Coakley Defeat Referendum on Obama's "Bipartisanship"

So a virtual unknown right wing candidate beats out Martha Coakley in Massachusetts for Ted Kennedy's seat.

How could this happen? Who is to blame? Oh, my! What is the left going to do?

From Digby:

"The Democrats are all running around this morning looking panicked and freaked out which doesn't give anyone confidence. Everyone seems to forget that a year ago, Obama only had 58 votes in the Senate and everyone was in a state of near hysteria over his massive institutional power and soaring mandate. Now he has 59 and he's suddenly impotent. But this reaction was sadly predictable. And the message from the media and their centrist muses is also predictable --- move right immediately. SOS."

And Evan Bayh thinks that we should cater more to the centrists and the independents.

The problem has been that this overwhelming bipartisan need is stifling any real changes needed on Main Street. It is giving all the "changey - hopey" goodness to the Corporates Gods and leaving the rest of us behind.

Drew Weston knows this bipartisanship just ain't gonna cut it:

"The White House has squandered the greatest opportunity to change both the country and the political landscape since Ronald Reagan. It should have started with a non-watered-down stimulus package big enough to stop the bleeding in the job market -- and a smack-down of any Republican who dared to utter the word "deficit" after 8 years of reckless, unpaid Republican spending. It should have followed with stringent regulations on Wall Street and protection of homeowners and small businesses instead of with a jobs creation program inside the administration for failed bankers and failed regulators. A stimulus -- including a jobs program -- strong enough to prevent the hemorrhaging of 700,000 jobs a month and a muscular approach to the bad actors who had crashed the economy would have gotten the public firmly behind the President and the Democrats, demonstrating to the average voter that they have a choice between one party that's on their side and another that's not. Instead, the White House just blurred the lines between the parties so the average American couldn't tell the difference."

But, I wouldn't expect any push for progressive causes from our President because he isn't a progressive.

I hope this isn't breaking new for you.