Massachusetts Voting Begins for Crucial Senate Seat

[xiinfaniin]

January 20, 2010

Massachusetts Voting Begins for Crucial Senate Seat

 

By LIZ ROBBINS

Massachusetts voters streamed to the polls on Tuesday, sloppy weather notwithstanding, to vote in what has become a surprisingly tight special election for the United States Senate.

 

All day, from Pittsfield to Palmer, from Marlborough to Boston, polling stations reported a high number of voters, far more than in the December primaries. The polls, open since 7 a.m., were due to close at 8 p.m.

 

Until a few weeks ago, the Democratic candidate — Martha M. Coakley, the state attorney general — seemed to have a virtual lock on the seat, left vacant by the death of Edward M. Kennedy. But over the past month, the Republican challenger, Scott. P Brown, a state senator, started to galvanize Massachusetts’s many independent voters, seizing on dissatisfaction with the economy, taxes and governmental spending.

 

In particular, the fate of the national health care overhaul hung in the balance, as Mr. Brown promised to be the 41st vote against the legislation, enough to block it with a filibuster, while Ms. Coakley campaigned for the overhaul with the backing of Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the widow of Senator Kennedy, for whom health care was a major issue. .

 

Across the state, people seemed to fasten on the volatile health care issue, their conflicting voices reflecting the tense divisions in a state that has been a Democratic stronghold for many years. “I voted for Coakley because I didn’t want to disrupt the 60-40 vote for health care,” said Michael Barry, 23, a software engineer, who drove from his new house in Hopkinton in Boston’s western suburbs to vote in nearby Marlborough, where he is registered. “I thought it was a shoo-in a few weeks ago, and might not have come out today.”

 

Terry Noel, 58, an optometrist from Waltham, closer in to Boston, is a registered Republican, but she said she was voting for Ms. Coakley because of health care. “I really wasn’t going to vote, but I realized my vote will mean something,” she said. Because she runs her own practice and purchases her own insurance, she said, she saw the need for an overhaul.

 

“Health care reform is important,” she said, “or else we wouldn’t be doing it.”

 

Even so, several voters on Tuesday said there was too much emphasis on the issue in Washington. Standing outside the polling place at the Boys and Girls Club in Marlborough, Kevin Trenholme, 44, said he was turned off by the health care debate. “I voted for Brown to hopefully control the craziness in Washington,” he said. “Health care is being forced down our throats.”

 

Marlborough, a small city where the independent vote is particularly strong, has been an important bellwether in several recent statewide elections. Among the 4.1 million registered voters in Massachusetts, enrolled Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 3 to 1, but 51 percent of voters are not enrolled in any party.

 

There were 13 people waiting outside when that polling station opened, and workers there reported a steady stream of voters through the late morning, a trend that seemed to hold in other areas of the state. The Associated Press reported that there was a half-mile line of cars outside a polling station at North Andover High School, causing frustration among voters.

 

At the Converse Middle School in Palmer, Ma., outside of Springfield, the turnout was higher than usual, said the warden, Emmett Ahearn, 78. By 2 p.m., he said, about 1,000 people had already cast their votes, out of the 3,800 registered there.

 

In Leicester, southwest of Boston near Worcester, Earl Berner, 63, chairman of the Leicester Republican Committee, was standing at the street-corner entrance to the town hall around 10 a.m., greeting cars and directing traffic with a “Vote Brown” sign nearby. He described the turnout to vote at the town hall as “incredible.”

 

“It is like rush hour now, and it’s been going on all morning,” he said as he donned a party hat. “Massachusetts has become monolithic in its political leanings, and the Democratic Party has gotten to the point where someone needs to say, ‘Stop spending.’ ”

 

In Boston, Brian McNiff, the spokesman for William F. Galvin, the Massachusetts secretary of state, confirmed that turnout in the city appeared to be high at the beginning of the day.

 

“As of noon, 55,309 have voted,” Mr. McNiff said, adding that it represented 15.4 percent of registered voters, and more than double the number who had voted in the Dec. 9 primaries by the same hour. In the 2006 general election, 58,715 people had voted by then. Mr. NcNiff added: “It’s pretty good for a special election.”

 

The two candidates traded barbs and accusations on Monday, as both campaigns fired up their get-out-the-vote efforts with television commercials and automated and personal calls. At polling stations on Tuesday, more than a few voters said they were angered by the barrage.

 

Ed Hubert, an independent voter from Palmer, said he received 24 phone calls on Monday alone. He said he was “livid” and called it “harassment by both candidates,” but would not say whether it had affected his vote.

