You may not be aware, but there is a crucial election that is going to take place on January 19th – a special election to fill the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat representing Massachusetts. Steve Tum of Common Cents provided me the necessary motivation to post on it. The Republican in this race is State Senator Scott Brown. His Democratic opponent is Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakle.
Not only does Brown serve in the State Senate, but has been a member for the Massachusetts Army National Guard for 29 years. Brown articulated a core set of beliefs when he announced his candidacy on September 12.
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Government is too big and that the federal stimulus bill made government bigger instead of creating jobs
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Taxes are too high and are going higher if Congress continues with its out-of-control spending
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The historic amount of debt we are passing on to our children and grandchildren is immoral
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Power concentrated in the hands of one political party, as it is here in Massachusetts, leads to bad government and poor decisions
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A strong military and vigorous homeland defense will protect our interests and security around the world and at home
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All Americans deserve health care, but we shouldn’t have to create a new government insurance program to provide it
He represents the first chance to break the filibuster proof majority currently enjoyed by Senate Democrats. Brown who enjoys the support of Massachusetts Citizens for Life represents a threat to the health care reform bill. So much so that the Boston Herald reports that should Scott Brown win Democrats will stall his swearing-in, in order to pass health-care reform. William Jacobson says that voters need to call the Democrats bluff:
Voters need to call the Democrats’ bluff. The deliberate delay of Brown’s certification in order to push through the health care bill will cause a political explosion unlike anything we have seen before.
There are certain red lines which no one has crossed before. And refusing to seat a duly elected Senator, for the sole purpose of excluding that Senator from voting on a particular piece of legislation, crosses that line.
Democrats are threatening to break the democratic links which bind us as a nation. The electoral outrage at such a tactic will be generational, and the Democratic leadership in Washington knows it.
If on the day of the health care vote, the duly elected Scott Brown shows up at the Senate to claim his seat for the vote, will Harry Reid instruct the Capitol Police to bar Brown from the chamber and from casting his vote? Will that be the legacy of health care "reform"?
The voters of Massachusetts need to call the Democrats bluff on this.
Will we have a revolution in Massachusetts underfoot? One can only hope so. Massachusetts has been a Democrat stronghold in a larger Northeast bastion of liberalism (where even the Republicans are largely liberal, Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) notwithstanding, but he’s retiring), but this race has become a losable race for the Democrats.
Anyway, I’d like to encourage any reader who lives in Massachusetts to vote for Scott Brown on January 19th. I’d also like to encourage all readers who are able and feel so led to contribute to his campaign.
He may be our best shot at derailing Obamacare. He’ll be the 41st vote.