We all knew that Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts would send shockwaves through the Democratic establishment. This is very possibly one result of those shockwaves.

As top Democrats cast about for a way to get health care reform back on track, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took one option off the table Thursday, saying her caucus doesn’t have the stomach to pass the Senate bill unless changes are made.

“In its present form, without any change, I don’t think it’s possible to pass the Senate bill in the House,” Pelosi said. “I don’t see the votes for it at this time.”

The White House and Senate Democrats had hoped the House could simply approve the Senate’s bill and send it to President Barack Obama’s desk, easily the quickest option available to the Democrats. But Pelosi’s remarks remove that option from the mix of strategy and policy solutions party brass has considered to move forward in the health care fight.

“‘Unease’ would be a gentle word in terms of the attitude of my colleagues toward certain provisions of the Senate bill,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday morning.

… Also Thursday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that congressional Democrats are weighing a quick pathway to passage because “I don’t think we want to do health care the next three months.”

“Obviously, you cannot just proceed as if nothing happened, because something very significant happened,” Schumer said referring to the party’s defeat in the Massachusetts Senate special election. “There is a strong view in both caucuses that we want to do some good things in health care and the question is how — how much and how quickly.”

Brown’s win in Massachusetts sent a strong message to Democrats. Their arrogance is finally starting to crack a little, because now they’re realizing that there are indeed consequences to ignoring the will of your constituents. When someone like Scott Brown, who has promised to vote against the health care bill, was able to win Ted Kennedy’s old seat, Ted Kennedy who fought for universal health care for so long… well, it speaks pretty loudly. Democrats have ignored the anger of voters for months at town hall meetings across the country, and they’re finally getting the fact that they can’t ignore them anymore. They’re realizing that voters didn’t really consider universal health care to be that much of a priority anyways. Trying to ram this down our throats will have disastrous consequences, as Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts has proven.

This is a huge loss for Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.

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