The Democrats' chief criticism of their political opponents, the fractured, rudderless Republicans, is that they're obstructionists, that they have no central ideological message, no answers to the problems facing America apart from being against President Obama. This is undoubtedly true. The Republican Party has reverted to its pre-Reagan position, merely a lite version of its Democratic counterpart, whose sole value is to slow the Democratic march toward socialism, while being inept at halting it and reversing course. Of course, while the Republicans were in power, they were ones responsible for moving the country toward socialism, with the Democrats basically going along for the ride. So it goes.
The Republicans are only good for, and at, being an obstructionist minority, the very thing they're criticized for. Right now, the Democrats have control of both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government, and have a near-majority in the judicial branch (depending on the whims of the teetering Anthony Kennedy). That's why it's so important that Scott Brown, a candidate whose worth lies with his filibuster vote in the Senate, wins tomorrow's special election in Massachusetts. A Brown win would demoralize the Democrats, and spook their centrist Blue Dog contingent. Maybe the health-care bill still passes, but as has been already noted by many, the loss of Ted Kennedy's seat to a Republican will bind the Obama Administration's domestic policy.
And for that reason alone, I hope Scott Brown wins tomorrow.
