Less than two hours before the polls closed in Massachusetts, CBS News political analyst John Dickerson argued that if Republican candidate Scott Brown wins tonight, “it's just going to get a lot uglier in Washington,” declaring that Republicans “feel excited and they see glory in attacking the President.”
After talking about prospects for the Democrats’ unpopular health care bill, CBS anchor Katie Couric asked Dickerson: “Finally, if this seat goes Republican, how will it change the political climate in Washington?”
Dickerson warned: “It's going to get uglier. Republicans, no matter what the outcome is, feel emboldened, they feel excited and they see glory in attacking the President. Democrats, on the other hand, have to really fight hard against that sentiment. The President's getting into that fight, pushing a populist message, and so in the end it's just going to get a lot uglier in Washington.”
The discussion as it unfolded on the January 19 CBS Evening News:
KATIE COURIC: John Dickerson in Washington is our CBS News political analyst. So, John, what happens to health care reform if Scott Brown wins?
JOHN DICKERSON: Well, Katie, House and Senate negotiators have been working for a while on a compromise bill. That would go out the window because Republicans would have the vote they needed to block that compromise in the Senate. To get around that, Democrats would have to pick up a Republican senator, which is unlikely, or they'd have to vote before Brown was seated, which would look politically trick and sneaky. The least bad option for Democrats, which is not a good option at all for them, is that the House votes on the Senate bill without any of the big changes in it, and just hopes that another big piece of legislation comes along with those changes in it.
COURIC: And, John, do you think it was health care reform that really motivated the voters today?
DICKERSON: It was a big issue, but there were other issues. The anti-Washington sentiment was big, that has to do with spending, it also has to do with the size of the deficit. Scott Brown played on all of those, and also Coakley was seen as a kind of complacent candidate, which some voters saw as a kind of sense of entitlement, that because she was the Democrat in Massachusetts, she'd get the win.
COURIC: And, finally, if this seat goes Republican, how will it change the political climate in Washington?
DICKERSON: It's going to get uglier. Republicans, no matter what the outcome is, feel emboldened, they feel excited and they see glory in attacking the President. Democrats, on the other hand, have to really fight hard against that sentiment. The President's getting into that fight, pushing a populist message, and so in the end it's just going to get a lot uglier in Washington.
