Archive for 2010

SYMPATHY FOR THE PRESIDENT: “Poor Obama! It’s the eve of the anniversary of his inauguration. The State of the Union was supposed to be very grand. And now what? He has been repudiated! He made this election a referendum on the Democrats agenda, and the people of Massachusetts, the most liberal state, gave him a resounding no. Now, I think that could be good for Obama. He’s a man of change. Let him change. I hope he becomes the President I thought he could be when I voted for him.”

WOLF BLITZER: Three statewide elections in three states Obama won, where Obama campaigned for the Democrat. All three won by Republicans. What message does this send?

Alex Castellanos: If you can’t hide in Massachusetts, you can’t hide anywhere.

TEA PARTIERS TO OBAMA: “We won.”

CHARLES AUSTIN EMAILS: “Nice win kid, don’t get cocky. Maybe now is a good time to remind everyone that there’s still a large struggle ahead.”

Yep. This is a beginning, not an ending. Party tonight. Get to work tomorrow.

UPDATE: Wear brown tomorrow? I’m going to wear a browncoat for my PJTV show . . ..

Plus, from Moe Lane: Next.

This message goes out to every vulnerable Democratic Congressman representing a Republican or even centrist district – and after tonight, who among you is not vulnerable? It is a simple message: we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. The easy way is, you suddenly decide that you have a burning desire to spend more time with your families. So you don’t run for re-election, you walk off stage technically undefeated, and you go join a lobbying firm. The hard way is, you do run for re-election, and we pry you out of your seats.

We want to do this the hard way. We will enjoy doing it.

That’s your only warning. And remember: nobody is going to be able to save you. If the President, the DSCC, the DCCC, the DNC, the SEIU, ACORN, and the netroots couldn’t manage a win in Massachusetts… what do you think that they can do for you?

Ouch. Remind me never to get on Moe’s bad side.

BOSTON GLOBE: Coakley has conceded in a call to Scott Brown, according to a Brown aide. AP had just projected Brown as a winner.

So has Massachusetts kicked off another American revolution?

UPDATE: David Boaz: The Brown Revolution. “Around the world over the past decade, longstanding and stultifying power elites have been toppled by what came to be known as the ‘color revolutions’ — notably the Rose Revolution in Georgia, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and hopefully the Green Revolution in Iran. Now the political elites in Boston and Washington have been rocked by the Brown Revolution.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: A reader emails: “Matthews is on now. Has the ‘tingle up the leg’ become a trickle down the leg?” [LATER: Matthews comments.]

Roll Call: Brown Wins Huge Upset in Massachusetts.

Last year, when I was at CPAC for PJTV, a leading pundit told me (politely) that he thought my interest in the Tea Party movement was silly. I demurred. All I can say is I told you so.

MORE: The Scott Heard ‘Round The World.

Plus, A question for Keith Olbermann. “How do those teabags taste?”

Power Line: Thank you, President Bush. “As I understand the Democratic narrative of today’s election, as explained by Robert Gibbs and others, Scott Brown’s victory is the result of voter anger. That anger, in turn, is the understandable result of President Bush’s policies. Thus, George W. Bush is responsible for the election of Scott Brown. President Obama is just a bystander.”

And reader J.C. Rhoades writes: “So, should the good people of Massachusetts be considered the real Browncoats?” I aim to misbehave.

Reader Clifford Grout comments: “I think they should name Scott Brown’s truck ‘Mary Jo’s Revenge’. Just sayin’.”

STILL MORE: Jim Webb: Suspend Further Votes On Health Care Until Brown Is Seated.

Reader Phil Manhard writes: “I love the smell of tar and feathers in the evening. It smells like…..
Victory!” It’s only metaphorical tar and feathers.

Michael Graham: Who’s next?

For at least five minutes, we stood looking at each other in disbelief. Some people kept looking at the TV looking for confirmation from AP. Could it be true?

Finally it sank in. The cheering began to subside, and then came the cry: “Who’s next?”

Another roar, and then came the names: Kerry, Frank, and loudest of all Gov. Deval Patrick.

These people have had their first taste of political success in a long time. They feel hope again, for the first time in years. And they’re spoilin’ for another brawl in the Bay State.

Good.

Plus, Rush Limbaugh reacts.

Politico: Scott Brown pulls off historic upset.

Mark Steyn:

Harry Reid’s reluctance to seat Senator Brown (R- Mass) – boy, I enjoyed typing that – until “the proper paperwork has been received” seems awfully finicky for a man who famously declared he wanted to bring “twelve million undocumented Americans out of the shadows”.

Why not start by bringing the undocumented Senator out of the shadows? Given the unelected Dems sitting as replacements for Obama and his cabinet appointees, it would demonstrate a particular contempt for the people’s voice to hold up the one guy who fought and won an election to get in there.

Indeed.

69% OF THE VOTE IN, it’s Brown 53, Coakley 46.

Sounds like it’s looking good for the “Fingerists.” Heh.

STEPHEN GREEN’S HAIR OF THE DOG: Judgment Day In Massachusetts. And taking Katrina van den Heuvel back to high school.

SISSY WILLIS: Exit polling: High fives among dems, indeps at sight of my Scott Brown sign. Well, it’s not scientific. . . .

UPDATE: Michael Graham calls it for Brown. “You don’t start trashing the White House—a.k.a. the people who hand out jobs and control DNC money—if there is any chance you’re going to win. And the White House wouldn’t offer that ‘one reason’ if they hadn’t seen the same internal polls the Coakley campaign has.”

MATT WELCH takes a critical look at The New York Times’ Brown-Coakley coverage.

BAD NEWS FOR COAKLEY? Pollster Frank Luntz having difficulty finding Coakley supporters for focus group on election night of Massachusetts senate race. “They don’t want to be on television defending Martha Coakley. It’s passé. It’s socially unacceptable. I never dreamed I’d see Democrats in Massachusetts embarrassed to admit they’re Democrats.”

UPDATE: Ben Smith: Nobody’s using the coat check at Coakley HQ.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Glenn Thrush: “A Democratic operative familiar with the get-out-the-vote push by Martha Coakley’s team and boosted late in the game by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, says that outreach workers in and around Boston have been stunned by the number of Democrats and Obama supporters who are waving them off, saying they’ll vote for Scott Brown.”

HOT AIR: David Brooks: If Brown wins and the Dems pass ObamaCare anyway, they don’t deserve to govern; Update: Bayh warns of “catastrophe”. If they think people are mad now, let them try to pass that stinker via some sort of trickery and then see what happens. And at this point, I don’t think they can pass it without some sort of trickery.

UPDATE: Associated Press analysis: “A loss – or even a narrow victory – by once-favored Democrat Martha Coakley to insurgent Republican Scott Brown in this Democratic stronghold could signal big political problems for the president’s party this fall when House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates are on the ballot nationwide.”

But there’s this: Democrats lean toward pushing Senate health-care bill through House. “The argument is, you’re already pregnant.”

I thought these people believed in abortion?