Democratic activist and former member of the Obama administration, Elizabeth Warren, has opened up a seven-point lead against incumbent Republican, Sen. Scott Brown, in the 2012 Senate race in Massachusetts, according to a recent poll.

Sen. Brown, who portrayed himself as a guy who “drives a truck,” won a special election in January of 2010 to fill the Senate term of the late Ted Kennedy, becoming the first Republican senator from “blue” Massachusetts since 1972. Mr. Brown ran against Democrat Martha Coakley in a stunning, come-from-behind campaign. Sen. Brown’s victory inspired him to say, “Tonight, the independent voice of Massachusetts has spoken. This Senate seat belongs to no one person, no one political party. … This is the people’s seat.”

The election of Scott Brown was significant in several ways. First, it broke the Democrats’ 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Second, it was the forerunner of the “shellacking” President Obama and the liberal Democrats experienced the following November when a group of conservative Republicans won back the House for their party and redefined the core principles and values of that party. Third, it legitimized the power of the grass roots Tea Party, which remains the primary thorn in the side of the president and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

With the support of the Tea Party and other conservatives across the country, Scott Brown was swept to victory. However, only a month after his historical election, he began distancing himself from the grass roots group, refraining from joining the Tea Party caucus, stressing, instead, his desire to be an “independent voter and thinker and focus on the very real issues and where we find commonality.”

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Republican leadership, at all levels, should have learned a quick lesson about the mood of America’s conservatives from the Dede Scozzafava debacle in upper New York state. Unfortunately, the GOP House Leadership might need some remedial instruction. And a group of conservative Republican lawmakers met Tuesday to draft that lesson plan.

Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has been one of the more vocal opponents of ObamaCare. Last week on Sean Hannity’s television program, Ms. Bachmann announced the “House Call on Congress.” She urged Americans to come to Washington, DC, to a press conference on the Capitol steps at Noon on Thursday, November 5.  After the presser, Ms. Bachmann will lead the citizens through House office buildings to confront Democrats on their own turf. She hopes to draw thousands to DC to tell the Democrats to their faces, “We don’t want a government takeover of our healthcare.” Yesterday, Ms. Bachmann announced that conservative talk radio host Mark Levin would join her.

Leaders, though, tend to be cautious.  Before the Hill brass swooped in to “help” organizers by providing speaker lists and talking points, a band of conservatives formed a steering committee to keep the message and the tactics authentically conservative. These rebels don’t want talking points; they want a battle cry.

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