Conservatives have been interpreting the significance of Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts since he won the election on Jan. 19. Since then, one of the main discussion topics on various talk radio shows has been how Brown has affected American politics. No question, he has made a difference, just not quite as dramatic as what some would like the public to believe.

Last Tuesday, I listened to Jay Severin, a libertarian talk-show host on Boston’s WTKK-FM (96.9). He pointed to the fact that Beau Biden decided not to run for his father’s (Vice President Joe Biden) Delaware Senate seat and concluded that it was because Scott Brown won.

Apparently, the political climate throughout the whole country changed with Brown’s election. When I called Severin to challenge his viewpoint and asked him where the evidence was that the two were connected, he responded by saying, ‘Do you think junior doesn’t want to be a United States senator? … He’d be a rich man forever, if he were a U.S. senator, especially with a name like Biden … The reason why he’s not running is the reason why that southern Democrat is not running for re-election and why the health care bill is dead as we know it.’

Though Severin sometimes leaps to conclusions and has no solid evidence to back up his thoughts, he has somehow found proof that Scott Brown has changed the minds of all who seek to run for Congress. Severin did not stop there, though.

‘What happened to Haiti last week is what happened to the American political world when Scott Brown won – only, in a positive way. This is a seismic, once-in-a-lifetime event. This is the biggest upset in American political history. It is not isolated. … It has changed American politics from top to bottom.’

Severin is not alone in over-dramatizing the election of Scott Brown. While one talk-show host, or any, for that matter, could not be representative of the whole country, the voices of individual Americans are not far off. I have heard callers claim that ‘We’re taking this country back’ and that Scott Brown was merely the first step in a large movement to do so. I am just not quite sure who everyone thinks they are taking the country back from. As far as I recall, the representatives in Congress were elected. It is also true that the Democrats still have a majority, yet the rules of the Senate have forced them to have a supermajority.

No doubt, some Americans are feeling as if the government has been stalling; apparently Brown is the proof that this is true. This is an overly simplistic explanation of why the voters of Massachusetts chose Brown. It ignores the rest of the political climate in Massachusetts that influenced the election.

While many are frustrated with the lack of progress on health care legislation (or are completely opposed to it all together), I am more inclined to let President Obama continue to try his agenda out. Many have criticized the president for not bringing his promises of ‘change’ in a year’s time. While I saw right through his campaign’s inspirational message of hope and change mentality, I am willing to allow him more than one year to resolve the critical issues that he is faced with. It is clear that some others are not.

Keeping Brown’s election in mind, it will be interesting to see how the midterm elections go. At this point, I am not willing to accept the ‘Scott Brown effect’ that has been expressed as true by many. There is simply not enough evidence to back it up.

Harmen Rockler is an undeclared freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. His column appears bi-weekly, and he can be reached at horockle@syr.edu

Published on January 31, 2010 at 12:00 pm