Democrats lost an important Senate seat in the Massachusetts race Tuesday. Indeed, it was painful to watch the seat of the great progressive Ted Kennedy go to a Republican who will oppose our efforts towards a health care system that benefits all Americans. This loss will surely add more obstacles to our struggle and delay legislation.
But we must not lose sight of the bigger picture. We lost a critical election, but that does not mean the fight for progressive issues ends there. It is just an election after all. Issues, ideals, values and the hope for universal health care extend beyond that. Elections come and go, we win and lose. That is just how it is. We cannot win every election and we should be prepared to lose many important ones. And then we have to be prepared to move on.
We can’t let the media characterize this loss as a loss for health care. The support for change remains with many, even perhaps a majority, of Americans. We will carry out the work of Ted Kennedy, even with a Republican in his seat.
Agreed. One election doesn’t mean that our work is over, it only makes it that much more important now.