UPDATE (10:09 pm): The cracks begin, starting with Virginia’s Jim Webb:
“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,” Webb said in a statement. “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.” – Sen. Jim Webb
Boston Globe… 9:13 p.m. — Coakley has conceded in a call to Scott Brown, according to a Brown aide.
“The response will not be to do incremental things and try to salvage a few seats in the fall,” a presidential adviser said. “The best political route also happens to be the boldest rhetorical route, which is to go out and fight and let the chips fall where they may. We can say, ‘At least we fought for these things, and the Republicans said no.’” – Politico
We’ve been waiting for the White House to do this for close to a year.
Josh Marshall writes: The Dems need to relax, get to work, pass the bill and move on.
I’m very relaxed. But to what health care bill is Marshall referring? The current Senate bill? I can’t imagine he means the House bill. And pray tell, what does Joe Lieberman do?
If Martha Coakley loses, does Josh Marshall and others, including Speaker Pelosi, actually believe that conservative Democrats won’t duck and run for cover?
Hey, maybe they’ll double down, but that’s a rare occurrence from conservative Democrats, who usually go further right at any sign of trouble.
Imagine this: If after all this the Democrats end up passing a bill with 51 votes, reconciliation, but it’s the Senate bill, without a public option and with the “Cadillac” tax. It will be the ultimate definition of suck.
James Carville and Stan Greenberg, top Democratic strategists, will tell the Democrats to drop Obamacare. The bloodletting must be stopped. Obama can change the subject and this will fade into the past. But the vote tonight — TED KENNEDY’S seat — is the death knell of European-style social democratic health care.
I can’t still believe how bad the Dems screwed up in Mass…This will go down in history as the worst thing I have ever witness by these idiots….Now that is off my chest the Dems still have 59 in the senate and no longer there magical 60. Bush had only what 51 and still did what ever the hell he wanted…
Obama staff needs to wake the hell up!!!! Republicans are coming back strong for 2010…And if he plans to make it to a second term then he needs to show some fight…Otherwise we will all be looking at President Palin…
A shame I liked Martha Coakley.
Will the WH wake up anytime soon?
I doubt it.
Dems still have reconciliation for healthcare…But I don’t see these weak morons using that option…Why don’t Dems all do Americans a favor and resign now from the Senate… Because they are useless to stand against Republicans…This is just sicking to witness and tragically funny at the same time…An ex-male nude model has just won Teddy Kennedy seat…WTF!!!
Witnessing the incompetence by the Dems refirms my choice four years ago to become and Independent…Right now I feel pity for all those Dems who voted these people into office for “Change”…And yet the only change they got was from bad to worse…Something needs to be done quick to clean up this mess…
Democrats, end your frustration with conservatives in both parties.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NNgFBN8Mfc
When giuen the choice between a Republican corporatist and a Democratic corporatist the people will choose the Republican corporatist, because the people did not want the corporatist bill to pass.
Geez, even the memory of the late Senate giant Ted Kennedy couldn’t keep that seat in Democrat hands. He’s barely cold in the grave and the people of Massachusetts promptly turned it over to Republican hands. WOW! My heart is not breaking.
nzanh…lol
Taylor, I told you Coakley reminded me of Virginia candidate Deeds. Next time, Dems need to seriously pick better candidates…Who am’I kidding Dems no longer listen to there base.
Or you kidding me…Coakley hurt by White House failure to confront wall street….How about Ms. Coakley should have ran a better campaign!…Yes, the White House should have done many things…but that does not excuse her horrible campaign.
Peter took the words write off my coming page…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-daou/liberal-bloggers-to-obama_b_429031.html
I interviewed Coakley. She was no Creigh Deeds, but her campaign was run terribly by all accounts.
daubry says:
19 January 2010 at 9:29 pm
I did too.
Marie205 says:
19 January 2010 at 9:25 pm Bush had only what 51 and still did what ever the hell he wanted…
And that is exactly what Obama needs to do and should have done this past year. People voted for change. And they’re angry. I like what Howard Dean had to say tonight on the Maddow show. Also, it looks like Coakley, who is a good person, took the seat for granted. This is a shame, but a wake up call I hope.
I’m dreaming… having a nightmare…right? Please, someone pinch me so I will wake up…………..
Yes Martha Coakley did not run a good campaign but even if she did, it may not have helped her. The only thing that would have saved her was if she had denounced that health care reform bill and maybe she would have had to switch partys. Almost to the man, every interview I heard from voter mentioned that dastardly health care bill as a factor in their vote against her. They did not want to send anyone up to capital hill to aid Nancy and Harry in their quest to get that nasty bill to Obama’s desk.
