If they'd shut down wars, arrested contractors, arrested some government officials and used the fear of arrest to make the others sing, then gone after the 'tax cheats' of the rich elite... We'd love them. Instead they plodded along and wasted such an opportunity. The Republicans at least had sense to sieze opportunity.


So, even with the misery they'll cause, the theft they'll aid and abet, I'd rather the Republicans sweep the Democrats out because we all know they are evil puppet parasites. Even their "Christian" fan base knows that now that they've got them power for 20 years mostly and they still can't stone Homosexuals or laugh at stories of pregnant teenagers throwing themselves in front of trucks like the "Good old days".

[DeadEyeDyck]

302. what is funny is that the GOP is gloating over the gain

of the 41st vote and the democrats are lamenting the loss of the 60th vote. Does that make sense to anyone???

[happy2day]

391. I think the Pukes are......

I think the Pukes are gloating over the fact that Jersey, Virginia and Now Massachusetts has started a Quake that make keep going on into November, and if it does, God Help the Democratic Party.
I have a VERY BAD feeling that this will roll into November 2010 and then 2012, People are fed up with bullshit money grabbers and the Middle Class is letting their feelings be known, it just may come down to "Vote The Bums OUT" every election from here on out.
I know MANY people that were energized with the "Free" Healthcare that Obama promised and then were appalled when they found out that nothing is "Free", it is there fault for being gullible and uneducated on the situation but guess what? they are voting opposite now and it may not stop until 2016

[bobo4u]

303. Thank Obama

Twas his lack of follow though on his campaign promises that lost this senate seat. The democratic base is demoralized. A lot of democrats I know won't vote for a democrat or republican now--they see both parties as corrupt and won't vote for any incumbent.

Scary thing is...you ain't seen nothing yet. The dems are going to lose seats in congress for a long time to come.

Problem is: You can't turn your back on your constituents and expect them to continue to vote for you. Simple as that.

[OneBlueSky]

307. got that right . . . the two main reasons I voted for Obama . . .

(other than the fact that he was a Democrat) were his promises to end the war in Afghanistan, and to reform healthcare and include a strong public option . . . to say that I am bitterly disappointed would be an understatement, and I know a lot of others are, too . . .

[bos1]

334. Obama did not promise that. Are you joking?

Obama promised to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. You cannot possibly be serious in being so wrong. You must be working for the other side

[No Elephants]

374. He never promised to end the war in Afghanistan. He said only that Iraq was the wrong war.

That Bushco had taken its "eye off the ball" in Afghanistan when it diverted to Iraq. The implication was that the Afghanistan was the right war ("right war" being an oxymoron, IMO)and we should go back there. I remember that because Obama was my primary guy and the Afghanistan statements were a disappointment. I still voted for him over McCain (bomb, bomb, bomb Iran) and Palin, of course.

You are definitely correct about the strong public option, though. That was a strong campaign platform plank, as was no mandate.

[bos1]

309. "Disappointed" WHINING INFANTS: BLAME YOURSELVES

You are responsible for the national mood that got people to stay at home and not get out to vote against the much worse of two evils. The list of things Obama has done right is HUGE and the list of things I (as a progressive) wish he'd done differently is tiny. But all I have been hearing is the disappointed whine from all quarters of everything left of center. That infantile indulgence has led to this.

[bobo4u]

321. Blame ourselves for Obama's failures?

I guess we could blame ourselves for believing his campaign rhetoric. Seems there are a whole lot more people who agree with me than you bos1.

From Newsmax...

"Looking at the high and low points of Obama’s first year, it is no surprise that his job approval rating has plummeted from around 70 percent when he took office to below 50 percent today. And the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 62 percent of Americans now say the country is on the wrong track, the most in 11 months. "

From the article...

Obama's First Year: Failures and Broken Promises
http://newsmax.com/Newsfront/obama-first-year-failures/2010/01/19/id/347357

[bos1]

329. That is Palin's favorite website you're quoting. Why don't you just proclaim yrself a Repub

so we know where this "Obama fail" rhetoric really comes from

[ima_sinnic]

345. blame ourselves for secret deal-making w billionaires, kissing repuke & DLC butt,

and ignoring/taking for granted the voters?

yeah, right.

here's a clue: Brown got the same no. of votes that McCain got in 2008, but Coakley got far fewer than Obama did. Therefore, the voters who elected Obama don't really care anymore. The teabaggers were fired up, but the Democrats, not so much. They've been screwed and don't really care anymore. The "national mood" was created by the crony capitalist greedheads in Washington, and Obama has not done much at all to deviate from that tired old course.

