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‘Upset of the century’: Dems may lose Kennedy’s seat

Paul Colgan

by Paul Colgan

20 Jan 05:39am

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Filed under: Barack Obama, Daily Show, Us Politics, Video

17 comments

UPDATE 2pm: It’s an epic upset and a disaster for Barack Obama and the Democrats: Republican candidate Scott Brown has won the Massachusetts Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy.

Jon Stewart on The Daily Show provides his customarily hilarious but incisive overview on an astonishing upset looming in the US: that the Democrats are in danger of losing the Massachusetts Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy. This would change the arithmetic in the Senate and possibly derail Barack Obama’s healthcare reform. Some links to more reading below; enjoy the clip.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mass Backwards
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		Political HumorHealth Care Crisis

There’s a wrap from Fox News here. George Stephanopoulos of America’s ABC News has called it the potential “upset of the century”. And there’s local coverage from the Boston Globe here.

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17 comments

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    • DocBud says:

      09:24am | 20/01/10

      In the USA, the voters are falling out of love with Obama at an unprecedented rate. His health care reforms are becoming more of an electoral liability than a benefit. It seems that many citizens, having become drunk on the euphoria of the “yes we can” election, woke up the next morning to discover that Obama is simply a good piece of PR and that he most definitely can’t.

      Contrast this with the situation in Australia where Kevin Rudd appears to be unable to do any wrong despite being revealed to be no less an empty PR vessel.

      In the USA, where people are intuitively distrustful of big government, spending other people’s money makes you unpopular. In Australia it seems, however, that government interfering in every aspect of people’s lives is welcomed by the majority and taking money off others to give out $900 bribes is viewed in a positive light.

      Obama, unbelievable as it seemed a year ago, could turn out to be a one term president. Rudd, as long as he makes more promises he won’t deliver on looks to be a shoe in for a second term.

      Reply

    • Bruce says:

      09:58am | 20/01/10

      Well said. Unfortunately, the electorate in Australia is in the state of mind where we like our politicians “soft” and “smiley” and do not make unpopular decisions. I call it “behavioural” politics. As for Obama, seems like a “nice guy” but I think thats where it ends.

      Reply

    • Bob says:

      10:00am | 20/01/10

      The Democrats are a rabble. Whatever reforms do get passed they are likely to be so mangled they will have little, if any, impact.

      All polls indicate that the American public want public health care so I don’t believe that is the cause of Obama’s demise despite Fox news insistence otherwise. The increasing unemployment rate is a more likely cause. America’s banks seem more intent on paying back their bail-out money so they can start awarding huge bonuses again, rather than lending it to businesses that need the money to grow and take on more staff.

      Reply

    • BULMKT says:

      10:07am | 20/01/10

      Many thought they’d never live to see the day where a Republican would hold a Senate seat in Massachusetts. Tomorrow we may actually see it because Scott Brown is on the verge of rocking politics as we know it in the United States.

      But there is a big battle being fought behind the scenes, the battle for the soul of the Democratic Party—Progressives vs. regular Democrats.

      It’s about Greens that are too Yellow to admit they’re really Reds!

      http://bit.ly/90yBaS

      Reply

    • Margaret Gray says:

      10:19am | 20/01/10

      @Paul

      A point of clarification in which I agree with Senator Brown:

      “(W)ith all due respect, it’s not the Kennedys’ seat, and it’s not the Democrats’ seat, it’s the people’s seat…”

      A tight race no doubt and a true litmus test for the Obama Administration ahead of the mid-terms and his governments Healthcare Bill.

      Reply

    • Zeta says:

      10:58am | 20/01/10

      Why doesn’t Australia have its own Jon Stewart? Malcolm Turnbull could really have used a ‘Liberals, meet me on Camera 3 moment’ like that.

      Reply

    • Joe Commuter says:

      11:16am | 20/01/10

      Ted Kennedy was an earnest plodder. He wouldn’t have been handed the seat if his name was Trevor T Carbunkle. All the time he kept it (the seat) warm he achieved nothing.
      Talking talking talking is not a good look for a politician. Eventually they have to do something - anyhting - to prove their worth.
      Lack of action is something that followed Kennedy his entire career, Just like it is now stalking Kevin Rudd.

