I am not one of those who backhandedly celebrates the Brown win in MA as a way towards Democratic Party policy reform.
However, there is opportunity in the new situation. It is time to start making the Republicans vote down good policy.
With 60 votes, the claim of Republican obstructionism never really rang true to me. Democrats really could have had their way if they were united. And that made Democrats completely responsible for failure.
No more.
With 41 votes, Republicans really do have more structural power. And the media coverage of Brown's victory is likely to make the appearance of Republican power greater than reality.
So it is now time to start ringing the Republican neck with bad votes. Let's pick ten widely-popular, but simple policy ideas that Republicans could never vote for. Let's force them to vote no. And let's do it again and again. And let's get our committee chairs to hold hearings on those items.
It seems to me that we have been so focused on actually getting things done that we have forgotten the value of a good political beat-down. Democrats could run on those votes in the Fall. And what could be more fun than making Republicans vote against popular policy.
The legislative process is not always just about enacting law.