The Entrepreneurial View                                                                        

The Results in Massachusetts

by Raymond J. Keating

The word "historic" gets overused in politics to the point that it has little meaning. But the upset by Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts race to fill the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat was historic in the truest sense of the word.

Consider, for example, that the last time a Republican won a Massachusetts Senate race was in 1972 when liberal Republican Edward Brooke was re-elected for a second term. And a Kennedy Democrat has held this particular seat since 1952. In addition, there are no Republicans from Massachusetts in the House of Representatives.

For good measure, 37% of Massachusetts voters are registered as Democrats, only 12% are Republicans, and 51% are independents.

So, Massachusetts very much fits what it is billed as, i.e., one of the most liberal and Democratic states in the nation.

Yet, the Republican Brown beat Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley by a 52%-47% margin.

In addition, Rasmussen Reports found the following: "In the end, Brown pulled off the upset in large part because he won unaffiliated voters by a 73% to 25% margin. The senator-elect also picked up 23% of the vote from Democrats. [Our polling shows that 53% of voters in Massachusetts are Democrats, 21% Republican and 26% not affiliated with either party.]" That is a stunning tilt among independents, and an impressive tally for among Massachusetts Democrats for a Republican.

By the way, Barack Obama won Massachusetts by 26 points - 62% to 36% -- in 2008.

All of this adds up to a historic election on January 19.

What are the implications?

It amounts to a stunning rejection by more than half the voters in the Bay State of the policies being pushed in Washington. And given the strong liberal leanings of Massachusetts, that is a major statement.

Top of the list is health care. In the Massachusetts race, Rasmussen Reports found the following: "Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters in the state say health care was the most important factor in their voting decision." Interestingly, among these voters, Coakley actually won 53% to 46%. At the same time, though, the overall sentiment was against what's being pushed in Congress: "Forty-seven percent (47%) favor the health care legislation before Congress while 51% oppose it. However, the intensity was clearly with those who are opposed. Just 25% of voters in Massachusetts Strongly Favor the plan while 41% Strongly Oppose it. Fifty percent (50%) say it would be better to pass no health care legislation at all rather than passing the bill before Congress."

The number two issue, according to the Rasmussen poll, was the economy: "Among the 25% who named the economy as the top issue, Republican Scott Brown came out narrowly ahead, 52% to 47%."

And the only other two issues with at least 5% citing as "most important" were national security and taxes. According to Rasmussen: "Among those who named national security as most important, Brown won 67% to 29%. For those who saw taxes as number one, it was Brown 87%, Coakley 13%."

In the end, the results in Massachusetts amounted to a stunning rejection of the big government agenda in one of the most liberal states in the nation. It should tell members of both parties that they need to get back to advancing policies that will actually help -- rather than hurt -- entrepreneurs, small businesses, investors, and the economy.

On health care, that means rejecting costly government regulations, mandates, taxes and spending, and instead removing barriers to more competition and choice in the marketplace. On the economy, it means putting an end to the grossly misguided government spending/bailout/stimulus efforts; dropping the push for a massive cap-and-trade emission regulatory scheme that would jack up energy costs and destroy jobs; as well as ending all talk about raising taxes on anyone; and shifting gears to a truly pro-growth agenda of deep, broad and permanent tax and regulatory relief.

We've heard the call for change recently in politics. But it turned out to be the same old big government. Now there is a call for real change directly from the voters.

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Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.