Perspective on "Scott heard around the world" - 2010 Special Election in Massachusett
Republican Scott Brown won a stunning victory in the Massachusetts Special Election to fill the senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy.
Only a couple of months ago, such a victory could not have been imagined, and I suspect that most people on both sides of the aisle didn't see it coming even as the polls over the last few weeks trended sharply in Scott Brown's favor. I, myself, thought that despite the polls, a win by Scott Brown was a long shot. Afterall, this was Massachusetts..."Kennedy country". But the voters of that state spoke loudly as evidenced by the final results with Scott Brown (R) getting 51.9% of the votes against Marth Coakley's (D) 47.1%. By comparison, President Obama's margin of victory in Massachusetts was 62% to 36%.
The Massachusetts Special Election was historic in so many ways, and there will be members on both sides spinning it this way and that. The main talking point for the Republicans will be that this was a referendum on President Obama and his policies, particularly health care reform, while the Democrats will be saying the election was the result of a bad "local" candidate in Martha Coakley. I believe both sides are out of touch with the general public with the Democrats being a little further out than the Republicans at this point. I honestly can't recall a time when there has been more of a disconnect between those in power and the general public whom those in power rely on to vote them into office. To me, there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of what's important to the average person on the street, not just by our elected officials but also by political pundits and journalists.
And it is this disconnect that is driving the reshaping of our political landscape. Scott Brown ran a brilliant campaign by tapping into this sentiment. The voters of Massachusetts weren't saying "we want Republicans to take back power" or that "we want to throw out all the Democrats". To the average voter, the perception, which I believe is somewhat true, is that there isn't much of a difference between either parties. What we want is someone who understands our concerns regardless of party affiliation.
So what are these concerns? If you're just an average working person like myself, I'm sure you already know. Here's my list. Please feel free to agree, disagree, or add to the list by registering your comments below.
1. Health care reform isn't THAT important to me! It certainly isn't what I lose sleep over and I doubt you are either. All the surveys I've seen tend to bear this out as majority of Americans are satisfied with their current health care plan. I do not belong to a union nor am I covered by my employer. I purchase insurance as a private citizen for my family. Do I feel it's too expensive? Definitely. Am I happy with the care we received? Yes, generally. Do I think the system needs reform? Yes if it addresses costs NOT care. Do I think reform should mean a complete overhaul of the system with no assurance that things will be better under a new system? Absolutely not.
The analogy I like to draw, when it comes to health care reform, is of my home. It's an old home that is in need of constant repairs but it houses my family, we are comfortable in it, and it protects us from the elements. I find out that some of my relatives or friends need to move in with us because they've lost their home to foreclosure or simply because they choose not to bear the cost of maintaining their own residence. The problem is that my home isn't big enough as it currently stands to house everyone. But they are people I care about so I realize I must take on some additional expense to help them put a roof over their heads. Do I completely tear down the existing house, take on an additional mortgage which I can't afford to maintain, and rebuild a larger home from scratch against the objections of my family who are comfortable in the current home? Or do I make some permanent repairs which will hopefully save me money in the long run and build an addition to the existing home to house my relatives and friends?
In the above analogy, I am open to the second option and am even willing to bear some additional costs to help house my relatives and friends. However, I am not willing to risk losing the roof over my own family's heads so that I can provide for the others. Some may think this is cold-hearted but my first and foremost responsibility is to my family and I am not willing to risk a wholesale change in their lives or care.
The majority of us are comfortable in our "homes". If we can make some changes to cut down on the cost of maintaining our homes while housing those who do not have a home, let's do it. But please don't ask all of us to tear down our own homes in which we are generally comfortable to provide from "everyone".
One clarification I should make here. When I said I don't lose sleep over health care reform, I wasn't completely correct. I do lose some sleep over the kind of changes that may result from a complete overhaul of the system and what this would mean for my own family.
2. I can't even comprehend the kind of dollar amounts being spent by our government. A trillion is a thousand billion. A billion is a thousand million. A million is a thousand thousand.
Our national debt, which currently stands at $12.3 trillion, hit the big "T" years ago...through both Democratic and Republican adminstrations and Congress. What has changed recently is that our budget deficit is now hitting the big "T" as well. And this has resulted in "trillion" becoming part of everyday lingo in both Washington and the media. When such incomprehensive, for most anyway, numbers start being thrown about, it creates an immediate disconnect with the voters. It's like watching "The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". To an average person like myself, the lifestyle portrayed is another world...might as well be another planet...except the money currently being spent by our elected officials is our money. This realization starts me down the road to thinking, do they know how much money that is or are they so far removed from the realities that an average person struggling to get by faces everyday that it's just numbers to them?
The average person living on a limited budget knows the money to pay the bills has to come from somewhere. The media likes to joke about how uninformed the average American is about political matters but most of us are knowledgeable enough to know that government's source of revenues is taxes we paypay....
3. It's the economy stupid!
People are hurting. As much talk there is about "main street", the politicians and the media seem to not fully understand how difficult things are for the average person on that street. And all the focus on passing health care reform has exacerbated the perception that our elected officials do not fully understand or care about the dire situation of many Americans who've lost their jobs, been forced to sell their homes, had to cut back and try to make every dollar count.
I believe the general perception among many voters is that health care reform is one massive pet project. And all the talk about "if we don't pass it now, it may be another 10 years before we get another chance" isn't really helping. Yes, the last time there was an attempt at reform was during Bill Clinton's administration. It failed and it's been many years since. But the fact is that the economy didn't fall apart because of the failure. Nobody believes that the current economic situation is due to health care not being overhauled. Nor do voters believe that passing the current health care bill will bring us out of the current recession.
We are Americans and we know and accept that those in power and the "haves" will have lives that are above the lives of the average person. But when our elected officials seem to put the state of the economy on the backburner all the while insisting things are getting better when it actually isn't for the average person, the voters will let their votes do the talking as happened in Massachusetts.
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