It seems as if the people of Massachusetts have briefly given up or have "taken a break" from the long-lasting tradition of being a blue state. Is it a loss of faith in the current administration? Or were they truly convinced that Scott Brown was an "Independent" candidate? Or was Martha Coakley just THAT bad of a candidate that the people erred on the side of a Republican masquerading as an Independent? Only time will tell but from what it looks like, Brown is going to be the poster child of the "new" GOP.
However, the people have spoken and until the end of Ted Kennedy's senatorial term, Congress is stuck with another body caucusing with the Republican Party. But is that really a hurtle in the agenda set out by the Democrats? Even with the supermajority, there was still a considerable amount of civil war going on within the Democratic caucus. They just couldn't get those blue-collar democrats on board with many of their proposed legislation. So yes, it is true that they no longer have the ability to override a Republican filibuster, but it wasn't like they were going to pass anything substantially "democratic" anyway with the few going against the grain.
We should be thankful that we still have 59 of the 100 seats in the Senate. That's still a LARGE majority and if the Democrats can pull it together and actually play on the same team, policies can begin to be debated in a serious manner...well that's if we keep all 59 seats post-midterm election.
Nevertheless, if the people of America continue to lose faith in the Democratic Party as a representation of their interests, they'll punish them at the midterm elections. As historical trends suggests, the Republicans will most likely take back the majority in Congress this year. That's what the Democrats are probably fearing most right now. So if they haven't done so already, they better immediately get their campaigning shoes on 'cause with this fresh under-wear model, white Republican version of Obama running around, convincing the public that the Democratic Party will soon "heal America" ain't going to be an easy road to travel.
