Scott Brown takes Ted Kennedy's Senate Seat

[Weltall]

And thus it is proven that Americans are complete idiots, happy to vote against their interests because of lies. Awesome.

Elitist much?

Hilariously, that's what Republicans have been saying about Massachusetts voters for decades. You can't blame anyone but the voters of America's most liberal state, can you?

I'm so lovin' the shoe finally being on the other foot. Maybe now we'll be able to explore health-care reform that won't send the country into bankruptcy.

Also, re: 2012, I think Democrats will be far more concerned about Obama's re-election. Two years is a long time, but he better hope the Republicans fail to find a good opponent to take him on, because so far, he doesn't seem likely to win based upon the merits of his own administration. Basically nothing has gone right for him in his first year.

I think Scott Brown himself will just become a piece in the political machine, to be honest. He's not as important as what his election represents: A dramatic statement of disapproval of Democratic policy from the most Democratic state in America.

The Democrats still have a majority in Congress and can still force the issue if they really want to, but I don't think they will. Midterms are this year, and the Democrats have to realize that if they can lose Uncle Ted's seat to a Republican, nobody's safe. They force the healthcare bill, and they'll suffer a political bloodbath for the ages.

Obama has his own re-election campaign to begin in less than two years, and though it's still early, the only way I see him being re-elected is if the Republicans nominate a real loser to be his opponent (and, knowing the Republicans, they might find a way). Obama has basically no success to call his own so far. He was elected because he was charismatic and faced a very unpopular opponent. It was easy to mask the fact that he is an inexperienced political lightweight, but that's very much on display now. Even with a political mandate and legislative majorities, he has accomplished nothing of any importance, and the general state of affairs is at least as bad now as it was a year ago. He can't win again by blaming Bush for everything. In fact, there exists the hilarious possibility he may be hoisted with his own petard.

I think the Brown election has just planted a bomb for Obama. On one hand, if he forces healthcare through, he's going to lose most of the independents who won him the election two years ago. On the other, healthcare is the keystone of his presidency. If he backs down, it will be a monumental policy defeat, and it may erase a critical amount of his mandate and political capital. No one will respect his political power.

It's going to be an interesting two years.