Heya Lynnette, whitepaw.
As you know, I’ve been warning about this for months. People scoffed at NY-23, laughed. I told you this was coming. It’s horrific in the extreme, but if Dem leadership gets the message we can pull up and correct course.
Obama’s approval rating among today’s voters—-53%
Deval Patrick—38%
I don’t think this is Obama’s fault.
It’s the ENTIRE Democratic leadership failure; no one is exempt.
lynnette….I seriously, doubt Obama will even use reconciliation…The man is starting to appear more like Jimmy Carter everyday. If and when Obama poll numbers drop down to 32 % I hope he has the good sense to not run for a second term…I still believe he will be able to win a second term if the Republicans don’t find a better candidate….
Like in the commmerical for UPS. What won’t Brown do for you?
How ironic that the man who fought hard in the Senate for health care for decades dies and the effort dies with him.
Really though, this bill got hijacked by Max Baucus and the conservative Democrats and it has blown up in their faces.
I’m sorry that Coakley lost but she took money from the health insurance companies and big pharma.
When these corporatists in both parties decades from now meet God, I hope God will usher them into purgatory where they will have to listen to the screams of suffering people who go on their way to death due to lack of health insurance and lack of medications, UNTIL THE CRACK OF DOOM.
So let it get written so let it get done.
“It’s the ENTIRE Democratic leadership failure; no one is exempt.” -Taylor Marsh
I agree…everyone is to blame from the White House to Martha campaign staff. This was there race to lose and the went right ahead and lost it.
and it begins… From Sen. Jim Webb:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/76961-webb-no-senate-votes-until-brown-is-seated
“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,” Webb said in a statement. “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.”
I salute Jim Webb. No spin, no partisanship. Just a real patriot, and a realist.
Mr. Brown didn’t win by much. I would like to find out what percentage of the voters who voted for Brown came from the Democratic Party to bring down the health care bill. I imagine some progressive Democrats might have played a dirty trick on the Conservative Democrats.
Democrats, end your frustration with conservatives in both parties.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NNgFBN8Mfc
IMO, Coakley’s campaign is just a small scale example of what the Left’s been up to ever since Obama was elected. The Right has been organizing Tea Parties, Hands-Off Healthcare rallies, Townhall crashing, and so on…where has the Left been? What has the Left organized and fought for post-election?
Nothing, just rolling along in cruise control shaking their fists at the cars speeding past them.
Taylor, Jim is sort of right…If they keep pushing Obamacare it will only get worse for Dems. This reminds me for the Newt “Contract with America” that pushed them into power. If they put off the Obamacare and focus on a “Jobs Bill” it will be better. Republicans have successfully made Obamacare into a serious campaign issue to run on for 2010.
If they don’t have Obamacare to run against in 2010…they will have to come up with something else to run against.
Another factor is the unpopular Gov. Deval Patrick that played a role in Martha loss. Heck, many factors played a factor in the losing Teddy old seat.
If health care dies, Democrats deserve to lose.
Marie, you the woman who posts messages over at AARP? Your posts look familiar.
Actually partisanship appears good. If partisanship means taking care of the poor and less fortunate and the unemployed without coporatios butting into the legislation then I love partisanship.
psychodrew…They don’t have a choice at this point… unless they use reconciliation for Health Care. But, I don’t see that happening for Health Care. Dems need to focus on Jobs and more Jobs…People or out of work and angry at Bankers…They don’t want to hear great speeches at this point but action and real change.
Marie, you the woman who posts messages over at AARP?
-www.democratz.org
No, that’s not me…But, I’ll check it out to see if there is someone using my username..lol
Somewhere around 25% of Hero Democrats voted for Brown. Thank you!
The Bubble Descends: http://2su.de/04w
Well, reconciliation may not be as easy as some think, according to Lawrence O’Donnell, who actually explained on Olbermann’s show tonite that it takes 60 votes to pass some of the procedural votes just to GET to reconciliation vote itself. And, now they don’t have those 60 votes to get to the 51-vote reconciliation.
Also, according to O’Donnell, Sen. Webb represents probably TEN other Democratic Senators with his release, and it’s a pretty strong warning to Reid and Obama.
O’Donnell stated moreover that he doesn’t see HOW Health Care, as it stands now, with the two bills unreconcileable, can pass. But, he did say, he could be surprised.
The question nos is how far to the right Obama will move. My guess is that everything we care about is gone. I doubt I will vote for any Federal Democratic Candidate this Fall.
Obama will not move as he has bought into his own narrative.
Romney/Brown 2012. Just wait.
