Thursday, January 21, 2010

A Reckoning for Arrogance

Scott Brown and his truck with two hundred and umpteen thousand miles crashed a party on Tuesday night. To some it was a welcome relief. To others, it was unwelcome as an end-of-the-nose zit on your wedding day.

Since Tuesday night, the talking heads on cable have blathered and opined in a cacophony of disbelief, joy, and despair on his victory. How did he do it, they ask. What turned the Democrat rank and file against his opponent, they wonder. A referendum on Obamacare? A referendum on the economy?

What Scott Brown did was simple. He ran a great campaign. Most importantly, he wielded his opponent's greatest weakness against her - the arrogance of the political machine.

It was the Kennedy's seat after all, had been since 1953. A bellwether, that senate seat. Always in the hands of a Democrat. What could change that? Turns out, simple complacency - created by an arrogant party that believed with their heart of hearts that is was destined for one of their own to be seated in Teddy's stead.

Never mind the challenger, they surmised. He lacks the credentials of a Massachusetts senator. Forget his message, they thought - the rank and file won't buy it. After all, the electorate thinks like we do. They want the same things we do. Or so they thought.

Turns out, the citizens of Massachusetts are pissed off. They don't like Obamacare. The economy's still in the dumpers - and after all the promises of $787 billion, jobs keep vanishing. We're giving enemy soldiers the same rights for which our forefathers bled and died. They realized that vague platitudes don't fix problems.

What happened to the Democrats on Tuesday will not be an isolated case - it will be repeated many times over this November. Just like 2006 when the Republicans lost the congress. Just like 1994 when the GOP took the congress. Keep going back in time, you'll find many cases. Politicians get elected to solve problems, then they shirk their responsibilities and think no one's paying attention.

Guess what? We do pay attention. We recognize arrogance when we see it. We will do something about it - no matter who's in office, what letter is in parentheses after their name, or what family held the seat for 56 years.

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