| mySPIN |
 Lessons from Massachusetts
by Tom Campbell
January 21, 2010
The shot fired by voters in Massachusetts Tuesday may not have been heard around the world but it certainly resonated across the United States. For the first time in thirty years a Bay State Republican will be seated in the United States Senate and the aftershock will be not only felt in Washington but also in North Carolina.
Tuesday’s election of Scott Brown wasn’t about Republicans and at some level it wasn’t about Democrats. Independents, who voted en masse for Barack Obama in 2008, voted in equally large numbers for Scott Brown. This was a decisive vote for change. The networks were so unprepared for the overwhelming turnout in this special election they didn’t even conduct exit polls, but it wasn’t hard to hear the message from voters. Repeatedly they told reporters they voted for change in 2008, but they didn’t get the change that was promised.
Candidate Obama pledged to change business as usual in Washington, to end pork barrel spending, to open the government process and to favor the average man or woman over lobbyists, special interests and big business. It hasn’t happened and voters are angry over a recovery package that promised jobs but was dominated by expansion of government programs, about bailouts to big corporations where greed has prevailed and executive compensation is out of control and about huge deficits and mounting federal debt. The final straw came in health care reform that has turned into a circus controlled by special interests and political agendas.
Political leaders sometimes forget who the boss is. Government exists through the consent of the governed and when the governed get fed up they can and will vote for change. It happened in 2008 and again Tuesday. Those interviewed consistently said they voted for Brown because folks in Washington weren’t listening.
Political leaders of both parties in North Carolina can choose to believe what happened in Massachusetts isn’t applicable here, but they would be wrong to do so. Almost twenty-five percent of North Carolina voters are unaffiliated and don’t care whether a candidate is Republican or Democrat. In fact the ugly party bickering among the left and right just drives more to become unaffiliated. People in our state are upset about the direction we are taking. Polls confirm the lack of trust in self-serving, unethical and uncaring politicians. While so many are being laid off or suffer pay cuts, government leaders raise their taxes. Raleigh is offering the same-old, same-old and people are ready for change.
This is the environment as we enter the May primaries and most likely will remain present in November’s general elections. The status quo has changed and candidates who want to lead had better understand the new dynamic. Voters want candidates who listen not to lobbyists, special interests or even to party leaders, but listen to the average person and especially to the unaffiliated voters. Winning candidates must also have real and reasoned solutions to the state’s serious problems. The electorate will be voting for change and winning candidates had better be prepared to offer it. Moreover, the candidate who promises change but doesn’t deliver won’t be on stage long. That’s the lesson from Massachusetts. |
|
