by Richard Stein   

The Massachusetts Election Result

I believe that the surprising result of the Massachusetts Senate election was due, in part, to the belief of many, that the Party was not representing the will of the people, but rather was reflecting the will of the Party organization who were attempting to satisfy those contributing to Party funds. There was a tendency to "cave in" to donors fearing competition from public measures that would diminish their ability to secure private profits. There also seemed to be favoritism in selecting candidates who would be "team players" and not want to change traditional procedures favored by the Party. The Democrats need to get back to developing their earlier image of being the "party of the people" rather than the party of its superiors. Many of my progressive colleagues have left the Party and become independents or joined a third party where they thought their views would be better recognized. There is a desire of the public to have a government in which they had more influence and in which their vote and opinion would have more influence. While some of us voted for the Democratic candidate, it was more of a vote against the opponent than for the candidate. There was not a great deal of enthusiasm amonmg many of us in campaigning for the candidate and I believe this attitude was apparent to many of the independent voters.