Obama blow as a Republican wins Kennedy's Senate seat
Source: Agencies |
January 21, 2010, Thursday
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A REPUBLICAN has won the United States Senate seat long held by liberal champion Edward Kennedy, dealing a huge blow to Barack Obama and his health care overhaul plan just as the president concludes his first year in office.
Scott Brown rode a wave of voter anger to beat Democrat Martha Coakley in Tuesday's special Senate election in Massachusetts.
The loss was a stunning embarrassment for the White House. It also signaled big political problems for the president's party this autumn when House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates are on the ballot nationwide.
With Brown's victory in Massachusetts, Senate Democrats lost the 60-vote supermajority needed to achieve Obama's top goals. That could doom the health care bill and make it more difficult to pass legislation on climate change and other top White House priorities.
The vote bodes poorly for Democrats ahead of November's congressional elections. If they cannot win in a Democratic stronghold, defending Kennedy's seat against a relatively unknown state senator like Brown, they could be vulnerable almost anywhere.
Democratic politicians could read the results as a vote against Obama's broader agenda, weakening their support for the president. And the results could scare some Democrats from seeking office.
Just weeks ago, Coakley, the state attorney general, had a double-digit lead in polls and seemed destined to win. Her defeat was an embarrassment for the White House after Obama had rushed to Boston on Sunday to try to save her campaign. Obama carried Massachusetts by 26 percentage points over Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.
Brown led by 52 percent to 47 percent with 99 percent of precincts counted. The third candidate in the race, independent Joseph Kennedy, no relation to Edward Kennedy, had less than 1 percent.
Turnout was exceptional for a special election in January.
The election highlighted the dramatic reversal for Democrats one year after the euphoria of Obama's January 20, 2009, inauguration. The anti-incumbent mood that lifted the party in the 2008 election is now pushing against Democrats, with voters frustrated by high unemployment, bank and auto industry bailouts, exploding federal budget deficits and partisan wrangling over health care.
Brown's victory was the third major loss for Democrats in statewide elections since Obama became president. Republicans won governors' seats in Virginia and New Jersey in November.
"I have no interest in sugarcoating what happened in Massachusetts," said Senator Robert Menendez, head of the Senate Democrats' campaign committee. "There is a lot of anxiety in the country right now. Americans are understandably impatient."
Brown seized on voter discontent to overtake Coakley in the campaign's final stretch. His candidacy energized Republicans while attracting disappointed Democrats and independents.
Adding to the Democrats' dismay is that Brown won Kennedy's seat by promising to oppose the health care overhaul - an issue closely identified with the senator.
Brown's victory was so sweeping, he even won in the Cape Cod community where Kennedy died of brain cancer.
Scott Brown rode a wave of voter anger to beat Democrat Martha Coakley in Tuesday's special Senate election in Massachusetts.
The loss was a stunning embarrassment for the White House. It also signaled big political problems for the president's party this autumn when House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates are on the ballot nationwide.
With Brown's victory in Massachusetts, Senate Democrats lost the 60-vote supermajority needed to achieve Obama's top goals. That could doom the health care bill and make it more difficult to pass legislation on climate change and other top White House priorities.
The vote bodes poorly for Democrats ahead of November's congressional elections. If they cannot win in a Democratic stronghold, defending Kennedy's seat against a relatively unknown state senator like Brown, they could be vulnerable almost anywhere.
Democratic politicians could read the results as a vote against Obama's broader agenda, weakening their support for the president. And the results could scare some Democrats from seeking office.
Just weeks ago, Coakley, the state attorney general, had a double-digit lead in polls and seemed destined to win. Her defeat was an embarrassment for the White House after Obama had rushed to Boston on Sunday to try to save her campaign. Obama carried Massachusetts by 26 percentage points over Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.
Brown led by 52 percent to 47 percent with 99 percent of precincts counted. The third candidate in the race, independent Joseph Kennedy, no relation to Edward Kennedy, had less than 1 percent.
Turnout was exceptional for a special election in January.
The election highlighted the dramatic reversal for Democrats one year after the euphoria of Obama's January 20, 2009, inauguration. The anti-incumbent mood that lifted the party in the 2008 election is now pushing against Democrats, with voters frustrated by high unemployment, bank and auto industry bailouts, exploding federal budget deficits and partisan wrangling over health care.
Brown's victory was the third major loss for Democrats in statewide elections since Obama became president. Republicans won governors' seats in Virginia and New Jersey in November.
"I have no interest in sugarcoating what happened in Massachusetts," said Senator Robert Menendez, head of the Senate Democrats' campaign committee. "There is a lot of anxiety in the country right now. Americans are understandably impatient."
Brown seized on voter discontent to overtake Coakley in the campaign's final stretch. His candidacy energized Republicans while attracting disappointed Democrats and independents.
Adding to the Democrats' dismay is that Brown won Kennedy's seat by promising to oppose the health care overhaul - an issue closely identified with the senator.
Brown's victory was so sweeping, he even won in the Cape Cod community where Kennedy died of brain cancer.
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