How to Win the Battle and Lose the War: Elect Republicans and Democrats

Jake Towne, who is running for Congress as an independent libertarian in Pennsylvania's 15th district, reflects on Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts and concludes: "Scott Brown is just another Republocrat." Towne writes:

Brown is a career politician who has been in the Massachusetts state congress for 11 years. His Issues page is full of run-of-the-mill generalizations (although briefer than mine, something I am working on). There is zero mention of the most important foreign policy topic – the simultaneous wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, while he absurdly devotes a section to support Israel's border walls. Even on health care, while taking a direct stance against the Democrat plan, he supports nationalizing health care and has voted for the Romney health care tax solution which he offhandedly ADMITS is ailing, as I pointed out in my health care plank last summer.

During his victory speech (starting at about 4:30):

We're past campaign mode. I think it's important for everyone to get some form of health care. So, to offer a basic plan for everybody, I think is important. It’s just a question of whether we are going to raise taxes, we’re going to cut a half a trillion from Medicare, and we’re going to affect Veteran’s care. I think we can do it better. And to just be the 41st Senator and bring it back to the drawing board. There are some very good things as you just pointed out in the national plan that is being proposed.

The message cannot be any clearer – while those who oppose a health care takeover may have won a battle, they will still lose the war with poor choices like Brown. As Massachusetts voters are 51% independent/third party, Brown promoted himself as the independent's candidate, and successfully marginalized Coakley as an incumbent and made it into a single-issue election. Tea parties across the nation donated funds to his campaign's coffers, ignoring a true independent candidate, Joe Kennedy, who really did stand for removing the government from health care.