Brown's victory is a wake up call for a lot of other people besides Democrats

Sometimes the old dog just gets up, scratches a flea or two, and starts snapping at whatever is within his reach. That’s how I felt about myself in the recent special election here in Massachusetts that saw unknown Republican Scott Brown beat established Democrat Martha Coakley 52% to 48%, give or take a tenth of a percentage point or two, for the seat left vacant by Ted Kennedy’s death.

In a previous post I described Brown as “relatively” unknown, but you’ll notice that in the above paragraph I simply referred to him as unknown. What a different a day makes. Compared to his infamy now across the country, he wasn’t just an unknown, he was a nobody.

I used to follow politics the way some people follow sports. And I’d write about politics, on occasion, in freelance columns for the MetroWest Daily News. To call me a political reporter though, would be a mistake akin to calling Brown a political heavyweight. I wasn’t, though in the field of political commentary I probably could hold my weight better than Pretty Boy Brown can in his respective weight class.

I actually remember Brown getting first elected and thinking to myself, What the…? What a lump he presented after his predecessor. Kind of the situation he’s in now, though obviously over the course of those years he’s worked on his presentation skills. He took Democrat Cheryl Jacques seat after she had decided not to run. Now there was a spitfire. Senator Jacques would always return calls, the people she had working for her were sharp, and she always had her facts and opinions straight. I can’t imagine Senator Jacques ever posing nude, or employing some stupid gimmick to get votes like driving around in an old truck when everyone darn well knows you can afford a new one. She was a thinking voters’ politician, and a politician that writers liked. Substance over image. She’s gone on to be a mover and a shaker as a GLBT Civil Rights advocate. Kind of a female Harvey Milk, and that doesn’t surprise me. She was too good for the Massachusetts Legislature.

Thank or curse Brown for this, but he’s renewed my interest in politics. A few other people who I know who I’ve been talking to privately. His win was not only a wake up call for the Democrats, but for a lot of other people, too.

All you liberal Democrats: The sun will come up tomorrow.

Liberals all over Massachusetts are holding suicide watches over each other as relatively unknown Republican Scott Brown won the Senate seat left vacant by Ted Kennedy's passing. It's a bit surprising, but not so much when you really consider what's going on in the country as a whole. Sure, Massachusetts without two liberal senators is like DisneyWorld without two mice (and I don't want to conjecture who's Mickey and who's Minnie in this pair) but despite what people might want to think, Massachusetts isn't all Harvard and Beacon Hill. We have our fair share of chowderheads. And there simply was only one Ted Kennedy. Give him his due, he was a great senator and leader.

And, in case you've been asleep for about ten years, the country as a whole is gravitating a tad right of center.

Nor have Obama and the Democratic majority really been doing the job they were mandated with in the last election. They caved to the health care lobbyists. Wall Street is still running roughshod over Washington. Voters sent a pretty strong message to Washington. They tend to use governors and representatives and senators as messenger boys sometimes.

Democrats have a few things to take heart in. First of all, getting a wakeup call isn't a bad thing. They should learn from it. Voters' love affair with politicians can be fickle. Frankly, Brown strikes me more of a puppet, the candidate du jour, a relative unknown who came on the Republican radar, and was probably told to just shut up, look pretty, and do what he was told as the Republican political machine pumped money and advisers into the race. I mean, face it, he looks great--in uniform, and out.

It's not a full term either. It's not like old Scottie is going to have a lot of time to really make a mark for himself, and while 52% of voters embraced him here, in Washington, as a junior senator, he's going to have to lick a lot of Republican boots. I suggest he check out some Southern senator that runs a weekly prayer group, or something like that, and just keep his head down.

But then you wonder who the heck will or can the Democrats put up against this centerfold in '12. I mean, all they got on the bench are a bunch of old, white, wrinkly guys.

So all you liberal Democrats out there, take heed. The sun will come up tomorrow.