News
Mass. Debacle: Dems Face Supermajority Loss?
Adam Kearney :: Monday, January 18th, 2010 4:30 pm
The Democrats have been done everything they can to secure a “supermajority” in the Senate, and they’ve held it with 60 seats to the Republican’s 40, since Al Franken was sworn in as the Senator for Missouri on July 7, 2009. But since Sen. Edward Kennedy passed away, the Democrats have been scrambling to secure the seat for their party in the Massachusetts special election. President Obama made a plea for Democrat Martha Coakley during a speech Massachusetts yesterday, following Bill Clinton’s arrival last Friday. However, early survey results show the Republican Scott Brown leading 51 to 46.
Though they have not had supermajority long, the Democrats have been unable to pass a comprehensive health-reform bill. Chock it up to their incapacity, or the fact that the health care lobby got them into office in the first place, what’s apparent is that any change was going to be slow. Now, with the potential loss of the Massachusetts Senate seat, it could get even slower.
It would be shocking for traditional Massachusetts Democrats to see Kennedy’s Senate seat go to the Republicans at such a crucial time, however billions of health care dollars ride on the line, and for that many in our country are willing to compromise.
