Did people vote for Brown because they don't want health care reform?

[babsbunny]

He is against it! So, this is a wake-up call for the Dems? Does that mean No Health care reform? I am confused and disgusted, as usual......

[PassingFair]

1. They did not want "reform" that mandated purchasing policies from insurance companies...

while doing nothing to lower the costs.

[FBaggins]

3. Those are the people who didn't show up...

..not the ones who voted for Brown.

[Captain Hilts]

8. that's what I would assume, but that's not what polls are saying. There were other

driving factors, particularly among Independents, such as three consecutive Democratic majority leaders dismissed for being corrupt. A situation exacerbated by the fact that she sat on her hands on it as AG. That stuff matters to Independents.

[FBaggins]

12. There really aren't any polls that are worth paying attention to

The closest to an exit poll was the Rasmussen survey, and I don't trust it. The R2000 one is even worse, and I'm fairly certain that's the one you're thinking of. It's highly unlikely that there were many people who thought the current bill didn't go far enough but voted for Brown.

The people pushing (pun intended) that "poll" are the ones trying to convince us that we need to break farther left and that there won't be electoral consequences for it.

[FBaggins]

2. They voted for him because they didn't want THIS health care reform

He claims he isn't against it (he did vote for Romney's version in MA that isn't all that different from the current bill)... but opposed THIS flavor.

We'll see what happens if he is presented with something closer to what he already voted for in MA. That will tell the tale.

[rgbecker]

10. Brown isn't going to be supporting anything like health care reform while in the Senate.

He's another member of the Party of No! Massachusetts voters grabbed the chance to finally vote for and be successful at putting someone other than the status Quo Democrats in power. Those who have been unhappy with the Democrats in Boston over the years lept at a chance to "show em", now that Teddy is gone and the seat was up for grabs. I think the recent rise in Sales tax rate was partially responsible. Also fees have been increased across the state.


Its true we have great Health care regulation in this state, and everyone gets covered for a reasonable percentage of income, so most people, except those who are most altruistic, could care less about national health care reform.

[Bill McBlueState]

16. I don't understand that mentality

If you want reform, but not the particular version of reform that's on the table, how is voting for a Republican going to help? I could understand sitting the election out. But I can't understand showing up to vote for a candidate who, as far as we can tell, opposes any reform at all.

[FBaggins]

20. That's why we're Democrats.

Others have a differnt notion of what "reform" looks like.

As for Brown... he voted for the Romney version of this "reform"... so he can pretend to be in favor of fixing the system while simultaneously opposing any real fixes.

[customerserviceguy]

4. They didn't like the way they saw it being made

You know that old adage about not watching either sausages or laws being made? This is the first truly major legislation to be crafted in the era of the Internet, and three 24/7 news channels. America is watching this sausage being made through a colonoscope.

I seem to remember a commission being formed back in the 1980's to reform Social Security, it had members of both parties, and they came up with a number of things that were eventually adopted, including tax increases, benefit reductions, etc. Perhaps even it wouldn't have worked if we had the scream machines of Internet-connected-computers and all-the-time-news-TV, but it's worth a try.

[Orsino]

5. The good people of Massachusetts already *have* nearly universal health care.

And wish to protect their traditional coverage, or something.

[Zywiec]

6. +1

[Captain Hilts]

9. They don't want to have it taxed. nt

[lukasahero]

14. We don't have "nearly universal health care"

We have the same damn system they're trying to put in nationally - fined if you don't buy in to an insurance plan. It's a far cry from "universal health care".

[Stinky The Clown]

7. No. They voted for him because they bought into all the right wing chain emails and talk radio spew

The right wingers are morons and the independents are clueless. They ones who don't sound that way are aberrations.

They want to see birth certificates.

They want to kick middle eastern ass.

They want all taxes repealed.

All other usual right wing goals.

Plus ......

They don't like a black president but will never admit that.

Look at the voting map of Massachusetts. Boston was blue. The area around Boston was red (white flight ethic enclaves and teabagger strongholds) and western Mass was again blue.

[dmosh42]

11. They found out that the big health care cos & Big Pharma...

wanted Coakley and donated big bucks.

[rgbecker]

13. Or was it Brown who got the republican big Parma, health care money?

13 million? In a couple of weeks?

[Bill McBlueState]

15. Some did.

Rasmussen's polling revealed that 56% of voters thought health care was the big issue. Only 47% of these people voted for Brown.

So you could say that 0.56*0.47 = 26% of those who who showed up to vote in Massachuetts voted for Brown because they were against health care reform.

This is an important fraction of the Massachusetts electorate, but it hardly squares with the frequent MSM claim that is some sort of damning referendum on national Democrats.

[salguine]

17. What's being offered is a sick parody of health care reform. If I were to

offer you a bag of dog shit with CANDY written on it, why would you refuse? Don't you like candy?

[zoff]

18. Let's look at numbers:

In the 2008 presidentials, of 3 million voters, 1.9 million voted for Obama and 1.1 million voted for Mcsame. In these special election, only 2.2 million voted, where a similar 1.1 million voters chose Brown. Looking at these numbers, it seems the R's came out in force.

Coakley lost by 110,000 votes.

The democratic pols (mostly national) succeeded in convincing most voters but they also succeeded in alienating and pissing off 800,000 voters, most likely D-leaning. Coakley lost because 800,000 D's (and I's who voted for Obama) stayed home. That's 26% of eligible voters!

[NorthCarolina]

19. Chris Matthews couldn't wrap his mind around the MA voters message either

when it was explained to him, several times, by Howard Dean. Based on the polling data it seems eminently obvious that it was a complete rejection of the Senate version of HCR by voters who wanted single payer or, at a minimum, some form of public option, as opposed to a public mandate for private insurance.

[Odin2005]

21. They already have Fascist RomneyCare.