 

Ms. Coakley’s late slip in the polls prompted President Obama to stump for her at an appearance in Boston on Sunday, and video footage of the event was turned into a television commercial.

 

At a rally in Pittsfield in the western part of the state on Monday, Ms. Coakley, 56, told her supporters: “You need to spread the word. Our eyes are now open, and we will not be fooled.”

 

But did those eyes open too late? Ms. Coakley was criticized for campaigning weakly, underestimating the tenor of the electorate and taking her early lead in the polls and the Democrats’ numerical advantage in the state for granted, while Mr. Brown, 50, seized upon voter frustration and discontent.

 

The White House on Tuesday would not discuss the ramifications of a Coakley defeat for the President or for the health care legislation. When the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, was asked if Mr. Obama believes he bears some responsibility for the difficulties that Ms. Coakley faced, Mr. Gibbs responded, "Let’s see what the outcome is.”

 

If some voters viewed the election as a referendum on health care, for others the stakes were the legacy of Ted Kennedy. He held the seat for 46 years, and it has not been in Republican hands since 1953, when John F. Kennedy won it.

 

“I’m going to vote for her because she’s who I believe Senator Kennedy would want to fill his seat,” said Brian Ortiz, 20, of Waltham. “He was the lion of the senate, and look at all he did for our state.”

 

As state attorney general, Ms. Coakley championed social issues like health care reform, reproductive rights, child abuse and corporate corruption.

 

“I didn’t feel that someone like Scott Brown could replace Ted Kennedy’s ideas and views,” said Anne Lenault, 56, a child care worker who is registered as an independent. “Coakley had more of the views I was looking for to replace Ted.”

 

But those same views have some voters convinced that change is coming.

 

“We are seeing a big movement away from Ted Kennedy’s beliefs,” said Rob Moreau, 43, an accountant who voted in Marlborough, and said he opted for Mr. Brown. “It is no longer a good battle for health care for Massachusetts and the nation.”

 

Robert Rivard, 67, a retired mechanical engineer, also said he voted for Mr. Brown for that reason.

 

“I don’t like business as usual, which is what we have now, and I also recognize the national consequences with this election,” Mr. Rivard said. “I don’t like that the health care bill is being ramrodded through. As much as I support Brown, it is also a statement about what I don’t want.”

 

In Waltham, a small trickle of voters walked through the rain and snow to a small polling place tucked in a back room at a police station.

 

“I voted for Martha Coakley,” said Mike Crane, 52, a bartender at a nearby pub, who said he was not enrolled in a party. “I don’t want to see the Republicans, the party of ‘no,’ the 41st vote in the Senate.”

 

He said he did not believe Ms. Coakley ran “the best of campaigns,” adding that “in the state of Massachusetts, you have to get out and shake hands, and I think Scott Brown has beat her on that.”

 

Still, Mr. Crane said, “I hope people are smart enough to see the big picture.”

[Che -Guevara]

Sucky day to be voting but then I wanna health insurance that's affordable atleast in theory!

[xiinfaniin]

Former Kennedy aide does the math for a Coakley win

By Karl Vick

 

As many Democrats brace for the possibility of Scott Brown taking the U.S. Senate seat long held by Edward M. Kennedy, a former Kennedy campaign aide offers a scenario that leads to a narrow victory for Martha Coakley, the state attorney general who polls showed slipping.

 

Richard Parker now lectures at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

 

"Once upon a time," Parker begins, "there was a Senate race in which a telegenic GOP challenger threatened to take Massachusetts' guaranteed-blue 'Kennedy seat' (and was ahead in key polls going into the week before the race).

 

"A brilliant young Democrat was in the White House, having succeeded George Bush. He'd pushed health care reform as his first big issue, but produced a plan so complex and riven with contradictions, that it failed -- in no small part due to the GOP Congressional strategy of total 'no pasaran' ['they shall not pass'] opposition and the wavering of Blue Dog Democrats.

 

"If that sounds familiar, it is -- because it was the race here in 1994, when Mitt Romney led Ted Kennedy HIMSELF going into November, and Bill Clinton had produced a health plan that failed in an world of zero bipartisanship.

 

"Kennedy won, of course."

 

Parker offers the math for Martha Coakley to pull off the same.

 

It starts with the numbers for the primaries a month ago: 650,000 Democrats voted, and 160,000 Republicans. Commonwealth Secretary Bill Galvin on Monday estimated that 1.6 to 2.2 million would turn out on Tuesday. For reference, in the November 2008 presidential election, turnout was 3 million.

 

"My gut -- and early calls -- tell me we're well on the low side of the Galvin estimate because of weather," Parker says, "but we'll make at least 1.2 million easily.

