The Massachusetts Quake

Scott Brown’s win in the Massachusetts special election was stunning. I feel relieved that the Democrats and President Obama don’t have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and are much less likely to impose new taxes, socialized health insurance or unreasonable environmental laws.
On the other hand I see no particular reason for Republicans to celebrate a great victory. The victory was Scott Brown’s. If anybody is entitled to slap themselves on the back it’s the conservatives.

Many Republicans seem to believe that the Massachusetts vote was a vote for them. It wasn’t. The party should be very careful how they interpret the victories in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia. If they decide that it is a Republican win and keep behaving like they did in the last couple of years they will find themselves pushed aside. The recent elections show clearly that Americans don’t like radical socialist policies. They don’t like radical right wing policies either. We are mostly a centrist country, where socialists (progressives) are slowly but surely pushing through some of their policies. The voters accept this, as long as the movement to the left is slow. As soon as it becomes obvious and blatant the voters rebel.

My advice to the Republican party: do your best to carefully move back in the direction of liberty and personal responsibility, otherwise you will not last long. The Tea Bagger movement may move the party in that direction, if the Republicans pay attention and learn the lessons of the last several years. If they don’t, I expect the party to lose importance and be replaced by a party that will be closer to the principles of liberty, small government and personal responsibility. It is also conceivable that enough of the "moderate" Republican representatives will be replaced to make the party more acceptable to the voters. Don't try being like the Democrats - that way leads off the cliff.