Curmudgeon's Corner
cur-mud-geon: anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner
The Race Watched 'Round The Nation...
The race in Massachusetts for the permanent replacement for Sen. Ted Kennedy is “the race watched ‘round the nation”.
Brown, the Republican, has pulled even with Coakley, the Democrat, in a state that is some 3 to 1 Democrat. Coakley, the sitting Attorney General, has all the name recognition she ought to need, but that seems, if anything, more a millstone than a booster rocket.
The implications of this race are huge for politicians, especially those sitting in Washington, D.C. with a huge ObamaCare vote looming in their near-future. Brown has largely run on his promise to be the 41st vote in the Senate if elected, meaning that he’ll vote against ObamaCare. That, obviously, has turned this race into a barometer on ObamaCare that might be the political equivalent of the ‘canary in the coal mine’.
As this vote goes, so might the next national vote go and that makes it huge.
It may’ve already come to the point where Brown’s closing of the large gap that existed will prove to be sufficient, no matter the outcome, to unnerve some Democrat members of Congress, especially in the House where the cobbled-together support seems to be wobbly.
Of course there is the back story that ponders whether or not the Democrats will resort to ‘dirty tricks’ to hold the seat even if the Republican wins; they don’t necessarily have to seat him until after the big vote. That raised an outcry from Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) who feigned indignation as he is so good at doing.
Don’t put that past the Democrats who seem wedded to ObamaCare in spite of the fact that only 35% of Americans are in favor of it according to the most recent polls. It may well be that they think they’re saddled with ObamaCare no matter the outcome, so they might as well suck it up and hope that they can ride it out.
Don’t, however, think for a moment that people like Sen. Feingold haven’t heard the peoples’ voices loudly and clearly. Those who are “safe” for another election cycle, think they’ll be able to outlive this anger. Maybe that canary won’t be singing then.
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