I won’t say I predicted it, but I had a hunch that Tuesday’s U.S.
Senate election in Massachusetts might go badly for the Democrats and
the White House.
I happened to spend a few days in western Mass a week before the
election, speaking for the Dowmel Lecture Series about the Copenhagen
climate summit and what comes next. I had taken Amtrak up from New
York City, a beautiful two hour ride along an often-frozen Hudson
river. I was then fetched from the train station and driven an hour
east to the charming town of Stockbridge, in the heart of the
Berkshires, a region known for its glorious summers, ample cultural
offerings and generally liberal politics. As we passed through lovely
rolling hills and farmland, I kept seeing lawn signs with the name
Brown on them. I hadn’t followed the Massachusetts raise close enough
to know, so I asked my companions who Brown was.
“Oh, he’s the Republican running to take over Teddy Kennedy’s old
seat,” the husband replied.
(more…)