Brown Wins, Robs Dems Of Filibuster-Proof Majority

MA State Sen. Scott Brown (R) will take a Senate seat once held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, the first time GOPers have held the seat in more than half a century.

Early results showed Brown cruising to a big win over MA AG Martha Coakley (D), following a surprising final 2 weeks. A race that Dems once took for granted quickly swung toward Brown amid a sense of anger at the Dem majorities in DC.

With 95% of the vote in, Brown led by a 52%-47% margin. Coakley called Brown to concede the race shortly after 9 p.m.

In the last week, Dems sent reinforcements to MA, including top communications and political strategists, as well as surrogates like ex-Pres. Bill Clinton. On Sunday, Pres. Obama himself made an appearance, though it failed to motivate enough Dems to push Coakley over the top.

Brown's victory will make Dem efforts to pass health care legislation, once championed by Kennedy himself, exceedingly difficult. Dems have options to avoid a GOP filibuster in the Senate, but the majority has been scrambling in recent days to make contingency plans. Still, without a 60-vote majority in the Senate, Pres. Obama's first-term agenda will be severely curtailed.

GOPers watched poll results a month ago and, sensing a trend, the NRSC quietly transfered $500K to the MA GOP to begin building a turnout operation, sources said Tuesday. The under-the-radar strategy seemingly worked to lull Dems into a false sense of security.

"Even in the bluest of blue states, Scott Brown's message resonated with families, seniors, and small business owners who have rejected President Obama's massive health care takeover and the Democrats' out-of-control spending agenda in Washington," NRSC chair John Cornyn said. "Scott Brown ran an amazing campaign, and the NRSC was proud to be a part of this incredible effort."

"As we look forward to the midterm elections this November, Democrats nationwide should be on notice: Americans are ready to hold the party in power accountable for their irresponsible spending and out-of-touch agenda, and they're ready for real change in Washington," Cornyn added.

GOPers quickly cast the race as a repudiation of health care legislation.

"There's a reason the nation was focused on this race: The voters in Massachusetts, like Americans everywhere, have made it abundantly clear where they stand on health care," Senate Min. Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement. "They don't want this bill and want Washington to listen to them. Americans are investing their hopes in good Republican candidates to reverse a year-long Democrat trend of ignoring the American people on the issues of health care, spending and the growth of government."

While GOPers celebrated their victory, recriminations among Dems began days ago. WH officials and top Dem strategists began questioning Coakley's campaign tactics, including her lack of campaigning and her decision to come to DC just a week before Election Day to hold a fundraiser with health care lobbyists. Meanwhile, a Coakley advisor penned a memo criticizing national Dems for being asleep at the switch and failing to recognize the very real threat Brown presented.

The election will be seen as a serious setback to Obama himself, following the last-minute visit to the state on Sunday. But Dems said Obama needed to go to the Bay State, even as senior party officials began to admit that the race was lost; without a visit, according to a senior Dem source, House members Obama needs to advance his agenda would not believe the WH would be there for them next year.

The results are a dramatic boost to the GOP, which has recently begun contemplating the notion that they could take back the House. In DC, Dems put on a brave face Tuesday, suggesting that the loss would not impact their agenda, or that the results would embolden them to push harder against GOP opposition.

But the loss is a serious blow to Dems. Several aides said they worry the defeat could drive other members concerned for their own re-election campaigns to retire, setting off a wave that would give GOPers new opportunities for pickups around the country.

So far, Dems have avoided mass retirements like those in '94, which cost the party control of Congress. Fewer Dems have retired than GOPers. But a new round of Dem retirements will make the GOP's efforts that much easier. Late Tuesday, House Dem leaders were meeting to decide how to react to Brown's victory.

On Tuesday night, Dems pulled no punches when addressing their own failure.

"I have no interest in sugar coating what happened in Massachusetts. There is a lot of anxiety in the country right now. Americans are understandably impatient. The truth is Democrats understand the economic anger voters feel, that's in large part why we did well in 2006 and 2008," DSCC chair Bob Menendez said in a statement.

"In the days ahead, we will sort through the lessons of Massachusetts: the need to redouble our efforts on the economy, the need to show that our commitment to real change is as powerful as it was in 2008, and the reality that we cannot take a single thing for granted and cannot afford even a second of complacency," Menendez added. "We must be aggressive in defining our opponents and framing the choice voters face. We cannot be timid about staking out our ground and we must be strong in reminding voters the cost of what the Republicans did on their watch and that they remain on the side of Wall Street, and the special interests."

Though official certification of Brown's win will take several days, GOPers called for Brown to be seated quickly. Dems have hinted that they may try to delay Brown's claim to the seat currently held by placeholder Sen. Paul Kirk (D).

"The will of the people supersedes all else and it would be deeply troubling and politically perilous for national leaders in Congress to disregard it," said David Norcross, president of the Republican National Lawyers Association. "Senator-elect Scott Brown should be seated immediately and without delay to undertake the work he was elected to execute. Both Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives can agree that this is the people's seat and the people have chosen Brown to represent them."

Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid promised to "move to seat [Brown] as soon as the proper paperwork has been received."