Massachusetts is Not Invincible

I have always been so proud to be from Massachusetts. Home of the liberals, even when liberal became a bad word. We have marriage equality, we have health care, we had the "liberal lion" Teddy Kennedy. I thought we were invincible.

Clearly, so did the Coakley campaign.

Sure, we elected Mitt Romney, but he handed out flyers at gay pride, pretended to be pro-choice, pretended to be like William Weld- a very socially liberal Republican.

He wasn't.

Now we've elected a naked frat boy named Scott Brown. Wealthy white guy who said he was an outsider. A guy who played on anger- white male privilege.

Anyone for some tea?

I am not alone feeling there is some push back about gender going on here- a woman is still suspect as a candidate. Still, I can't help but feel the message was wrong- we have great health care here. And the economy, while bad, isn't as bad as many parts of the country. Unemployment is at about 8% - lower than the national average.

So what was it about? The media keeps reporting on voter "anger." I agree, people are angry but how is it they can forget that Bush policies landed us in this mess? Obama is not Hercules- he could not possibly have made these deep problems in such a short period of time.

It took Bush 8 years, after all.

Is it the bailout of Wall Street? The perception that Obama has coddled the banks with the stimulus package? Have we not moved fast enough to create new regulations?

When I met the President, my kids begged me not to say anything political. Please, Mom... it will be sooooo embarrassing.

Um... he is a political guy, you know. Kind of his job.

But I have to admit, I kept thinking about the economy, the battle for health care, the devastation in Haiti, the war... I didn't have the heart. I'm not saying ENDA, DADT aren't as pressing. It just felt like so much on his plate already.

And those pesky teabaggers nipping at his heels, who now are so emboldened, I'm wondering if they are going to start wearing the sheets and hoods again.

Before the polls were closed, the Democrats were getting in a circle and shooting at each other. Pointing fingers at who lost this race and why. Without question, this needs to be evaluated but can we please not humiliate ourselves? The loss is bad enough.

When the AP called the race, my kids were just in bed so they heard our outrage. They were disgusted that Brown won- oh, my liberal kids. Good for them. I mumbled to Jeanine that I was sick of it. Sick of losing. Sick of politics. Sick of the games, the maneuvering, the tension.

Let's move to Costa Rica. It's warm, they have decent health care, and they have no army.

I didn't realize that Jake had heard me. He asked me this morning if we were moving. I said, Oh, honey, I was upset. Remember the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? Remember how Alexander wants to move to Australia?

He smiled.

And his mom says at the end, Even in Australia they have bad days? We're not moving. It was just a really bad day.

I'm not going anywhere. And no, I will not give up. The campaign was not well run, no question, but no one dreamed this could happen. The rest of the country must take note and learn from this. We cannot afford another naked frat boy to get elected to the United States Senate anywhere. Everyone in New York? Take Harold Ford very seriously. There are no free rides for anyone.

It is a hard, painful lesson to learn: Massachusetts is not invincible.