Dumb And Dumber
If there’s one thing the special election to replace the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy taught us, it’s that conventional wisdom is sometimes less wise than it is dumb.
After all, the so-called conventional wisdom held that Republican Scott Brown had zero chance of defeating Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley. He was going up against the well-oiled (and funded) Democratic machine. No little state senator from Wrentham could hope to take Kennedy’s seat from the Democratic Party.
But as we all now know, that assumption proved dead wrong. So wrong that what should have been a nail-biter election night, turned into a 9:15 celebration for the Brown camp as he carried all but two Central Massachusetts communities (Worcester and Harvard) to victory.
Now, it’s not unheard of for an upset in a race. But what did stand out in the Brown-Coakley matchup was the complete denial from both the Democratic Party as well as mainstream media that Brown was a legitimate contender.
Political Ignorance
One political pundit sheepishly admitted on WGBH public radio the night of the election that she hadn’t even heard of Scott Brown until a friend mentioned one of his ads (the one where an image of John F. Kennedy morphed into Brown) at a New Year’s Eve party.
How could anyone who follows Massachusetts politics not know who was running for the U.S. Senate? Even if the “We Like Ice Cream Party” put a candidate on the ballot, a self-respecting journalist who covers politics should know the names that will appear on the ballot.
But apparently ignoring candidates is okay if you are a Democrat.
And while it pains us to admit it, the fact of the matter is that the mainstream media showed their true-blue colors during this race.
When they finally picked up on the David v. Goliath story in the Bay State, the coverage was unabashedly tilted toward Coakley and the Democrats while giving only a passing mention to the upstart Republican.
Now, we understand that editors and reporters are loath to legitimize a fringe candidate because giving headlines to a candidate with no support can in fact skew election results. But the media erred too far on the side of caution, practically ignoring Scott Brown even as they reported about the panic from the Obama administration about what a Republican win in Massachusetts could do to health care reform.
We hope that as the mid-term elections draw near the media takes stock of where they fell down on the Massachusetts Senate election coverage and recalibrates their editorial commitment to fairness in political coverage.
Objectivity is impossible. But respect for all points of view and the democratic process is mandatory.
Promises, Promises
As the media looks inward to evaluate the recent election, the public will be looking forward to see if Scott Brown can deliver on what he promised to the thousands who voted for him — a practical solution to health care.
While he’s relished his position as the 41st vote against the Democratic majority in the Senate, to be a true representative of his home state, Brown must work to address the escalating cost of health care. He must not stand on the side trumpeting against reforms that are badly needed to improve care and reduce the costs of our current system.
The business community can no longer absorb double-digit increases in health insurance premiums.
The only thing that will fix the cost conundrum is taking a hard, sober look at our system and putting in place serious reforms, which inevitably may tilt to a practical, but difficult-to-sell rationing of services.
As a Republican, Brown ran as a candidate on the side of businesses. And we certainly hope he is.
If that’s the case, he’ll get to work as soon as he’s sworn in on a non-partisan solution to the health care cost crisis that threatens the bedrock of our national and local economy.
A groundswell of discontent helped get Brown elected. If he doesn’t want to feel that discontent pointed in his direction when he’s up for reelection in 2012, he best get to work on a solution that all sides can live with.
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