For all of the Democratic Party's faults -- their big-tent disorganization, slowness and occasional political bungling -- they're still leaps and bounds ahead of the Republicans who deserve most of the blame for the recession and just about everything that's gone haywire over the last 30 years. The Democrats aren't flawless, but at least they seem to own some smarts, policy savvy and a general grasp of reality, whereas the Republicans exist in a fantasyland of delusion, race-baiting, sloganeering and backwards nonsense.
And yet Massachusetts voters are on the verge of potentially electing a Republican empty shirt to Ted Kennedy's seat. Ted Kennedy's seat. Say what you will about Coakley, but to even entertain the idea of ultimately replacing Kennedy with a Republican is bad enough. To replace him with a big nothing like Scott Brown is just plain ignorant and stupid.
I know it's bad form to come right out and insult the people of Massachusetts who are leaning towards voting for Brown, but come on. What's wrong with you people? Wise up.
And not to get off on a tangent here, but this could be the second time that teabagger activism has outpaced the mighty progressive movement. We got creamed in August -- sitting on our hands while the teabaggers dominated healthcare reform and possibly helped to kill the public option. Now we're getting out-hustled in Massachusetts. Correction. Being "out-hustled" implies we're at least trying to hustle. We're not.
Yeah, Coakley isn't a progressive messiah, but I wonder if Scott Brown will vote for cloture to repeal DOMA or to reverse DADT. I wonder if Scott Brown will vote for cloture on cap and trade. Instead, we're bitching about wild conspiracy theories involving Jonathan Gruber -- whatever the hell that'll prove in the long run -- while empowering the far-right by contributing talking points and echoing their frames. Smart.