Decision 2010: MA Senate Election

What a night in politics- and proof to the old adage that if you live long enough, you will see everything. A Republican, little-known state Senator Scott Brown, defeated popular state Attorney General Martha Coakley in a special election to complete the remaining term of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

There are so many different storylines here. The Kennedy legacy. The state of the Democratic Party. The role of the national party and the Coakley campaign. The Obama agenda. Health Care. 60 votes. Media attention from the far right fringe. National discontentment as we continue to struggle with a historic economic recession. A deep national yearning for "change" which remains.

As Bob Menendez, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said last night, there should be no sugar-coating the results. In fact, they should be considered a wake-up call to democrats around the country.

To that end, Organizing for America supporters received an interesting e-mail today (after one late last night announcing a conference call for supporters would be held Wednesday evening; I was unable to join the call). It is a reminder of the hard work that remains ahead in the Obama Administration- the change that was felt so clearly in Washington one year ago, tonight.

Full e-mail below:

Chris --

Yesterday's disappointing election results show deep discontent with the pace of change. I know the OFA community and the President share that frustration.

We also saw what we knew to be true all along: Any change worth making is hard and will be fought at every turn. While it doesn't take away the sting of this loss, there is no road to real change without setbacks along the way.

We could have simply sought to do things that were easy, that wouldn't stir up controversy. But changes that aren't controversial rarely solve the problem.

Our country continues to face the same fundamental challenges it faced yesterday. Our health care system still needs reform. Wall Street still needs to be held accountable. We still need to create good jobs. And we still need to continue building a clean energy economy.

The President isn't walking away from these challenges. In fact, his determination and resolve are only stronger. We must match that commitment with our own.

But it won't be easy. Real change never is. For that reason, I am grateful you're part of this fight with us.

Thank you,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America




And here is the e-mail from the DSCC:




Chris,

I have no interest in sugar-coating what happened in Massachusetts. There is a lot of anxiety in the country right now. Americans are understandably impatient. The truth is Democrats understand the anger voters feel - that's in large part why we did well in 2006 and 2008. We are doing what we were sent to Washington to do: tackle tough challenges in order to get the country back on track. We've made progress, and come November, we will have made even more.

In the days ahead, we will sort through the lessons of Massachusetts: the need to redouble our efforts on the economy, the need to show that our commitment to real change is as powerful as it was in 2008, and the reality that we cannot take a single thing for granted and cannot afford even a second of complacency.

These election results mean that Republicans will be even more emboldened to obstruct progress and distort the truth in their quest to protect the status quo. We must be aggressive in defining our opponents and framing the choice voters face. We cannot be timid about staking out our ground, and we must be strong in reminding voters what the Republicans did to our country and what they will do again if given the chance.

Sincerely,


Sen. Bob Menendez