Later today Scott Brown will be sworn in as the 41st Republican in the United States Senate.
He is on his way to Washington DC right now with certificatation in hand.
One of the many players who contributed to Scott Brown’s victory is Ken Pittman from WBSM in Massachusetts. Ken interviewed Democrat Martha Coakley the week before the Massachusetts election. It was during this interview that Martha told Ken that if you object to abortion and are a devout Catholic then…
“You probably shouldn’t work in the emergency room.”
That was the wrong answer.
Ken sent me this article last night that he wrote on this historic Massachusetts election:
America Chose the Pickup Truck Over the Prius
In what has to be the most important non-presidential election race in many decades, Scott Brown won a most unlikely race in the state bluer than Frank Sinatra’s eyes, Massachusetts. So much weighed on the outcome outside of our state that the RNC finally heeded to the desperate cries for help from those of us here who have fought behind the enemy lines, praying for the cavalry for a half century.
On Tuesday night, January 19th 2010 at the Boston Park Plaza, I felt something like what the fictitious shipwrecked character Robinson Crusoe must have felt after seeing a mast come over the horizon for the first time.
To his credit (as a politician) it is clear that Senator Ted Kennedy was the glue that bonded the cohesiveness of this impenetrable synergy of liberal progressiveness in Massachusetts. With his death it appears that many notes were paid off. Allegiances broke and rival camps formed within the same party. Ted never allowed that on his watch.
While all that is true, it cannot alone explain what we witnessed last Tuesday. Governing from the left as Massachusetts has been doing, has built an under the radar, untapped resentment that never worked as a collaborative. The resistance has always been poorly articulated, fragmented and apparently unaware of the alliances that never formulated.
Never, that is until around Christmas of 2009. A little known state senator from the almost forgotten political party called Republican campaigned tirelessly in town after town building support in liberal working class cities as well as bedroom community towns. Scott Brown didn’t fear the 30 point lead his opponent Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley enjoyed and enjoy she did.
Coakley’s abysmal campaign came with as many errors as Brown’s came with momentum.
The week she took off between Christmas and New Year’s Day will be discussed in poli-sci classes for many years to come and I believe there to be a story behind that worthy of investigating. Some will say the Christmas Eve vote on healthcare by the senate caused a backlash. Was it an antagonistic move against the Christian right by secular progressives? Was it the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit by an al Qa’eda pawn? Was this a reminder of how Democrats in the 1990s ignored national security threats made by radicals? I think all of the above may be in the equation.
Martha Coakley antagonizing devout Catholics, if not all those of moral principle, with her remarks about who should and shouldn’t be working in emergency rooms revealed a radical in the candidate that really didn’t plan on showing that side of herself until the 20th of January. Calling an ace pitcher of the Boston Red Sox “another Yankee fan” was a tad unwise. Curt Schilling? Accusing that local hero who helped to deliver the first World Series championship for Boston in 86 years wasn’t classic strategy for most observing pundits.
However, living in Massachusetts broadcasting from Barney Frank’s district on the south coast qualifies me to say that all of the above still doesn’t explain what happened.
The lesson which must be learned is that when the ideological pendulum swings hard, right or left, it also comes back with a lot of momentum. Republicans need to learn this truth as well. If the agenda of those governing isn’t executed and articulated successfully , the governed will eventually turn on the plan and the planners.
The ideological bigotry which plagues this nation is hamstringing progress and prosperity but the corruption and demonization by opponents clouds this problem by filling the room already on fire with thick, choking black smoke.
Scott Brown is a man who naturally migrates toward conservative ideals but is thoughtful enough to be inclusive for those who care about political issues yet disagree with his specific path. This has produced in Massachusetts a man who has designed a truly centrist platform.
He doesn’t shy away from disrobing the radical left’s plans but doesn’t visibly side with the conservatives in any monolithic fashion (the key word was visibly if you are wondering).
As a result we are seeing a dream realized here that only months ago seemed years away.
President Obama’s candy coated promises have produced bitter results and the veil seems to have been lifted. The trance has been broken. The instrument is Scott Brown. The people have decidedly chosen to side with the candidate who calls for sterner treatment of enemy combatants and who is sending the healthcare plans back to the kitchen. Martha Coakley ran on the Obama agenda of nationalized healthcare and climate change.
Democrats have made a potential fatal error politically in not identifying the mainstream movement dubbed “The Tea Parties”. It is nothing close to fringe. They have decided to apply the ‘us against them’ tactic and find themselves on the threshold of obscurity. To this day, they don’t seem able to identify this.
Give Scott Brown credit though. He is a disciplined attorney. A JAG in the Army Reserves with the rank of Lt. Colonel. He has climbed the political ladder one rung at a time and is an experienced legislator. He is also the candidate who redirected the conversation from the clenches of an heir apparent opponent. National security, the economy and healthcare became his issues and not hers. He never got off message like so many can and often do once they get momentum.
Americans in Massachusetts have chosen the guy in his truck who tried to earn their vote and asked for it and they or should I finally say “WE” have shown the door to the Prius driving elitist who felt entitled to their votes with the promise of pushing through Obama’s agenda.
Ken Pittman
“Talker” on 1420 AM WBSM – “The Ken Pittman Show” – New Bedford, MA – Blogs at kenpittman.com