The almost
unthinkable has happened. Even the time, place and person couldn't have been
more symbolic. On Tuesday, exactly one year after President Obama was inaugurated,
the Democrats lost a Senate seat in their home state of Massachusetts. The seat
of the late Ted Kennedy, who campaigned a good part of his life for a new
healthcare system and which is now is on the Senate's table. And that seat was
won by a Republican with rogue opinions that are the opposite of Obama's.
This outcome may
mark the end of the Kennedy dynasty. Since 1952, this Senate seat has been in
the hands of a Kennedy: first by the late President John F., and since 1962, continuously
by his brother Edward who died last year. For almost 60 years, it was a
veritable electoral lock that Massachusetts, where Obama won 62 percent of the
vote in the presidential election, was an unbeatable progressive stronghold. That
Democratic fortress has now been taken over by a Republican - and not just an
ordinary one.
Senator-elect Scott
Brown is in favor of water boarding and other interrogation techniques that qualify
or border on torture. He doesn't believe in a federal policy for reducing
greenhouse emissions. And contrary to former President Bush, he has no compassion
for illegal immigrants in the United States and who aspire to citizenship.
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This electoral
revolt against east coast "liberals" has a national impact. The year
2010 is crucial. So far, Obama hasn't been able to force any real breakthroughs.
The middle class hasn't experienced an end to the recession and unemployment is
rising despite his stimulus package. And despite some restrictions, bankers are
collecting in real bonuses again.
The gap between
Main Street and Wall Street is great. This is the climate within which Congressional
elections will take place in the fall. Although Republicans have no ideological
leader within their ranks, this could turn out to be a fiasco for Obama
reminiscent of Clinton's defeat in 1994. Thereafter, Clinton had to run on Republican
policies.
But before then,
an even greater tragedy could be in store for the White House. Health care
reform is at stake. The new system could have gone through the Senate this
year, because Democrats, who are indeed anything but united, had 60 of the 100
votes needed and could have prevented a filibuster. They no longer can.
Obama can't count
on the benevolence of the opposition. In recent decades when Republicans were
in the minority, they have increasingly turned to the filibuster as a weapon to
make legislation impossible. This is contrary to the spirit of constitutional
law. But the political battle is so heavy that only whiners will pay any notice.
That's why the outcome
in Massachusetts is a sledgehammer blow to the White House. When it was least
expected, it has launched a new round of polarization.
