Massachusetts' message

The US Democrats Senate election failure in their traditionally Massachusetts stronghold was a consequence of President Obama not listening to why Americans really sent him to the White House.

Only weeks ago most pundits and pollsters wrote off the election to fill the Senate seat vacancy caused by the passing of its incumbent for the previous half century, Ted Kennedy, as a certainty for the Democrat's Martha Coakley.

After all, Massachusetts is the US Democrats heartland and was a State, until Tuesday evening, which only sent Democrats to Washington at the election that propelled Obama into the White House.

But the Democrat's collapse in support from independent voters shows they haven't learned the lessons of the last national election.

During the final years of Bush's Presidency his approval ratings slipped from bad to worse for numerous reasons, but they didn't truly hit rock bottom until his Administration mismanaged the fallout from the global economic crisis.

By bailing out failed companies and irresponsible banks Bush's popularity, and the chances of McCain to succeed him, crumbled.

Riding on the wave of "change we can believe in", a fresh slate Obama argued against the Bush Administration's economic policies.

But since assuming office Obama has expanded the size of government by mobilising public money to bailout businesses that should have been allowed to fail.

Bailouts have remained consistently unpopular amongst Americans who are culturally supportive of the free enterprise and the correlation between risk and reward and, sometime, failure and responsibility.

But by bailing out car maker General Motors the government has been using taxpayer's dollars to socialise losses and allowed company Directors to flaunt their responsibilities.

And Obama's now infamous Health Care Bill that would seek to expand government funding and delivery of healthcare was also a key issue that rallied voters to Brown.

Following the election result Democrats should be listening to the underlying reasons tens of thousands of independent voters switched Parties in droves.

But it's clear some Democrats haven't heard the Massachusetts' people's message.

Following the election result some Washington Democrats have argued the Health Care Bill should be passed unamended through the House of Representatives following its equivalent passage through the Senate in December last year.

By not amending the Bill it won't then need to return to the Senate for support after Brown has been sworn in and the Democrats lose their filibuster proof majority in the chamber.

And the opposition to the Health Care Bill was about more than its text.

Because Massachusetts already has a State-based universal healthcare system independent voter disquiet was rooted in the Democrats efforts to ram the legislation that would expand the size of government through the Congress with limited scrutiny.

And it's the profligate, roughshod expansion of big government that is now mobilising Americans and giving Obama a taste of his own medicine.

To get elected in late 2008 Obama built a nation-wide grassroots campaign of rank-and-file Democrats to graft independent voters to his election cause.

But following his election his big-government, big-spending, high-tax solutions have united conservatives, centre-right liberals and libertarians to engage in similar grass root campaigns under the banner of the now famous Tea Party groups protesting against expanded government.

In the Massachusetts Senate race Tea Party groups were held responsible by senior Democrats for mobilising independent voters against Coakley and for Brown.

Republicans are justifiably buoyed by Brown's victory, but they should be sober in their victory.

At Brown's victory rally supporters chanted "John Kerry's next" demonstrating cockiness amongst Republicans about their prospects to knock off the former Democratic Presidential and serving Massachusetts Senator.

Considering the strong democratic leanings of Massachusetts it's more likely Brown will be replaced after the two years of the term he has been elected to serve concludes.

And Republicans can only take limited comfort in Brown's victory.

Throughout the campaign Brown promoted himself as an "independent Republican" who advocated for traditional Republican values like lower taxes and less government spending -- policies Republicans haven't been good in enacting in recent years.

As a consequence, both Parties were sent the same message in Massachusetts that Americans still want less, not more, government.

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