Minnesota Republicans Wednesday were jubilant about the results of a special U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, Democrats were disappointed but both sides said there are lessons for the Gopher State from the voters of the Bay State.
Republicans said Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown's victory marks the beginning of the change that's coming.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the election was "like a cannon shot....It is a loud and clear rejection of the direction that President Obama has tried to take this country and it's the beginning of turning it back in the right direction."
He also said Brown was an " inspiration to conservatives across the country to continue our fight for freedom from an overbearing federal government."
On North Dakota talk radio, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Woodbury, also saw the freedom fight.
"This is a notch in all of our belts for those of us who stand for freedom," she said. "This is a win for us, a huge win, because our collective voices led to this Massachusetts revolution. It's the people in Massachusetts who cast the ballot, but it's our collective voices that pushed this ball down the court to the point where we could see a victory."
State Rep. Laura Brod, R-New Prague opined: "Scott Brown's election proves that Massachusetts voters, like most Americans, are tired of the status quo and being ignored by their elected officials. There is no doubt his victory is a referendum on the health care debacle taking place in Washington, with congressional Democrats trying to force their plan on skeptical Americans."
Democrats, mourning their party's loss of the seat Sen. Ted Kennedy held for decades and the brief life of their Senate supermajority, saw the election as a wakeup call.
