Massachusetts voters saw to it on Election Day that unresponsive, one-party rule in Washington is not acceptable. The election of Republican Senator Scott Brown was a vote against big-government and a repudiation of Democrats’ aggressive intent to take over the nation’s health care system. Voters have sent a message to Washington.

Judging by the illogic of the President’s curious reaction — “The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office.” — the message is having trouble getting through.

The election of Scott Brown also provides ample evidence the Tea Party Movement is informing the political mainstream. Its motivating principles — smaller government, fiscal restraint, personal responsibility — inspired Brown’s supporters, transcending party lines. Brown drew support from Conservatives, Independents and many disillusioned Democrats. All want to stop the growth in government spending and the current proposed health care legislation. Voters were also appalled by Democratic deal making, buying off senators and exempting special interests (unions).

Tea Party activism helped end the powerful tide of history and tradition of Democratic politics in Massachusetts. It helped drive Chris Dodd out of Connecticut’s Senate race. The political mainstream is defined by the electorate, and the electorate –motivated by the Tea Party’s core principles — is reasserting its will.

The reason for Tea Party effectiveness is it is propelled by issues of substantive importance to the American people. Motivated, private citizens vigilantly disassembled each iteration of the health care legislation, exposing policy flaws, cost-estimate chicanery and negative implications for health care. Obama’s supporters ignored the details, too enamored of their rapturous, nuanced leader. More to the point, the public figured out who was telling the truth and who was drinking the Kool-Aid.

The media’s deriding of Tea Party activists as out of the mainstream — including an editorial by The Ridgefield Press after Ridgefield’s Tea Party in March 2009– now seems quaintly anachronistic. Confusing opinion with fact, the media projects its agenda onto the public. The electorate decides.

Keith Miller and I spent Election Day in Massachusetts, meeting voters and conducting exit interviews. After visiting six polling stations — Springfield, West Springfield and Worcester — we met just one evident Coakley supporter. A former state legislator, he was standing in front of a closed restaurant that had this sign in its window: “We tried to beat the difficult economy, but we lost the battle.”

Leaving one polling station, a newly-emboldened Republican expressed his hope for Republican politicians finally having a chance in Massachusetts. “I hope elections become more fair for the people.” Could it be the Democratic machine in Massachusetts doesn’t represent the people? Massachusetts has just five Republican state senators (out of 40) and only 19 Republican state representatives (out of 160). One Democrat scolded the Obama/Pelosi/Reid leadership: “I am a Kennedy Democrat. This isn’t the Democratic Party anymore.”

In his farewell address, President George Washington warned, “Cherish the public credit. Do not bestow upon posterity the burden that we ourselves ought to bear.” Politicians should pay heed.