Democrats are stunned at the defeat of Martha Coakley in Massachusetts last night, people have a strange and peculiar way of voting against their own best interests once again.
LA Times- Reporting from Los Angeles and Boston - In a stunning blow to Democrats, Republican Scott Brown on Tuesday seized the Massachusetts Senate seat once held by Edward M. Kennedy, handing the GOP the crucial vote that could thwart President Obama's far-reaching agenda, beginning with healthcare reform.
More broadly, Brown's epic upset signals the start of what could be an exceedingly tough year nationwide for Democrats, who are fighting to hang on to their majorities in the House and Senate in a political climate that seems to grow more hostile by the day.
"The effort to pass Obama's legislative agenda has grown more difficult, a flood of new Democratic congressional retirements may follow, and Republicans will certainly feel emboldened to expand their list of Democratic targets for the fall election," said Rhodes Cook, an independent campaign analyst.
With 99% of the vote counted, Brown, a state senator, was leading Democratic state Atty. Gen. Martha Coakley 52% to 47% -- a lopsidedness that only added to the humiliation for Democrats, who held the seat for well over half a century.
The scene Tuesday night at Brown's victory party in Boston was exultant. Shouts of "Shock the World" and "Yes, We Can" -- Obama's campaign rallying cry -- rang through the packed ballroom at the historic Park Plaza Hotel.
"Tonight, the independent voice of Massachusetts has spoken," Brown told the cheering crowd. "This will be the beginning of an election year filled with many surprises. When there's trouble in Massachusetts, rest assured there's trouble everywhere."
The most immediate problem for Democrats is keeping alive Obama's attempt at a healthcare overhaul -- something Kennedy called "the cause of my life."
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