The Masachusetts Special Election: A Referendum on Obama or Not?

[David Zephyr]

Poll question: The Masachusetts Special Election: A Referendum on Obama or Not?

Do you see the election in Massachusetts as a referendum on Obama or not?

[XemaSab]

1. It was a referendum on "change"

[msongs]

2. repubs/teabaggers = fear of a black president. brown is getting all those votes nt

[David Zephyr]

4. Obama won Massachusetts in a landslide last year.

Massachusetts is not a racist state.

[timeforpeace]

8. Um, a black president won in a landslide last year. Continuing to use race is not a winning strategy

[ncteechur]

3. I think it has implications for Obama and certainly the anti-incumbent feeling isn't helping

but Coakley ran a terrible campaign and I have to say that many many voters are just not too bright if they watch the pubs claim populism on one hand and lick the asses of the greedy and uber-rich rightwingers on the other.

[jefferson_dem]

5. If so, then he passes. Late deciders (those who decided after his visit) broke for Coakley.

n/t

[cliffordu]

6. It's a referendum on a candidate who thought she didn't have to

lift a finger to get elected. She thought the seat was OWED to her.

And, she fucked up royally about the Red Sucks.

Idiocy gets PWND.

[MercutioATC]

7. Other: Not a referendum on "Obama", but Obama's policies as they've been implemented.

I voted for Obama. I was EXCITED about what his election meant.

...and the best I can say now is that our country is a ship without anybody at the helm. We're not sailing DIRECTLY toward the reef any more, but we're making no real headway toward open sea.


People are pissed, and rightfully so. They were promised change, and they've (so far) received a lot of additional spending with no clearly-articulated plan. It's not all about Obama himself, but I believe a lot of it IS about the policies.

She's also not a good campaigner...and Brown is.

[timeforpeace]

9. Definitely part of it, but it's too complex to boil down to just that. Many things were involved.

[Mojambo]

10. It was a referendum on Martha Coakley

A shitty candidate pushed by the Corporate wing of the party.

[moondust]

11. Not at all.

As has been pointed out countless times, if it were about Obama then Coakley would have never had a big lead in the polls.

[bridgit]

12. It's a referendum on aloof governance

[NYC_SKP]

13. Some Progressives and ALL of RW Hate radio agree, it's a referendum on Obama.

Funny how that happens, but it's true.

Hannity, Rush, Savage, all in agreement with those Progressive who say this is proof of repudiation of the current administration.

just sayin.

[dysfunctional press]

14. this is just a warning shot across the bow...the REAL referundum will be nationwide in november...

and it AIN'T gonna be pretty.

[frazzled]

15. A referendum on Martha Coakley and the Mass. Democratic machine /nt

[kenny blankenship]

16. Indirectly. It's a judgment on "how things are going", and the verdict is very bad

and the jury is very, very angry.

Regardless of how voters feel about Obama, the Democrats were just handed a stinging rebuke. Unless the numbers are completely made up, we just lost Ted Kennedy's seat -the most reliably Democratic seat in the country- to a complete nobody Republican. Rather than elect a candidate who would support the President's agenda, Massachusetts is sending someone who is pledged to oppose it. And those voters in revolt include a lot of people who in the past regularly voted Democratic if they weren't registered Dems themselves. There is no getting around the fact that is a massive "FUCK YOU!" to the Democrats. And as the leader of his party, which is now perceived by a majority of Massachusetts voters as not acting in the people's interests, President Obama is inevitably due a large share of the blame. So while I don't think of this as a referendum on Obama personally and specifically, it is clearly a strong protest against where Obama and the Democrats have been taking us. Unfortunately since ears and eyes and minds were closed for so long (but palms were open) it is probably too late for the Democrats to learn their lesson, reverse their course, and convince the people that they are with them and against the bankers and racketeers who've destroyed our economy and health care system.

[KoKo]

17. It was about Wall Street Bailouts and lack of CHANGE our Dems Promised...

and possibly Voting Machines that the MSM knew ahead of time and called it before the polls closed. In fact they were calling it for Brown all day in their coverage. Election Tampering, I'd say. Then there are the Diebold voting machines.

Weak Candidate...by design? By default...?

Who knows. I didn't vote your poll...thought I'd spout off hear. I'm going to bed...not into the Funeral and the usual Dem Wailings and Rantings. And the usual puffing and bloviating by the Repugs.

I have no idea how this will turn out. But, I think the Bailouts for Massachusetts voters (who already have Romney Care) were the key decider. No change...they just want to strike out. Shoot themselves in the foot. It's their own fault for not voting for a better candidate in the primary and figuring they could lay back and then vote in anger to spite themselves. But...more to it...how it happened. And, we all have political fatigue these days...

[1776Forever]

18. 'Shoot themselves in the foot.' & 'political fatigue' - I am with you there!

People think change is better then no change - A lot of people are really hurting right now and Washington still doesn't seem to get it!