Editorial
Republican win in liberal Massachusetts
A wake-up call for Obama
The shock win by Republican Scott Brown over Democrat Martha Coakley at the special Senate election in Massachusetts comes as a warning to the year-old Obama administration about the difficulties it is likely to face ahead. The fact that traditionally liberal Massachusetts has for the first time since 1952 opted to vote in a Republican, to replace the long-serving Edward Kennedy who died some months ago, demonstrates the transience of political fortunes in America. Where Barack Obama decisively defeated John McCain and helped to strengthen the Democrat presence in the Senate and House of Representatives only a year ago, the loss in Massachusetts is a sign that politics cannot be taken for granted.
Brown's victory is the third in a series of recent losses for the Democrats. In autumn last year, Republicans won the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. The loss of the Senate seat, held for forty seven years by Edward Kennedy (and, earlier, for eight years by John F. Kennedy before he was elected president in 1960), comes at a particularly crucial moment for President Obama. Until Kennedy's death, Democrats held 60 seats to the Republicans' 40 in the 100-seat Senate. That strength prevented any filibustering the Republicans might have had in mind over the president's health care bill. Indeed, the special election to fill Kennedy's seat was called in order for Obama to see his health care plans through. His party's candidate, Martha Coakley, was considered a shoo-in over Brown. A sense of irony seems to have been at work here. In the early stages of the US presidential election season in 2008, it was widely assumed that Hillary Clinton would handily win the Democratic nomination for president. Obama came from behind to destroy her hopes. Hasn't Scott Brown now come from behind to deny Coakley the victory that could have been hers?
The result is a wake-up call for Obama. The president must now reorder his strategy and reach out to the Republicans. His party yet has 59 seats in the Senate, but there are too a number of gubernatorial, Senate and House seats up for grabs at the mid-term elections this November. Barack Obama and his party cannot afford to lose any more ground than they have already.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments