Shock Win

Republican Scott Brown won the last night’s Senate race in Massachusetts and has vowed to use his deciding vote to move against healthcare reforms in a bitter blow for Obama. “Brown’s win robbed Democrats of the crucial 60th Senate vote they need to pass the healthcare bill and sent shudders of fear through Democrats facing tough races in November’s congressional elections. What once seemed an easy Democratic victory turned into a desperate scramble in the last few weeks as Brown surged ahead of Democratic state Attorney General Martha Coakley on voter fears over the economy, the healthcare bill and Obama’s agenda. Brown, a Massachusetts state senator, said he would be the pivotal 41st Republican vote against the healthcare overhaul in the 100-member Senate. ‘People don’t want this trillion-dollar healthcare plan that is being forced on the American people,’ Brown told cheering supporters at a Boston hotel who chanted ‘41’ and ‘Seat him now.’”