Democrat's Implode, Blame Each Other and Decide They Aren't Fit to Govern

By Dave

Well, as predicted, Brown won tonight in MA and the Democrats will lose their 60th vote in the Senate. This isn't the worst news in the world. The Democrats still have a sizable majority and they still have time to make the HCR reform a reality.

The worst news in the world is that congressional and senate Democrats have decided now is the time to admit defeat and lie over on their backs.

See if Dems had any backbone or spine, they could use the next fifteen days until Brown is seated to quickly hash out their differences and pass a conference bill.

But instead we get Democrats like Jim Webb (D-VA) who say stuff like this:

"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."

Are you fu*&^ing kidding me!? What bullshit! How dare you abandon the American people!? How cowardly. How disgusting.

51% of Massachusetts voters does not equal a national referendum on health care. You've been working on this for over 9 months, get it done already. Now! The bill you are now abandoning will improve the deficit. It will begin to control health care costs. It will expand coverage to an additional 30 million Americans and it will give new access to people with pre-existing conditions. The American people will respect you when you pass reform and explain to them in clear language what it will do for them.

Fourteen months ago, the American people entrusted Democrats with control of both houses of Congress and the White House. Sen. Webb has all but said that they don't deserve any of it. According to Sen. Webb, we can restore "the respect of the American people in our system of government and in our leaders" by killing the centerpiece of the Democratic legislative agenda. Way to go, Webb!

This is what my head feels like:



Since Sen. Webb has decided to cripple reform in the Senate until the Republican, who opposes reform, can be seated, the only option still available is for the House to pass the Senate Bill, as is, and then try to hash out their differences at a later date, maybe with a reconciliation bill. But it's hard to read how open this path is.

We have optimistic statements from Speaker Pelosi:

 "Whatever happens in Massachusetts, we have to do that," she said. "And whatever happens in Massachusetts we will have quality affordable health care for all Americans, and it will be soon."

 And not so optimistic statements from Rep. Barney Frank:

I have two reactions to the election in Massachusetts. One, I am disappointed. Two, I feel strongly that the Democratic majority in congress must respect the process and make no effort to bypass the electoral results. If Martha Coakley had won, I believe we could have worked out a reasonable compromise between the House and Senate health care bills. But since Scott Brown has won and the Republicans now have 41 votes in the senate, that approach is no longer appropriate. I am hopeful that some Republican senators will be willing to discuss a revised version of health care reform. Because I do not think that the country would be well served by the health care status quo. But our respect for democratic procedures must rule out any effort to pass a health care bill as if the Massachusetts election had not happened. Going forward, I hope there will be a serious effort to change the senate rule which means that 59 are not enough to pass major legislation, but those are the rules by which the health care bill was considered, and it would be wrong to change them in the middle of this process.

I don't get it. Don't Democrats understand that this is the choice between necessary and important reform or total, complete, abject failure? 

Failure on HCR means more people will continue to suffer in our broken health care system. No cost control, no reduction of the deficit. It means that even with the greatest majority since the time of LBJ, Democrats can't accomplish their most important legislative agenda. With failure, you tell the world you are unfit to govern. If you fail, you will lose the base and you will lose the center. It means an stronger, more energized opposition. Failure now means failure next November.

For God's sake, pass the Senate Bill in the House. Claim victory and move on. Stop asphyxiating your party with inaction, cowardice, and incompetence.

For Coakley: How to Campaign

By Wade

In case you're curious about some of the reasons behind Martha Coakley's political nose-dive, here's an edifying Boston Globe article:

Campaigns are an opportunity for candidates to hear from the public they want to represent, but Coakley doesn’t seem to believe this is necessary. At a rare meet-and-greet with voters Wednesday, she worked a room of a couple of hundred senior citizens in Dorchester in under 10 minutes. Then she turned her back on the crowd as she spoke to reporters, leaving the seniors to awkwardly applaud remarks they weren’t meant to hear.

As she quickly made her way to the exits, it took an outreach worker at the senior center to insist that she address the crowd, which she did, and well.

*insert resounding forehead slap here*

Seriously, this is campaigning 101. I know this, because this is exactly what Dave and I did when we campaigned for his position on city council in Lafayette. Dave was a 22-year-old unknown at the time. We had people tell us he was a "loose cannon," we had old men yell at us, and we faced those who distrusted his youth and enthusiasm, perceiving it as naivete.

So what did we do that earned Dave a four-year spot on council (meaning he got the third-highest amount of votes while facing several established candidates)? We took lists of registered voters around the entire town with us. We went door-to-door as much as we were able, starting early in the morning and finishing when it got dark. We specifically traveled to areas of Lafayette where we knew people would disagree with him. Because even if they disagree with you, even if they don't like you, most people will still respect that you took the time to present yourself and what you stand for to them. I was amazed at the number of times a person's expression went from distrustful to enthusiastic, from dour to interested, from annoyed to amazed.

A famous Michael Jordan quote comes to mind: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." This applies to everything. If only Coakley had watched a little more basketball.

Andrew Sullivan: Insightful and Right

By Wade

I'm not even surprised that things look so grim for Coakley. Sad, not surprised.

The first full paragraph sums up the major BS of the last year so succinctly it's beautiful:

I can see no alternative scenario but a huge - staggeringly huge - victory for the FNC/RNC machine tomorrow. They crafted a strategy of total oppositionism to anything Obama proposed a year ago. Remember they gave him zero votes on even the stimulus in his first weeks. They saw health insurance reform as Obama's Waterloo, and, thanks in part to the dithering Democrats, they beat him on that hill. They have successfully channeled all the rage at the massive debt and recession the president inherited on Obama after just one year.

Congratulations, Republicans. Your quagmire in this country is nearly as ugly as the quagmires you've created across the Atlantic.

Massachusetts, I'm talking to you now. I know we've had at least a couple readers from your neck of the woods (and anyone who knows any swing voters there, pass this on).

Don't think of Coakley as a replacement for a beloved figure from a political dynasty. Don't think of her even as the sub-par candidate she is. Think of her as the least objectionable alternative. Think of her as the stop-gap measure to keep Republicans from succeeding in their goal as the "Party of No." Think of her, as we so often must in politics, as a means to an end. Think of her as the instrument that will help enact the health care policies we need in this country, that Ted Kennedy fought for the majority of his political career. Think of her as, at the very least, better than the guy who seems pleased by the idea of violating her back door with a hot metal rod.

I know she's not who we want. All she can be now is who we've got.