      Reply

    • Trevor T Carbunkle says:

      11:35am | 20/01/10

      I’m feeling undervalued and unloved.

    • BULMKT says:

      12:35pm | 20/01/10

      Just in.

      Republican Scott Brown wins Massachusetts Senate race, in blow to Obama health-care bill

      http://bit.ly/8riQCW

      Reply

    • DocBud says:

      01:23pm | 20/01/10

      He is also against Cap and Trade. Kevin Rudd should realise that this makes it even less likely that the US will ever pass an ETS and thus even more insane that Australia should.

      I prefer their Senator Brown to ours.

    • Peter Davies says:

      02:30pm | 20/01/10

      This is a disaster for Obama - he now loses his Senate super-majority, and the Republicans will no doubt now move to scuttle his health reforms. The private health lobbyists must be congratulating themselves on money well-spent.
      And what a tragedy for Ted Kennedy - he must be turning in his grave at this outcome. Poor fella the USA - will they ever learn?

      Reply

    • Eric says:

      03:11pm | 20/01/10

      Clearly the people of Massachussetts have learned. Let’s hope the rest of the Americans learn too.

    • Randal says:

      02:37pm | 20/01/10

      The world is turning away from the left, they are realising that despite their rhetoric they offer nothing but empty promises.

      Today in the US is the continuation of a global swing back to conservatism, Brown in the UK will be next and the conservative wind will sweep across Europe…

      Watch out Kev cause your turn is coming!

      Reply

    • AJ says:

      03:22pm | 20/01/10

      There’s ‘turning away from the left’ and then there’s voting to say that ‘cripplingly high health costs and an opaque, invasive and inequitable insurance industry is OK by me.’

      I mean, honestly, given the US rhetoric of ‘there’ll be a government bureaucrat standing between you and your doctor’, I’d prefer a government bureaucrat where I can vote out their boss and FOI all their documents to the current system of an unelected corporate bureaucrat who works in cahoots with the medical industry to drive up costs and profits.

      Contrary to the claims of the US conservatives, the Senate bill wasn’t ‘socialism’, indeed, the insurance exchanges that the bill set up actually made the free market function more effectively, by enabling consumers to compare insurance products side-by-side.  The status quo actively works to prevent consumers from engaging in the market as informed actors.

      Seriously, does anyone think that the US medical system ‘works’ in any sense of the word?  I had a sudden bout of quite bad tonsillitis a few months back, I walked into hospital, got seen to promptly, flashed my medicare card on my way out and that was that.  In the US, you have to wait for your HMO (insurer) to approve any procedure, sign endless forms and after all that, you STILL may not end up getting treatment.

      Their system doesn’t work from either the perspective of the small-government right or the big-government left, but it certainly works from the ‘money-for-votes’ lobbying culture they’ve got over there.  Anyone who thinks that blocking reform is a ‘victory’ is falling for the BS.

      Reply

    • Rev says:

      09:53pm | 20/01/10

      Um, your second paragraph is absolute rubbish. I’m living proof the US medical system works.  I’ve had the ‘pleasure’ of requiring hospitalisation a few times there and I haven’t had a problem.  Sure, my employer had me on a great insurance plan but there weren’t any delays of any kind - and I signed no more than three forms, and two of them were about liability.  Whereas if I come back home to a public hospital, the waiting lists for elective or non-immediate surgery are ridiculous.  I’m not saying the US system is better for everyone, particularly the poor, but you’re acting as if your tonsillitis proves social medicine in Australia is perfect.

    • Matt says:

      03:52pm | 20/01/10

      Randal @ 03:37pm | 20/01/10

      People are turning away from the left and right because they represent no fundamental difference in policy. They both screw us royally.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      04:08pm | 20/01/10

      The Health Bill should still pass. Congressional mid-term elections will be The President’s hurdle.

      Reply
 
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