Amidst the euphoric afterglow of Scott Brown’s victory, some conservatives continue to insist his election is not that good. They make a strong case. Though Brown has voted for modest pro-life legislation, he continues to proclaim his pro-choice beliefs. There is little doubt Brown will confirm Obama’s next Supreme Court Justice nominee, likely to be made in the next year. Brown has already stated he cannot be counted on by Republicans to stand firm on party-line vote. Some political analysts believe that he will be the most liberal Republican in the Senate. In short, Brown is a classic RINO.
There is little to debate with any of these points. Yet, I still believe that the excitement displayed by conservatives over Brown’s victory is/was justified. There are several reason but one sticks out in particular: Brown’s election killed Obamacare. For that reason alone conservatives should be singing the
Hallelujah chorus deep into the night. Before the Scott Brown victory, reports like this one from
Fox News were typical:
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Friday that congressional Democrats are "very close" to a final deal on health care reform, Reuters reports.
House and Senate leaders, along with union bosses and White House officials, have been meeting all week in a hard push to strike a compromise on the health care package.
Hoyer, in an interview with CNBC, said he hopes Democrats can reach that point within the next few days.
"My expectation is that we will be getting very close today. Now, whether it's at noon time or later, I don't want to speculate," Hoyer said, according to Reuters.
The White House reached a breakthrough in talks with House Democrats and union leaders Thursday, agreeing to scale back plans for a tax on high-value insurance plans.
As soon as Brown won, the talks fizzled. America took a collective sigh and stepped back from the brink. It’s also important to remember, he replaced what was probably the third most liberal senator in the Senate. So, while Brown might be pro-choice and more liberal than I would like, he represents a far more conservative legislator than his predecessor and is probably the most conservative legislator we could expect to get out of Massachusetts. Among other things, he is far more likely to confirm a pro-life Supreme Court Justice appointee from a pro-life president than his opponent would have. But, most importantly, his election put Obamacare on life support.
