“The Backlash Is Coming…”
By Anita Finlay ("Ani") on January 18, 2010 at 10:00 PM in Bank Bailouts, Campaign promises, Current Affairs, Gay Rights, Harry Reid, Martha Coakley, Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Tax stimulus package, Wall Street
One of the worst things about the 2008 election – aside from the obvious of Hillary Clinton being unceremoniously pushed aside in favor of a disingenuous, inexperienced candidate with elastic policies – is that her supporters were likewise treated with horrid disrespect. We were told our concerns didn’t matter. We were told we didn’t matter.
Fast forward to the end of year one of President Obama’s rule. He outsourced control to the likes of Pelosi, Reid, Dodd, Franks, et al – the worst of what the current Democratic Party has to offer. Just like the Bush Administration before them, they co-opted the “never let a crisis go to waste” mantra, using the fears of the American people to ram through an unsuccessful pork-laden stimulus package and an incomprehensible health care giveaway to insurance and big phrma. But no jobs. Where are the jobs? Tone deaf. Arrogant. 2008 all over again. We are still being told we don’t matter. But this time, it is not just Hillary supporters – it is all of the American people. I live in a liberal area and I am seeing the anger growing even here.
Citizens at both ends of the spectrum are steaming and do not appreciate having their good will and trust abused. This was made clear in the past two Governor’s races. The special MA Senate race, where it looks as though Scott Brown may actually pull out a win in true blue Massachusetts, is sending shock waves in political circles throughout the country. As it should. That is the price you pay for treating the American people like we are a bunch of idiots. Congress, living in its rarified air, has the audacity to think they know what is best for us when they do not share our struggles.
But how can we blame Obama and Congress for thinking the American people can be led around like sheep when that is exactly what happened last year. The majority of voters bought into a commercial brand, without any evidence that the product could deliver as advertised.
How many of us have been calling our representatives complaining of reckless spending? My Congressman’s assistant had the facts wrong on the health care bill even as she bragged to me about its merits. My Senators’ staffers are arrogant and impatient when I call. And they are elitist as well. I have done my homework. I am their constituent and voicing my righteous concerns. And I am still being told to sit down and shut up.
The Democrats are as drunk with power as the Republicans were when they had a huge majority in 2002. The neo-cons predicted a supermajority for 20 years. They got their comeuppance. The same is coming for Democrats. I am heartbroken after biting my lip for eight years with the rule of the neo-cons that this is the “change” we are stuck with. Bailing out Wall Street and not Main street, back door deals and no transparency. Continuation of the policies of the previous administration.
I, too, was for Martha Coakley and wrote on her behalf when she was contesting the primary. I still believe she was the best of the Dem. primary contestants (particularly since she was running against a Pelosi pick) but I am disturbed by what I have learned and seen unfold this last week. Considering Coakley fought back the Stupak amendment, supports Gay rights and supported Hillary to the end, I am miserable to see her stand in lock step now with Obamacare and some of her other statements and actions this week have knocked me for a loop.
For her to fall into Party groupthink behavior is not what we need in the Senate. We have far too much of that already. Coakley having a fundraiser thrown by Big Insurance/Big Phrma was not the message the Coakley campaign wanted to send. Part of the reason I liked Coakley was that she did not stand with Obamacare. She has folded. In so doing, she has likewise turned a deaf ear to the mood of the country and to her own principles. That action has also tied her to Obama, scapegoating her for the actions of this reckless Administration.
The herd mentality is common to both parties and is killing us all. We need independent thinkers regardless of party. In our current system where there is no limit on campaign spending or fundraising, how is it possible for our public servants not to be slaves of the almighty dollar. When they are threatened with primary challenges if they do not kiss the feet of their respective party’s establishment and follow their orders, how can they vote their consciences? Clearly, public service of this kind is not meant to be a lifetime career. A little less focus on self-aggrandizement or re-election and more focus on doing the people’s business is in order.
Scott Brown may have skeletons in the closet of his record as well. Coakley might be the sacrificial lamb here since the Pelosi wing clearly has no use for her. But the fact is, what we have of late discovered about some of Coakley’s record does not look good. As much as I would like to trumpet a qualified woman for this office, I have seen that my wish to break the boys club and reward someone with the guts to stick with Hillary to the end allowed me to trust what I saw on the surface without digging in deeply for myself. Yet I am not assuming that Scott Brown by himself will be able to stop Obamacare as it currently stands. Like the Bush Administration before them, this bunch will push through whatever they see fit.
Such arrogance brings into sharp focus another mistake of the Coakley campaign post-primary. She, like many of us, assumed that in blue Massachusetts, winning the primary was as good as winning the general — what Republican would gain a foothold here? What Republican indeed. Nothing can or should be be taken for granted. Media boobs like MSNBC’s David Shuster wondering whether the people of Massachusetts “have lost their minds” and the likes of Shuster, Anderson Cooper and even Senator Schumer referring to the opposition as “teabaggers” does nothing to help Coakley’s cause.
Scott Brown is offering a populist message and in his Sunday campaign rally skillfully used Obama’s 2008 rhetoric against him. Truly I have no idea what he’s going to do if he gets into office. He could likewise be capitalizing on the mood of the country and trumpeting a populist message he has no intention of enforcing. I have seen far too much kabuki theatre from both sides to be trusting again. I can only hope that he is sincere. Nonetheless, the bigger picture has become breaking the supermajority. And sending a message to the arrogant few who are telling the many that we don’t matter.
by Ronald Scott
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