Bye Bye Obama

No doubt at least a couple of readers have been looking for some big awesome analysis here on the Massachusetts election and its implications for politics and policy going forward. Indeed, Kathy MacGinn used to visit here looking for some big picture analysis only to find pictures of big, busty, beautiful women, LOL! Sorry to disappoint, but it's been a big week at my college, and I've had a pretty bad cold, which is unusual for me. The weather of course has been a major preoccupation, and I've been concerned about my wife and kids out in the elements. We're all safe, and things should be settling down this next week as my school schedule and new-semester-bustle mellows out a bit. And after one more storm today and tomorrow, we should have some calm over the weekend before another front moves in next week. My prayers go out to all.

In any case, I've been meaning to say something significant since at least Wednesday, especially after seeing this post at The Monkey Cage, "The Effect of the MA Special Election." As Joshua Tucker notes there: "The 1993 Canadian Elections this was not." And of course it wasn't, especially since that was a national election for control of the Canadian Parliament (and we had just one seat in the Senate in play on the 19th). Although untold numbers on the radical left can't bring themselves to admit it, Scott Brown's election was a referendum first and foremost on good government at the national level in American politics -- and thus, by primary implication, the election (of a Republican in the Massachusetts Senate seat) was a repudiation of the national Democratic majority under President Barack Obama's leadership:

All kinds of leftist contortions are being made to argue that the Democratic-left hasn't worked hard enough or hasn't been bold enough in pushing its agenda in Washington. That's pure bull, of course, and such halucinations are not isolated to the extreme fringes of the netroots left. Checking Memeorandum right now shows Paul Krugman's essay leading the board, "Do the Right Thing." From the sound of Krugman's piece you'd think that it's just institutional roadblocks holding up ObamaCare. He argues that "Ladies and gentlemen, the nation is waiting. Stop whining, and do what needs to be done." But the nation is not in fact "waiting" -- not for ObamaCare, at least. Gallup shows this morning that Americans are frustrated by the long grind of healthcare reform, and they believe it's been a distraction. With respect to Scott Brown's election, the administration and the Democrats in Congress should take a holistic look at the state of U.S. politics, policy, and popular opinion:

President Obama has indicated he would like Congress to hold off on healthcare reform until Brown is seated, which is consistent with the public's wishes to suspend work on the bill. But the public is also not convinced that healthcare should be the top priority for the government at this time and endorses finding alternatives that can gain Republican support, which the bill under consideration has not received. Americans may therefore prefer a longer pause on the issue -- one that stretches well beyond the time Brown is seated.

And if you want to get a good idea of Democratic disrespect for public opinion, and hence for the message of the special election, see the posts by Steve Benen, Greg Sargent, and Booman (which deserves a response in and of itself).

What the GOP has now is momentum -- extremely powerful momentum -- and that's the real message of January 19th.

So with that, I'll hold off on more comment until later, but I'll leave folks with an analysis from across the Atlantic. See Der Speigel, "The World Bids Farewell to Obama":

US President Barack Obama suffered a painful defeat in Massachusetts on Tuesday. With mid-term elections looming, it means that Obama will have to fundamentally re-think his political course. German commentators say it is the end of hope.

The end of hope means "nope."

Cartoon Credit: The Blog Prof.

ADDED: Dan Riehl links!