In January of 2010, then-Senators Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) announced they would not be seeking re-election that year. The New York Times reported on the sudden retirements saying they "signaled that President Obama is facing a perilous political environment that could hold major implications for this year's midterm elections and his own agenda." We now refer to those major implications as what Mr. Obama himself called the "shellacking" of his party in those elections. Does today's announcement that 16-term Congressman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) will not seek re-election send a similar signal about 2012?

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Right below the latest news on reality TV show Project Runway, a website that claims to contain "gossip from Manhattan and the Beltway to Hollywood and the Valley" is claiming there's a scandal in the past of newly minted Republican Senator from Massachusetts Scott Brown. Gawker.com has dug up a civil defamation suit against then State Representative Brown alleging he harassed a woman named Jennifer Firth when she worked on his campaign in 1998. (source)

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Officials in Massachusetts certified Republican Scott Brown's election to the US Senate today, clearing the way for him to be sworn in at approximately 5:00pm this evening. Unfortunately, Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin, a Democrat, could not resist one final political swipe before signing the certification.

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Since the Massachusetts Miracle there have been a lot of Democrats and supporters of Democrats accusing each other of being responsible for their loss. The national importance of this particular election due to the corresponding loss of the Democrats' super majority has made the internal blame game even bigger, louder and longer than usual. But the reason for the so-called circular firing squad has its roots in the policies and long-standing practices of the Democratic Party. Specifically:

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By now everyone who pays attention to such things knows Republican Scott Brown has won the special election in Massachusetts. He will take the seat formerly held by the late Senator Ted Kennedy thereby ending the 60 vote stranglehold Democrats had on that legislative body. What will happen next regarding health care reform, cap & trade and other items on the Obama agenda remains to be seen. There are ways the no longer super yet still majority party can get around a minority filibuster and the will of the American people but they risk the ire of voters by doing so.

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