Enlarge By Charles Krupa, AP Republican Scott Brown's triumph over Democrat Martha Coakley in Tuesday's special Senate race marks the third statewide loss in a row for the president's party. Brown supporters react to his election win in Boston, Mass., on Tuesday. QUICK QUESTION QUICK QUESTION

WASHINGTON  Sen.-elect Scott Brown, R-Mass., held his first press conference Wednesday saying he should be seated immediately and that his win signified that people are "tired of business as usual."

Brown's triumph over Democrat Martha Coakley in Tuesday's special Senate race marks the third statewide loss in a row for President Obama's party and the one most fraught with political and policy implications. Brown gives the Republicans the 41st vote they need to block legislation in the Senate.

The vote came one year to the day after Obama's euphoric inauguration and as the president is trying to rescue his legislative agenda and his top domestic priority, health care.

As he did throughout the campaign, Brown on Wednesday stressed his independence and said "I'm going to be a Scott Brown Republican. Maybe there is a new breed of Republican coming to Washington."

He said he wouldn't be "beholden to anybody. I've made that very clear."

On health care, Brown said people are tired of business as usual, citing the example of Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who cut a deal on Medicaid for his home state of Nebraska before he would vote for health care. Nelson has since asked that the deal be removed from the bill — unless it is expanded to all states.

DEMOCRATIC LEADERS: Health care will move forward

Brown, one of only five Republicans in the 40-member state Senate, is the first Republican to win a Massachusetts Senate race since 1972. He will be stepping into a seat occupied for 47 years by Sen. Edward Kennedy, a liberal icon and chief advocate for expanding the nation's health care coverage.

Some party rank-and-filers are calling for a new message.

"It's another wake-up call," said Rep. Tom Perriello of Virginia, who is one of about 40 House Democrats facing tough re-election battles this year. "We've got to be about jobs, jobs, jobs."

But Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa., said Wednesday he had "two words: Don't panic. Two more words: Resist chaos."

Democratic leaders now must consider whether to push for final approval of the health care bill. They have been trying to negotiate a compromise bill that would reconcile the differences between bills approved in the House and Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday the election was "in many ways a national referendum." He said he did not expect Democratic Senate leaders would try to pass a revised bill before Brown is seated.

"I think the majority has gotten the message: No more gamesmanship here," he said. "If you do it all by yourself, the public probably ain't gonna buy it."

President Obama told ABC News Wednesday that Congress should not "jam" through a health care bill until Brown is seated.

"Here's one thing I know and I just want to make sure that this is off the table: The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated," Obama said. "The people of Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process."

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said the easiest route would be for the House to pass the Senate bill but he acknowledged that might not be easy at all. "That's a hard thing to put on the House ... it's easy for a senator to say, 'Oh, well, we'll have the House pass it.'"

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the best way to proceed is to start over: "There are many provisions in this bill that have bipartisan support. The way to proceed is to start from scratch."

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat and strong supporter of the health care legislation, agreed. He said Brown's victory means Congress will have to "start over on health care" and said he will vote against any bill rushed to the floor before Brown can be sworn in.

Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, one of two Republicans in Congress to vote in favor of any version of President Obama's health care legislation, said she remains opposed to the current version of the bill. Her comments appeared to close the door on one route Democrats had considered for passing the bill in the wake of Brown's victory.

"I never say anything is dead, but I think that clearly they're going to have to revisit the entire issue," said Snowe, who voted for an early version of the bill passed last year by the Senate Finance Committee. "I think that was true from the outset ... I think there were a lot of concerns that ultimately, collectively manifested themselves in yesterday's vote."

Brown, touted his come-from-behind Senate bid as a chance to put the brakes on the Obama agenda, pleading with voters to make him the Republicans' "41st senator."

The president also saw the race as a referendum on his program. In taped calls, he told Massachusetts voters that his efforts to pass health care legislation, regulate the financial industry and promote a green economy "will probably rest on one vote in the United States Senate."

Members of the Obama administration said Wednesday they may change tactics after Brown's victory, but their goals remain the same — and that includes health care.

"Our job is to fight every day for the economic interests of everyday people, not for the special interests here in Washington," said senior adviser David Axelrod. That includes the rising cost of health care and health care insurance, he said.

Obama "is not going to walk away from that," Axelrod said. "We want to finish the job on that."

Brown said he had a nice conversation with the president. "He called. He called right away," he said, adding that they talked about their families, basketball and, of course, the pickup that Brown famously campaigned in around the state and Obama commented on during a rally Sunday for Coakley.

"I asked him him, 'Do you want me to bring the truck?'" Brown said Wednesday, adding "you have to have a sense of humor in politics."