[bos1]

351. you prove my point. The "national mood" is helped by whiners like yourself

who ignore 99% of Obama's accomplishments to be disappointed by 1% of what you don't like.

[ima_sinnic]

375. how am I "helping" anything that the voters can't see with their own eyes?

unless you simply want to chalk up a growing majority of Democratic voters as "whiners." (Great way to win votes!!)

Most voters aren't reading DU, by the way, and most have only a passing notion of what's going on. But they do know their needs aren't being met, but those of the billionaires are. They know they gave their tax money to banks that continue to rip them off, because the wimp-ass "democrats" have joined with the republicans in NOT regulating the banks.

and the idea that people are "ignoring 99% of Obama's accomplishments to be disappointed by 1% of what yo0u don't like" is bullshit, so fuck off with it. Until those "accomplishments" put bread on people's table, allow them to have a roof over their heads, and allow them to see a doctor without paying some mafioso middleman his protection payment first, those "accomplishments" don't mean jack.

people like you don't give a shit about what the voters want, you think the Democrats can do whatever they want, ignoring the will of the voters, but the voters will vote for them anyway just because they're "democrats."

[bobo4u]

404. Well said, Ima

The logic of some of the posters on this board is so flawed, you gotta wonder if there isn't some sort of hidden agenda at work. Seems that a number of these folks have resurrected that old phrase from the Nixon years -- 'My country, right or wrong -- and now apply it to Obama. No matter that the man is obviously a corporatist. Until the dems start supporting populist policies, voting green is probably the only option for progressives at this point.

[bos1]

416. Are you a Republican or a right winger? Yes or No would do. You have to be, to link to Newsmax.

And your anti-Obama, anti-Democrat posts look totally suspicious

[zbiker]

411. 1%, you have got to be kidding

I'm as loyal as the next guy but holy smokes man, wake up !!!!!!!! the whole nation cannot be simply "ignoring " obama accomplishments and concentrating on "1%" look we did this to ourselves by not putting our voice out there to be heard when it was needed most to reign in our elected officials when they started having a runaway with their legislation and back room shenanigans
we cant simply sit on our hands while we had a chance to things right, we haft to consider how our policies will effect joe bag-o-donuts somewhere else in the u.s. and how they will be perceived worldwide.
some folks just dont get it

[No Elephants]

362. What gets posted on a message board does not win or lose elections.

Thinking otherwise is delusional.

[bos1]

407. We're talking about the so-called national mood of disappointment and how the posts are symptomatic

of this meme. No delusion involved at all; I have had Democratic organizers come up to me and talk about the "disappointment" and had to give my 2 cents worth at what infantile amnesia is involved to even talk that way. Get it?

[No Elephants]

422. Yep. Got it:

You're an ill tempered, ill mannered control freak with the wrong priorities and a false sense of entitlement. Who died and left you in charge of either the Democratic Party or of freedom of speech?


nstead of trying to shut others up, you should be demanding better of our party and trying to figure out how to get better from the people we put in office.

People who are disappointed at not at fault, but the politicians who are disappointing them. It's the conduct of those in D.C. and Coakley who lost that election, not people who expected Democrats to keep their promises. Also to blame: the ones who want to pretend we're getting nothing but great stuff from them instead of holding them accountable.

Luckily, people here don't get cowed by that crap. So, you may as well stop stamping your feet and trying to control folks.

[Steerpike]

308. This is one, great big shit sandwich.

And, we are all going to have to take a bite.

Following the election we had the golden opportunity. It was a window we could see through to a better, kinder place.

That time and place is passing us by, and soon it will be gone forever. President Obama squandered his opportunity. We are all now just witnesses to the lost dreams of the Democratic party.

[workinclasszero]

318. Thanks DLC

President Obama and the democratic party were voted into power by the American people...NOT by wall street...NOT by Banks...NOT by health insurance companies...to CHANGE the way things are done in this country!

I am sad to say that they have failed miserably in this task and now they, and we, are going to pay for it! When you continue and even expand the programs of George Bush, don't be surprised when you get the same results he did!

