A Republican victory in the Massachusetts Senate race is an extraordinary political event that will have significant effect on American politics for decades to come. For a Republican to capture the seat Teddy Kennedy held for dozens of years is akin to the shot that was heard around the world.
Whether you agree, disagree, are happy with the outcome, or not, here are some of the opinions I’ve read about what it will mean:
- “loss of a filibuster-proof majority” – Republicans (at least in the Senate) matter again.
- “a debilitating media narrative: that Martha Coakley’s loss was a referendum on the President” – The President will find it far more difficult to persuade nervous Democrats to ignore their constituents and vote with him.
- “in certain ways not having a filibuster-proof majority is politically advantageous to the President. If you have 60 votes, the pressure is on you to deliver every single one of them. If you have 59, the pressure is suddenly on the minority party not to be obstructionist.” – I’ve heard this a couple of times and I agree that an end to the extreme rush to pass sweeping reform will improve the President’s chances of getting relected in 2012.
What this means for business is unclear and will depend on whether truly bi-partisan efforts to invigorate our economy emerge or we go into a phase of stalemate where nothing much gets done.
No matter what your political views are this election will go down as one of the most significant of all time.
Reuters story on Scott Brown, the winner of this historic election: FACTBOX-Massachusetts U.S. Senator Scott Brown