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From YPNation contributor Ewan Watt, some thoughts on Scott Brown's win, health care reform and a new opportunity for Obama to become a true post-partisan president:
"Quite simply Republicans could not believe they had a chance of winning, which most certainly aided Brown. Let there be no bones about it, the Republican Party brand is still most certainly toxic. Brown won the election by hardly mentioning the fact he was a Republican and called on baseball players rather than political celebrities to pitch for him (no pun intended). Had Brown mounted a challenge early on and had the baggage of, say, a vociferous Newt Gingrich and his endorsement, he may well have lost. It was a silent victory. ...
So where does that leave the vote for the landmark health care bill? The unwelcome overhaul being pushed by Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is dead, and the Democrats can either continue to flog a dead horse or choose to be serious about looking for a bipartisan solution to what is a pressing issue. If they choose the former, they’ll suffer in the midterms and Obama will be all out of what little political capital he has only halfway through his first term. If they choose the latter, Obama can attempt to rebuild the image of himself as a uniter, a post-partisan President, and--most crucially--hang clearly to the center of the unpopular Pelosi."
"Quite simply Republicans could not believe they had a chance of winning, which most certainly aided Brown. Let there be no bones about it, the Republican Party brand is still most certainly toxic. Brown won the election by hardly mentioning the fact he was a Republican and called on baseball players rather than political celebrities to pitch for him (no pun intended). Had Brown mounted a challenge early on and had the baggage of, say, a vociferous Newt Gingrich and his endorsement, he may well have lost. It was a silent victory. ...
So where does that leave the vote for the landmark health care bill? The unwelcome overhaul being pushed by Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is dead, and the Democrats can either continue to flog a dead horse or choose to be serious about looking for a bipartisan solution to what is a pressing issue. If they choose the former, they’ll suffer in the midterms and Obama will be all out of what little political capital he has only halfway through his first term. If they choose the latter, Obama can attempt to rebuild the image of himself as a uniter, a post-partisan President, and--most crucially--hang clearly to the center of the unpopular Pelosi."