Damn I swear this country is doomed! If Palin and her brownshirt followers are elected next presidental, the lights will be extinguished all across america. It will be OVER! The American Taliban will never give back power the next time, count on that!

[Submariner]

319. Screw em

Let's pass HCR with the medicare buy in and the PO by reconciliation vote (51+). The rethugs would if they had a 59-41 majority. Why mess with the rethugs anymore?

[ChrisMCV]

341. At least try?

OK, this will sound strange coming from a conservative (yeah I am that rare beast, an unbanned conservative);

Putting aside the political realities for a moment (we all know how things are never clear cut in Washington), I think the public perception of the way things have gone over the past year has done a lot of harm to the Democratic Party.
After the last election, it did seem to be a pretty clear vote/mandate for change with Democrats sweeping all three branches of the government. Not my preference, of course, but that is how the elections went. I defer to the will of the people, even if not to my liking.

Well, the bailouts did NOT help the public view of government. Correct choice or not, the perception of Washington handing out billions of dollars to bail out 'rich people' made a lot of the middle ground voters stand there wondering what the hell is going on. Jobs seemed to be evaporating and the government answer was to hand billions to bankers? WTF? No matter how it was spun, I think that made a lot of folks question the influence of big business on the Democratic party (the Republican party is no different, but it was understood they do largely stand for big business). This alone wasn't a 'last nail in the coffin' for people, but it did raise questions.

Then health care reform. I really think that the perception of most of the middle ground of the country was that it was a deal with big pharma and insurance companies to legislate the public into having no choice but to become their customer base.

Even that though, I don't think, was what really hurt the Democratic movement.
I think it was that with all three branches and a super majority, instead of just passing health care reform (I know, its not that simple, but we are talking about public perception), instead this crazy process started with just obvious vote buying and wheeling and dealing. 2000 page bills, special deals with states, what looked like special deals with insurance companies, etc, etc, really made it look like the Corporate interests and political power plays were just more business as usual.

The average person was left wondering why, if they had such a majority they didn't simply put the bill forward and vote on it? To be frank, it looked like they were all holding out so they could get their pork into the bill so they could have their cut.

Months of debate and special deals later and the great election wins still did not result in the delivery of what was promised. Rather it looks to be not a whole lot different then the prior 8 years. Washington remained in the hands of powerful groups wielding money and power, and those hurting in the economies current state would have to stand in line behind those who were first in line for bailouts and special considerations.

How could it have been done better? First off, these massively complicated bills that added enormously to the bureaucracy don't play well with people. Then acting like you have this mandate, but then acting weak at the prospect of actually passing reform left people scratching their heads.

Does that account for the realities of how legislation gets passed, no not really, but that is probably why there is such a rapid end to the 'honeymoon' from the last election.

Brown did nothing very special. Coakly was just a horrible candidate. At some point, I think the party leadership realized that she was a very weak candidate doomed to defeat. Rather then make the party look weak by pulling out the stops in support of her, they just held back their support to a token amount.

The party knew Coakly would not be able to win by basing her strategy on the idea that out of respect for Kennedy people would vote for her. She was no Teddy, not by a long shot.

When Brown used the 'its the peoples seat' meme, while Coakly took time off... well, she defeated herself, that is simply all there is too it.

My advice? Not that I expect many to listen to it, is to ACT like the majority party. When you had a super majority but seemed afraid to take any action it makes the party look weak. Why in the hell, with a majority, was it necessary to do so much wheeling and dealing. The republicans were knocked back on their heels in the last election. They don't have a unified party leadership or message. Put a bill forward that is not 2000+ pages long and caters to special interests and corporate lobbyists. Instead, it was politics as usual and the average middle American is completely sick of the Washington game.

Even if without those deals and compromises, put it to the vote so people can see where the opposition is. Delays and deals expose the process to accusations of special interests and corporations being the ones who hold the real power. But that is the case on both sides of the aisle anyway isn't it?

You stand at a crossroads. It is not left vs. center, it is 'Politics' vs. representing the will of the people. The Republicans failed when they came to this fork in the road, now the Democrats face the same choices. I am no more confident in them then I am of Republicans. The real losers are the American people of all stripes, poor, middle class and wealthy.

