Mass Appeal for the GOP

First of all let me state the obvious: No one saw this coming.

When Senator Al Franken won the recount in Minnesota at the end of June last year few would have expected that the newly minted 60 seat majority the Democrats held would be broken by a Republican winning a seat in Massachusetts.

Just a few weeks ago the Democratic primary recieved more press attention than the general election untill the last few days. It was that election that was seen as the deciding vote in the race to fill the late Ted Kennedy's seat, the vote on Tuesday was widely seen as meerely a formality.

Even Republicans have been pushing the line that the Democrats ARE Washington. After the Minnesota recount GOP Chairman Michael Steele declaimed that Democrats owned the Federal Government in its entirity. Chairman Steele was trying to force the notion that the recession had become 100% a Democrat problem and they could shake the spectre of the incompetent Bush administration.

And it has worked. Scott Brown was not tainted at all by the toxic branding of that the GOP had 12 months ago. This branding had wiped out every single last Republican House seat in New England and only three when you included New York (or 3 out of 49 (which went down to two when the Democrats won the NY 23 disctrict special election as recently as November the 3rd))

Now with a Senate win in Massachusetts Republicans are a viable alternative and its the Democrats who will have to defend their record. Given how scant that is after a year with a fillibuster proof majority, which shockingly proved unworkable, the future looks bleak with a mere 18 seat Democrat majority.