Brown’s victory will make him the 41st Republican in the Senate, which will allow the party to block legislation being pushed by Democrats, including a major priority for President Obama: health-care reform.
The change also threatens the future of other proposals favored by Democrats, including the prospect of a federal Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and raised concerns among party members about what observers saw as a referendum against Democratic efforts to push for health-care reform.
“I think this has been a very sobering moment for the Democrats, no question about it,” said Tracy Westen, chief executive of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. “Whether they take the cure or not remains to be seen.”
That cure could involve compromises on a range of Democratic priorities, he said.
There may have been several factors at play that contributed to Coakley’s loss in the special election to replace the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, a liberal who held the seat for 46 years, including poor campaign tactics and displeasure with the federal government altogether, Westen said.
But disappointment with Democratic priorities could not be ruled out as a concern among voters, he said.
“Certainly some were saying that they thought the government was going too far” with health-care reform, Westen said. “They were worried about their own health-care benefits. There was also some concerns that the Democrats ought to focus on jobs and not health care.”
Area representatives acknowledged an underlying message in the Massachusetts vote that conveyed a concern about the progress of health-care reform.
