The real reason Scott Brown won on Tuesday

Sure there are plenty of angry teabaggers, Republicans, and Red Sox fans in the Bay State who came out in force last Tuesday to vote for Scott Brown because they like him and hate healthcare – but not enough to give him a victory.  The crucial edge was provided by Obama voters who stayed at home, and Obama voters who voted for Brown in protest.  And one thousand of those folks were polled immediately after the election by Research 2000, to find out why they did what they did Tuesday.

And the answer is the opposite of what you’re hearing from the mainstream media, the GOP, and timid corporate quisling Democrats like Lanny Davis and Evan Bayh:  They are disgusted with the President and Congress because they are not being ambitious and progressive enough. Specifically, the vast majority of these abstainers & protest voters are frustrated with the progress of healthcare reform and want the public option!

Massachusetts Obama voters who stayed home

  • 86% of them want a Public Option to be included in the Healthcare bill.
  • 2/3 of them felt that NEITHER Brown nor Coakley represents their families’ “economic interests”
  • a majority would be more inclined to vote Democrat this year if Dems regulated Wall Street more strongly;
  • twice as many prefer Wall Street regulation to decreasing spending as a solution to the economy’s problems.

Mass. Obama voters who voted for Scott Brown

  • 82% of them want a Public Option to be included in the Healthcare bill.  (Strange to vote for totally anti-health Brown then, but you do crazy things when you’re pissed and frustrated!)
  • 57% say Obama “not delivering enough” on change he promised!
  • 62% felt neither Brown nor Coakley represents their economic interests;
  • 53% vs. 14% would be more likely to vote Dem this year if Dems regulated Wall Street better.

see the rest of the poll here.

I know there were several factors that caused Coakley to lose to Brown:  Coakley’s weaknesses as a candidate and the Dems’ complacency over the race;  Scott Brown’s hard work and the passion of the teabaggers nationally;  but it couldn’t have happened without the disillusionment and disgust of progressive Massachusetts voters, both Democratic and independent.

Of course the mainstream media, the GOP, and conservative Democrats are spinning this the other way;  that Obama and the Democrats lost this election because they are “too far left” and trying to get too much done.   If the Democrats believe that, and move even more to Republican-Lite, they will doom themselves to further defeat, on top of not helping anybody they’re pledged to help.  Didn’t Truman say, voters will choose a real Republican over an imitation one every time?  Here are a few petitions you can click on to help inject some steel in their spines:


About Vern Nelson

Greatest pianist/composer in Orange County, and official political troubadour of Anaheim and most other OC towns. Regularly makes solo performances, sometimes with his savage-jazz band The Vern Nelson Problem. Reach at vernpnelson@gmail.com, or 714-235-VERN.