Massachusetts Changes the Game
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After Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts, Senate Democrats can't stop Republican filibusters any more. What does that mean for health care reform? And what's the message for both parties for elections later this year? Also, intelligence officials admit that flaws in the counterterrorism system allowed the airline-bombing attempt on Christmas Day. What's the rest of the story?
Main Topic
Massachusetts Changes the Game ()
Last night, Republican Scott Brown was triumphant after his upset election to the US Senate seat held by the late Democrat Ted Kennedy for 47 years, humiliating the Democrats just one year after Barack Obama's inauguration. But the Massachusetts Republican has not attacked the President himself, and today Brown promised bipartisanship when he gets to Washington. What does his victory mean for healthcare reform and the rest of the presidential agenda? And what are the lessons for Democrats nationwide? We look at the aftermath of an upset that has transformed the political environment in an election year.
Guests:
- Scot Lehigh: Columnist, Boston Globe
- Janet Hook: Congressional Correspondent, Los Angeles Times
- Gary Langer: Director of Polling, ABC News, @LangerResearch
- Jonathan Chait: Senior Editor, The New Republic, @jonathanchait
- Matthew Continetti: Associate Editor, Weekly Standard
Links:
- Lehigh's column on Brown victory as a vote against Obama's healthcare reform
- Hook's article on how Brown's Senate victory threatens the Obama agenda
- Langer's article on political allegiance in Massachusetts
- Chait's article on midterm elections
- Continetti's article on impact of nationalizing the election
Reporter's Notebook
Is Preventing Terrorism an Unattainable Goal? ()
The Director of National Intelligence and the head of the National Counterterrorism Center told Senators today what was already clear, that the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit occurred because of flaws in the counterterrorism system devised in the wake of September 11. Though they're already trying to correct the flaws that allowed Umar Abdul-mutallab to board a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit, a former vice chair of the National Intelligence Council says they're missing the point. Gregory Treverton is director of the Rand Corporation's Center for Global Risk and Security and the author of Intelligence for an Age of Terror.
Guests:
- Greg Treverton: Director, Rand Corporation's Center for Global Risk and Security
Links:
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