The supporters of Marty Lamb for Congress gathered last night at J J's Sports Bar & Grille. It was a rather quiet crowd once the results started coming in. The final vote tally according to Boston.com was Jim McGovern 56%, Marty Lamb 39%, and Patrick Barron 4%. It was also very disappointing that the final tally on District 4 was Barney Frank 54% and Sean Bielat 43%. Across the country the Republicans picked up 60 seats in the House of Representatives, but the Republican (Tea Party) revolution did not impact Massachusetts--Governor Patrick was reelected with 49% of the vote and the state offices went Democrat.
The Republican revolution also did not impact the United States Senate--the Republicans picked up a few seats with candidates who will fight excessive spending--Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey, and Ron Johnson, but did not take control. I was truly sorry to see Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer reelected.
One of the big disappointments of the night was the election of Jerry Brown as Governor of California. I can't imagine what those voters were thinking.
I am disappointed with the Massachusetts results and with the fact that the Senate remains in Democrat hands. However, this is only the beginning. Some good candidates won last night who will bring sanity to Washington in the area of spending. That is a really good thing. The other thing I expect because of the new Republican House majority is that the Obama Administration will be held accountable for some of its end runs around the Constitution. I don't want to see thousands of investigations by House Committees, but there do need to be a few things looked into--the New Black Panthers voter intimidation case, the legality of Cap and Trade being instituted through the Environmental Protection Agency, the politicalization of the Justice Department in dealing with Inspectors General, the constitutionality of czars (and what it is that they do), and the progress of the ethics committee report on Charlie Rangel--just to name a few.
I don't know what the lame-duck session of Congress will look like. Hold on to your hat, it may be really full of tax increases and more government regulation. However, those of us who support less government and lower taxes now have our foot in the door. I had hoped to have the door all the way open, but a foot in the door is a good start. Now we just have to use our power carefully to drive the car out of the ditch instead of further into it. Sometimes Reverse is needed instead of Drive!
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