Ted Kennedy must be rolling in his grave. The late senator’s 47 years of tireless work on health care reform may now be for naught after Tuesday’s Republican triumph.

Scott Brown, a state senator from Wrentham, is the first Republican the Commonwealth has elected to serve in the Senate in more than three decades. Brown will also likely be the 41st vote against health care reform ‘- the majority-breaker that will prevent Kennedy’s legacy from moving forward.

But on a larger scale, this election wasn’t about Kennedy’s legacy or ‘What would Teddy do?’ This election was about Massachusetts and whether its traditionally progressive nature and fearless reputation would endure or cease to exist. Unfortunately, Democrat Martha Coakley’s campaign couldn’t withstand the come-from-behind surge by a small-town man whose American Idol contestant daughter’s fame gave more weight to the family name than his own. But Coakley’s mistakes are done, and now the whole country must to face the consequences. It’s a shame those mistakes, made on a local level, will have a lasting national impact.

Brown, who built a dark horse campaign that played on the fears of voters in a tough economic time, did however make promises to be an independent Republican. He preached bipartisan philosophies while promising to kill Ted’s dream, a stance which he was sure on despite other moderate claims. But it’s not just his stance that makes his win such an upset on a national level ‘- the new Republican seat upsets the ratio in Congress overall, making key White House initiatives that much more vulnerable to filibuster and defeat.

But while Brown’s presence in the Senate is one that undoubtedly disrupts Obama’s sweeping plans for ‘change,’ ultimately it was the presence of Mass. voters, or at least the many who chose to cast ballots Tuesday, that had the last word.

For such an important election, a high voter turnout should be expected, but after dismal numbers in December’s primary, the figures yesterday ended up being a surprise. And in what is arguably the year’s biggest election, it is a shame it took Mass. voters so long to wake up and get out there.

The race for Kennedy’s seat only began to heat up in its final days, as Brown began to narrow the gap between him and Coakley. Though Massachusetts has consistently elected liberal representatives to Congress for the past 31 years, an election so important should never be considered so irrelevant, even if the outcome seems determined from the start.

The millions spent on advertising, the he-said, she-said smear campaigns, the national attention, the visit from Obama and the media circus that ensued within the last week: all finally caught the attention of voters at the last minute. Unfortunately, it took Coakley and her supporters about as long to realize the race was neck-in-neck with the Republican, whose victory six weeks ago would have been unimaginable.

Only then did she get the ball rolling, and by then, it was too late.

At the end of the day, Obama and his Democrats couldn’t get the voters behind his initiatives like they could with his election, just like the progressive-thinking liberals this state is known for couldn’t push forward, instead taking a step back into the shadows.

Hopefully next time, Massachusetts will prove themselves braver than how they voted today.