California likes to think of itself as being on the cutting edge. In the forefront of new movements. And yet, as I watched the results of the special election in Massachusetts come in, I couldn't help but wonder whether, this time, the nation will follow that state's lead when it comes time for the mid-term Congressional elections?
No matter what spin the White House might try to put on it, there is little doubt that the contest to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Ted Kennedy was a referendum on, not only the Democratic Party's health care reforms, but also on the entire first year of the Obama presidency.
Two interesting points here: The upset victory by Republican Scott Brown over Democrat Martha Coakley came just one day before the one year anniversary of Obama taking the oath of office. And, the man who was a champion of health care reform, the late Sen. Kennedy, ends up being replaced by a Republican who has vowed to do all in his power to defeat the current Obama-backed measure.
Hollywood screenwriters couldn't have come up with a better scenario!
The Democrats , of course, will now try and push through the Senate version of health reform before Brown can be sworn in ... at this, they may or may not succeed.
Regardless, the year ahead for President Obama has just become much more troublesome than even he could have imagined just a few short weeks ago when the conventional wisdom was that, of course, the Democrat would win the seat kept warm for decades by "Uncle Ted."
There can be no sugar-coating this one: For those who want true health care reform, the results of this special election may prove devastating; and, for those who counted on Barack Obama to deliver on his campaign pledge of hope and renewal and post partisanship, it just doesn't look like those are in the cards right now.
And it is not like people can blame "those Republicans" in Massachusetts. There are more Independent voters than there are registered Democrats and Republicans combined there. And, to make matters worse, it was a state Obama easily won over his GOP rival in the presidential election.
So what happens here, in California? At first glance, it would seem unlikely that this, the nation's most populous state, would follow Massachusetts, of all places. But I think it would be foolish for just about any Democratic politician in this state -- at any level of office -- to be too smug about their political future.
I mean, if voters in Massachusetts can fill a Senate seat that was practically owned by Edward Kennedy with a ... Republican! ... then, my friends, all bets are truly off.
Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. He has covered police and politics in Los Angeles since 1995 and is a regular contributor of investigative reporting to KNX 1070 Newsradio.