For President Obama, the first anniversary of his inauguration should prompt reflection, not celebration — especially after Tuesday’s strong win by conservative Republican Scott Brown for the Massachusetts Senate seat long occupied by the late Ted Kennedy, a lifelong proponent of health care reform.

Health care reform was very much an issue in the campaign, though Obama largely sidestepped it in his campaign appearance for Democrat Martha Coakley over the weekend. Advisers almost surely told the president to stress other issues in a state whose own health care program is increasingly controversial.

Coakley likely didn’t get the memo. Her campaign continued airing advertisements about how she would be the 60th vote that Democrats need in the U.S. Senate to stall any Republican filibuster that might derail the health insurance legislation being debated in conference behind closed doors, notwithstanding vows of transparency.

Pundits will spend weeks dissecting this race, one nobody expected to fall to the GOP two weeks ago. No doubt, Coakley assumed the post was hers for the taking once she prevailed in the Democratic primary. Her aloof campaign, however, reportedly didn’t sit well with many voters.

It didn’t help, either, when she called Boston Red Sox legend Curt Schilling a “Yankee fan.” She later claimed it was just a joke. On the other hand, Coakley had some smart support from Democratic allies, including energetic volunteers with the Organizing for America office right here in Waco.

We suspect the victory in this race has more to do with Obama’s astounding misreading of the American public. Considering the exhilaration invested in his inauguration only a year ago today, he began with lots of goodwill and political capital, plus a Democratic Congress.

Unfortunately, he has simply handed over major initiatives to liberal leaders on Capitol Hill to run rampant with, turning the economic stimulus package into massive handouts for social programs when it should have been largely aimed at shoring up our nation’s infrastructure and putting millions to work.

By the time he turned the health care proposal over to Democratic leadership in Congress, moderate conservatives were re-evaluating the president, something that intensified in the face of billion-dollar deals cut to win Senate votes and closed-door negotiations.

Whatever else Tuesday’s Massachusetts election represents, it signals clear disenchantment with the leftist Obama agenda and his way of doing things. The fact the message comes from one of the bluest of blue states should only drive home the point painfully deep, spurring a shift to policies that are centrist, bipartisan and honest.