Scott Brown takes the Senate seat

On January 20, Republican Scott Brown pulled off one of the most memorable political campaign comebacks for the ages. With Democrat Martha Coakley winning the primary and taking an early advantage (a thirty point lead in the polls) over Brown by getting a very large number of supporters, it was hard to believe that she wasn't on her way to taking over the late Edward Kennedy's senate position-a seat that to this point has strictly belonged to the Democrats. But little did Coakley and her supporters know Brown had a few tricks of his own up his sleeve. Brown, a State Senator for three terms and a current Lt. General of the Massachusetts National Guard, took to the streets to run a grassroots campaign in Coakley's absence to get the people of Massachusetts to believe in what he was fighting for. But most of all, what he believed America needs. Coakley took a back seat to the campaign; she figured she had it won.

"The Democratic candidate wasn't particularly charismatic. There are those that believed that Martha Coakley didn't run a very effective campaign. I think they're right," said B.J. Dobski, professor of political science. "She wasn't out there, she wasn't eating the chicken dinners, glad-handing and showing her face with everyone. And what she did do, she wasn't terribly effective at it and she tended to withdraw."

According to the Boston Globe, Brown focused on the people, mainly gaining most of his votes from the North and South shores, and predominantly Republican areas in the suburbs near the Interstate 495 belt, which covers the towns like Ashland, Holliston and Marlborough. Brown even spent time swaying Worcester residents, among others, to vote for him by truly hitting on major issues like wasteful government spending and higher taxing, as stated on Brown's website.

"He [Brown] wasn't your typical Republican. He didn't conform to Republican stereotypes on a number of issues. He was charismatic. People think he looks senatorial, and let's face it, that matters," said Dobski.

Senior Chrissy Winske, a Coakley supporter, had a different view of the way the election went. "I didn't think he really addressed the issues and he sort of just danced around the point. He tried to make jokes about the Red Sox and really get people to try to like him for his personality. I felt like I really didn't know what he stood for and since Massachusetts was already a Democratic state, I felt like Coakley would be a better person to represent its constituents."

According to the Boston Globe, Coakley focused more on liberal areas such as suburbs west of Boston, the Berkshires and cities like Lawrence, Springfield and New Bedford, but Brown's charge in the two weeks after the New Year brought him an army of out-of-state activists and Massachusetts conservatives. All this led to the demise of Coakley and the prevail of Brown to take the Senate seat. David had defeated Goliath. Brown beat the Attorney General Coakley by a 5.4 percent margin-or about 113,263 votes- to capture Edward Kennedy's former seat. This would be the first time a Republican claimed a Senate seat since 1972.

"When you see a seat like that, which has been stamped Democratic in the most Democratic state in the country, go Republican, Ted Kennedy's seat goes Republican, well, it's really quite shocking," said Dobski.

"I think that Scott Brown is going to have a tough job ahead of him," said senior history and education major Pat McDonald. "His campaign was basically run against the health-care plan, but now he's going to have to tackle the other issues and have to come up with legitimate plans that he didn't go into too much detail on it was kind of all against the health-care plan."

But it's no longer Kennedy's seat, and the Kennedy name no longer carries the same denotation that it once did. Brown's campaign is a reminder to the Democrats that Kennedy's seat didn't belong to them, that it is in fact the "people's seat." The seat belongs to Scott Brown and the people now. The people of Massachusetts have spoken and they have helped create some serious problems within the walls of Congress. But why would Massachusetts, a primarily blue state throughout history, change sides now? The answer lies in the numerous independents the state had instead of clear cut Democrats and Republicans voting for the Senate position, but still, why would a predominantly Democratic state vote Brown in?

"Scott Brown not only proved to be a very able campaigner, but a very shrewd one. He recognized that he did not have to get the electorate to agree with him on specific issues, that his task was to voice a more general frustration, impatience, and anger," said Professor of History John McClymer. "He proved able to do this without backing away from his positions on health care or taxes."

This not only caused an uproar due to the fact that this is the first Republican to have the seat in the Senate for the first time in awhile, but it may also put a stop to the Democratic health plan that President Obama and Senate runner up Coakley are so diligently pushing for in America. Though Obama has told the nation he will not raise taxes in order to make his health care plan work, he does believe that there are ways to save money in the present health care system, allowing America's pockets to remain as is. But did this election have anything to do with Obama? Though many may think it may not, Professor Dobski offers a different explanation.

""There are Democrats out there that will say "no, no, this isn't about the president," but yes, it is. He [Obama] came here [Massachusetts] and said 'if you like me, vote for her,' and they didn't vote for her [Coakley]."

But at the end of it all, what does this election truly mean for Massachusetts and the rest of the country? Well, that is yet to be determined.