COLUMN: A new revolution

He is also correct in his assessment that those sentiments are not directed at just one party.

The vast majority of the American people are tired of big government, higher taxes and unfulfilled promises.

These voters are tired of being told that they do not understand what is best for them. Don't agree with health care reform? You just don't understand it. Worried about the national debt? Sit down and shut up. Think bailouts are a bad idea? The government knows what it is doing.

For years, Americans have been convinced that the government is too big and too powerful to change - that our votes do not count.

Last week, we saw just how powerful our votes can be.

Voters in Massachusetts changed not only the politics of their state, but the politics of the nation. How fitting that Massachusetts is once again a barometer of the nation’s political mood.

Two hundred and thirty-six years ago, Massachusettians made it clear that they would not tolerate being taxed without representation. They would not accept a government which ignored their colonial rights, nor would they follow local political leaders who refused to stand up for the principles in which their constituents believed.

Rather than bow to the authority of a legislative body which did not represent them, protestors held a tea party – the Boston Tea Party. Two years later, the American Revolution was underway.

Once again, Massachusetts has become the flashpoint for a revolution.

Voters in the Bay State and around the country are sending the same message – we demand our voices be heard.

This storm has been brewing for years, but it took Brown’s unexpected victory to make the politicians in Washington take notice.

In a state that is chock full of liberal voters – a state which Barack Obama carried in 2008 with a 26 point margin of victory – the voters gave Democrat Ted Kennedy’s senate seat to a conservative Republican.

I do not believe the voters of Massachusetts have suddenly embraced conservatism. I believe they have embraced the Constitution. I believe they, like many voters nationwide, realize that the principles on which this republic was founded have been lost in the shuffle of Washington – and local - politics.

Republicans that celebrate Brown’s victory as a victory for the party are making a mistake. Brown’s victory was a victory for the people – people tired of excessive taxation, burgeoning debt and out-of-control government spending.

Republican and Democratic leaders alike must understand that promising change is not the same as delivering change. It is time for both parties to deliver a better, not bigger or costlier, government to the American people.

Kristi Reed is a reporter for the Barrow Journal. She can be reached at kreed@barrowjournal.com.