MA Post Mortem

So why did Mr. Brown win as a Republican in probably the bluest of the blue states? Much ink will be wasted on both sides of the aisle talking about how one candidate was better than the other or how it was a national rebuke of Mr. Obama. In truth it was a combination of many things. The three most significant reasons, in my opinion, are:

1. Scott Brown was a very good candidate. Mr. Brown had the right message at the right time. He talked of lowering taxes and common sense solutions. He got down and met with the people all over the state. It didn’t hurt that he also is young and pleasant on the eyes.

2. Martha Coakley was a terrible candidate. Ms. Coakley did just about everything wrong that you could imagine. She stayed in the ivory tower and dismissed the common folk, refusing to go out and glad hand, refusing to push the GOTV efforts of her staff, and making gaff after gaff after gaff. Her record as Attorney General made many people cringe as well, being on the wrong side of several prominent cases.

3. Obamacare was very unpopular, even in Massachusetts. Mr. Brown made no secret during the campaign that he would be the 41st vote against the Obamacare bill. Exit polling done by Rasmussen, showed that the status of Obamacare was the most important issue with 56% of those voting and Obamacare is opposed in Massachusetts 49-40.

All told, it was a perfect storm and Mr. Brown still only won by 100,000 votes. When Mr. Brown is up for reelection in 2012, it may be an even tougher road to hoe.

Still, Mr. Brown and the Republicans should enjoy the moment. If the government continues to go down the path it has chosen and the economy doesn’t improve, life could get very uncomfortable for some Democrats, especially those in red and purple states.