Here is a linking quoting what voters in Mass thought of Martha and Dems…. Link below
http://blog.pos.org/2010/01/massachusetts-voters-in-their-own-words/
Some might compare Obama to Carter at this point, but I believe that is a mistake. Carter’s mildly liberal policies, somewhat popular in the country, caused him to be attacked by conservatives in his own party (the Scoop Jackson wing, and later even by Ted Kennedy), but it is Obama’s alignment with the right wing that is not popular in the country.
Currently banking and the military stocks are soaring while workers and homeowners are souring, and Obama, Mr. Change, seems incapable of change from the corporatist war-mongering bent of the last administration.
It also seems that Independents, a plurality in the country, and certainly in Massachusetts, are moving against Obama more than they’re moving for the Repubs. We’re moving into uncharted territory here, with a growing Independent sector and no third party they can gravitate to (yet).
Im just sick. Physically and emotionally. Ive been working hard for coakley making gotv calls. every dem i know here has done calls etc here in houston. I knew brown was surging but now the shock of his win is setting in. I dont think I have ever been so upset about an election outcome since gore 2000. maybe worse bc this was kennedy’s seat and now this prick borwn will sit in it. If dems cannot hold a sen seat in MA then it has lost its soul. no? Note white working class voters are what killed coakley by not turning out. Heck even BOSTON didnt turnout enough. If the dems delivered 6 mos ago hcr w/pub opt, passed energy reform, bank reform coakley would have cruised. Evryoen is mad. promises arent being filled. dems gutted hcr of pub opt and cut deals with phrama making it toxic electorally.
Coakley ran a sucky campaign, but like kuttner said Rahm’s plan on hcr- letting it being debated endlessly for a yr was foolish and damaging for the party- made it into a noose for dems everywhere. See NJ and MA.
Ive spent my whole adult life devoted to the dem party- working like hell for it. I was presisdnet of my college dems. worked for many candidates. made the gotv calls. In 2008 I worked so hard for hillary then in the general for Obama bc of the promise of universal hcr. The plague of my life has been no guarentee of hcr coverage no matter the situation. The dems pissed it away turning it into something horrid and something against the tenets of the party of fdr and truman.
So its gut check time whether obama and the team wants it or not. What are we doing? Where are we going? if we cannot lead then the tea party takes over in 10 mos. Its time to scrap the 60 vote fillibuster, push through the agenda or lose in Nov.
HCR is not the only toxic thing destroying the dem brand. Rahm is a poor strategist and deserves to be fired ( he wont but the rage of many will be at him for allowing hcr to drag so), Kaine should resign as dnc chair no question. Gethner being a wall st lacky is doing huge damage to our party image as the people’s party. He must go. he is our Rumsfeld.
As for Obama, his role in losing MA is one of fialed leadership for his party. By not leading on hcr and passing it in the summer he set up a nightmare. By not being able to have jobs full and center it made his admin look even more detatched. By the policy of appeasing Holy Joe, Nelson etc he pissed off enough of the base to end dem control of congress. After Clinton backed NAFTA and lost congress in 94 dem donors went to him in protest of the way things were run and demanded changes. Clinton then hired podesta etc and saved fortunes of his presidnecy and reshaped his party brand.
This loss could be a blessing and a wake up call. It could shape things up and help dems avoid a 2010 route. Dem rank and file need to see heads roll over MA. Need to see their party pass real reforms. Or the extreme right will take control again. Will dc dems wake up?
kris says:
19 January 2010 at 11:40 pm
“Romney/Brown 2012. Just wait”.
——————-
Why exactly are you focused on potential GOP presidential candidates years in advance? “Just wait” Wait for what? A master class on epic failure because the left refuses to get off its collective a$$ and actually fight for what it wants? IMO, there is no way that UHC or any other major league legislation is going to satisfy the needs of the public unless the public starts making serious demands.
Does anyone still think that we can have full UHC and new laws that protect citizens while stripping multi-billion dollar global corporate entities of power and wealth without having to leave the comfort of our homes again and ‘taking it to the streets’? If I did once, I don’t anymore.
Brown is an idiot and the folks of Mass will tire of him quickly – notice how he just tried to pawn off one of his daughters. He thought it was cute but the rest of the folks are going to see him for the clown he is. Expect more comic entertainment in the Senate –
This isn’t about Brown or the Corporate Dem Coakley its about folks looking for real leadership and finding none. Obama’s Presidency is over – we are in a holding pattern until a real populist shows up that will take on the Corporation and the Banks. Who’s President or who controls the House or Senate until then is really quite irrelevant. Until the filth in the House and Senate and the White House is cleaned out its all the same.
this is the gilded age 2. it began in 2000 and continues.
Well ain’t THIS a sweet Good Morning!
Yeah, secularh, a waking nightmare.