[CountAllVotes]

324. what a slap in the face to the late/great Senator Ted Kennedy

and not to mention his lovely wife and now a very sad widow Vicki. :(

Son of a bitch! :mad:

[BennyD]

379. Agreed! I don't think it has set in yet for most just how

unbelievable this is! After all of the time Sen. Edward Kennedy spent representing the interests of Bostonians, they would turn around and elect a Tea-Bagging Republican - and only months after his passing! It's just unbelievable! I'm still in shock and it seems not many others are. I don't get it. Perhaps for them it just hasn't set in yet?

[panzerfaust]

335. Change: Perhaps Obama will now get off his ass and start delivering some

... else he might as well get ready to start packing up again.

[bos1]

337. Just how many closet Repubs are on this site anyway? nt

[ima_sinnic]

377. they're the ones blaming progressives--they've taken over, haven't you noticed?

the ones who worship at the feet of the DLC, the fake "democrats" who are simply "kinder, gentler" repukes?

[bobo4u]

409. bos1 is a troll

All his/her attacks are ad hominem--which is typical of right-wing mentality. I wonder who the true closet 'repig' really is?

[No Elephants]

426. So it would seem.

833 posts since June 2004, but shows up to beotch at everyone? (Please see Reply 409, though).

[demoleft]

340. as far as i read here in the past days, the dem candidate was weak. so...

...i would not take it as a vote against obama - and i hardly understand why it should be.
he even exposed himself in the final days to give the candidate some chances, knowing she was weak and likely to lose.

it's just one year for obama. he should be given time.

but it's my perception from far away, and maybe totally wrong.
i'm sorry it happened, anyway.

[No Elephants]

376. Please see Reply 314.

You would not have had this result with a good candidate OR with enthusiasm over Democrats in D.C. It took both to get Brown a decisive win in a state like Massachusetts.

[demoleft]

381. read it. yes. i meant her weakness in the last weeks. i see your point. n/t

[sdowiat]

347. Ugly language won't connect with who we need....

I've been scanning some of these posts and thinking about our loss... one thing that strikes me is how ugly and fowl the language on here is... Ugly. If we are going to connect to those swing voters then we need to clean it up. They will never put themselves into a group that uses words like I'm reading so openly. Just my opinion... now you can shoot the messenger.

[Name removed]

380. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Blue_Tires]

383. one last time: why can't this senate supposedly get anything done with 59 votes

or even 51??

[MISSDem]

399. cause the rule is that they have to get

60 votes to avoid a filibuster.

[No Elephants]

418. So? Let them fillibuster.

[mike_c]

390. everyone chill out-- Coakley is just keeping her powder dry...

...so she can, um, make sausage with all the other dems. Oh, wait....

[happy2day]

396. I ampretty sure......

I am pretty sure that Coakley is finished in Politics

[Democat]

400. Coakley is a strong closer!

No worries, we've got in the bag. And the pollsters are all RW!

[MISSDem]

397. This makes no sense. How, after all of the years that Kennedy

held this seat, could the voters there suddenly decide that they wanted a Republican? It does not compute.

[mike_c]

413. would Coakley have been any different?

I mean, I don't think MA voters had to choose between a statesman and a mere politician, but rather between two politicians. That's what they'd have gotten either way.

[No Elephants]

424. Republicans wanted a Republican. Many who voted for Obama stayed home.

But, the overarching issue was stopping the Senate health care bill. Republicans wanted that and I guess Democrats wanted to send a message in the only way that matters anymore.

If Democrats are legislating like Republicans--if at all--why stand on line in the cold and snow to vote?

Plus, Kennedy was a Democrat of the highest order, a consummate politician and one hell of a charismatic human being. People would have turned out for him no matter what, especially in a close race like the one he had vs. Romney. Martha, not so much.

So, both things were responsible: the candidate and the behavior of Democrats in D.C. Either one, if good, could have gotten a Democratic victory. Neither was.

[tonekat]

406. Congrats, Mass...

...you had a stateman representing you for 40 years. Now you have a mere politician. Way to go.

[No Elephants]

425. Thing is, we would have had a mere politician no matter who won on Tuesday.

[tonekat]

428. True Dat. N/T

[hbee]

429. The Emerging Brown Birther Movement

Just to let you know, a grassroots movement is growing to force Scott Brown to produce his birth certificate. Check out http://averysimplequestion.com or the Facebook Group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=ts&gid=256796823363 for more info!

"Just because you posed naked doesn't mean you're transparent"