 

"There are 490,000 registered Republicans in the state. If three-quarters of them turn out -- a big 'if' -- that means Brown needs at least 300,000 independents. Meanwhile, if just the same number of Dem ALONE as showed up in December show up today, Martha wins.

 

"We'll see. In retail politics, after billions spent on media and contact, it's all turnout, turnout, turnout."

[xiinfaniin]

Che give us the update awoowe. Read the Harvard Profs spin above and tell me if you think this woman could defy the pols and pull this thing off

[xiinfaniin]

What to watch for in the Massachusetts special election

 

Polls don't close for another six and a half hours in Massachusetts and without any exit polling in the race -- booo! -- political junkies (like yours truly) are left to wait and wonder about the outcome of today's special Senate election between state Sen. Scott Brown ® and state Attorney Martha Coakley (D).

 

To make that process slightly more palatable, we talked to a number of senior strategists in both parties in search of the key geographic areas and demographic groups to keep an eye on as results roll in tonight in order to best understand what's happening and why.

 

A sampling of their thoughts is below.

 

* City turnout: Coakley must maximize the power of the city turnout machines in Boston (led by Mayor Tom Menino), Worcester (in the hands of Rep. Jim McGovern) and Springfield. Three close-in communities to Boston report their results early -- Cambridge, Somerville and Arlington -- and, according to one Democrat, if Brown is close or leading in those areas, the race is effectively over.

 

* The South Coast: While almost all of the state is reached by Boston television, the communities in hard-scrabble town like Fall River -- home of former Boston schoolboy hoops legend Chris Herren -- gets Providence television and is culturally a far different place than the Hub. These are the sort of Democrats -- blue-collar -- that Coakley must win but, as the race entered its final stages, wasn't winning.

 

* Independent women: The Brown surge has been fueled -- primarily -- by independents who have moved strongly in his favor over the past ten days. Democrats acknowledge independent men are a lost cause for Coakley but they are hoping that her historic candidacy -- she would be the first woman elected to the Senate or governor in the state -- is a significant draw among independent women. The working theory among Democratic modelers is if Coakley can win 35 percent of the independent vote, she can win; if she goes below that number, Brown will win.

 

* The Beltway Vote: The most critical area for Brown is in between Rt. 128 -- the inner Beltway that rings Boston and 495 -- the outer Beltway to the west of the city. That area, which includes the critical swing suburban community county of Middlesex, is filed with independent and Republican voters that Brown needs energized to offset the likely swamping he will take in Boston proper.

 

* Boston Catholics: While the city of Boston is strongly Democratic, it is also -- in parts -- strongly Catholic (and pro-life). In communities like South Boston, Dorchester and the North End, Republicans believe Brown has made significant inroads. Worth noting: In the two most recent Republican victories in Massachusetts (Gov. Mitt Romney in 2002 and Gov. Paul Cellucci in 1998), the Catholic vote went Republican.

 

Are you looking at certain key towns/cities or demographic groups? The comments sectiona awaits your observations.

[xiinfaniin]

FoxNews's take on Mas. senate race if Dems win

[Che -Guevara]

Xiin....It all hinges on big urban area mostly Boston Metro and other cities Worcester, Springfield and Lowell. All those cities are liberal cities or tend to have high immigrant populations-safe bet for democract.Martha will win but maybe not so convincingly.

 

The northern towns are more conservative(wealthy)reas. The snowing was higher in those areas

 

 

Off to cast my vote!

 

It is amazing how the media hypes things and dems piss their pants instead of countering it!

[xiinfaniin]

^^Go vote awoowe.

 

lool@snowing was higher in those areas

 

perhaps Dems prayed for snow in the North so Republican voters are hampered

[Peace Action]

Go Che, we are with and hope you take with as many farax and xalimos you can. We are surprised, a blue with an African American governer could elect a republican who is determined to stop heath care.

[Che -Guevara]

Oh sh*t. Time for Obama to grow a pair!

[Jacpher]

Whoooo!

[Santaaro-Saaxiib]

Weak Democrats! Another one bites the dust.

[xiinfaniin]

^^yes Santaaro Dems are weak, the party that allowed Joe Lieberman to chair a powerful committee

 

Last night the nation saw a political earthquake in Boston. And the irony is the seat from which late Kennedy advocated for health care reform over 40 years will now be used to oppose that very cause

 

It’s politics

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

if this is not a wake call for fellow Dems, I don't know what. Now we have to see which road they take, center right insuring they lose in 2010 or center left, reenergizing their base. their is no doubt that this was do the base not caring enough to vote among other things...