Now that we’ve dried our eyes for the late Senator Ted Kennedy, distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick, it’s time to cast them in the direction of the high-stakes Massachusetts senatorial race that will determine his replacement. By the time this editorial is printed, the results of the election will be in. At that time, I welcome you to join me in either a rampant celebration of potential salvation or mutual commiseration as we watch our nation descend further down the path of Obama-style socialism. Perhaps this assessment strikes readers as overdramatic, but I am not the only one awaiting the election results with bated breath. What, you ask, is the big deal with this particular senatorial race? The results will determine whether or not Democrats fill the sixty seats in the Senate required to overcome filibusters.
Should a Republican fill the seat, insidious initiatives such as the proposed health care reform legislation may not advance–at least, not easily. Of course, certain Democrats are clearly more concerned with passing something–in spite of the desires and needs of the American people. As Nancy Pelosi charmingly puts it: “We will have health care one way or another.” She scoffs at the idea put forth by the Massachusetts Republican candidate that Congress return to the drawing board to create a health care reform plan that might actually meet the wants of the American citizens. Pelosi might note that, according to recent polls, 51 percent of Americans oppose the proposed changes to the health care system.
Scott Brown, the Republican candidate in question, has managed to pull ahead of Democrat Martha Coakley in the polls leading up to Tuesday’s election. A political editor for The Boston Globe astutely observes, “…Scott Brown’s campaign has done a very good job, capitalizing on anger at Washington, anger over health care, anger about the deficit, the sort of throw-them-out mentality.” Brown has managed to amass vast popularity despite trailing Coakley by double digits in the polls just a week ago.
The former underdog in the quest for “Ted Kennedy’s seat,” Brown has the Democrats all in a tiff over how they will proceed to shove legislation down our unfortunate throats should they lose the 60th seat. Realizing that this may not be an easy feat, Democrats are taking desperate measures to restore support for Coakley in Massachusetts, including flying our illustrious president out to a Boston rally to woo crowds with the classic hope-and-change bombast. One must wonder, however, if Obama’s backing will be of much value to Coakley’s campaign, considering his ever-declining approval ratings. Former President Clinton weighed in with some enlightening remarks of his own: “The worst thing we can do is nothing.”
Now, there is a fascinating statement. It appears in varied forms of liberal rhetoric. Akin to the attitude that “some form of health care reform is better than no reform” and “making your voice heard is more important than knowing what you’re saying,” the sentiment might be rephrased as, “doing something reprehensible and ultimately pointless is better than admitting we don’t know what we’re doing.” The Democrats love criticizing Republicans for halting progress–for saying “no” without offering an alternative. What the Dems fail to realize is that “progress,” merely for the sake of pretending to have accomplished something, is not progress at all. I would rather there be no health care reform than have Congress pass the pointless atrocity to fulfill Obama’s agenda objectives. It may be blasphemy in the Age of Obama, but “no change” actually is an alternative. Go Brown!