Next week in Massachusetts, a special election to fill the Senate seat of the departed Ted Kennedy will take place. The Republican candidate Scott Brown has overcome a huge 30-point deficit in the polls to pull within two points of Democrat Martha Coakley, according to a recent Rasmussen poll. With less than a week to go before the election, the candidates took the stage for a last debate.
The physical contrast was striking. A fit and chiseled Brown (he once posed in the buff for Cosmopolitan) looked ready for action. Though appearing pale and almost lethargic, Coakley interrupted Brown on issues she felt played to her advantage, mainly abortion. This could be a mistake. As Creigh Deeds found out in Virginia, the social issues seem to have taken a back seat to the economy. On his short side, Brown didn't have much to offer on the economic side except tax cuts and stopping Obamacare as the 41st Republican Senator. For Republicans, that may be enough, but will it convince the 50 percent of Massachusetts voters who call themselves Independents?
Also on stage was third party candidate Joe Kennedy (no relation to Ted), who was a pretty much a one trick pony devoted to stopping spending. When moderator David Gergen drew him out as to how to cut spending, Kennedy took the bait and said he'd go after entitlements like Medicare and social security. After this political self-immolation, Gergen (looking rather old himself — I guess he needs to get back to those soft lights on CNN) tossed a softball to Coakley about how her campaign was going. Her tepid response said volumes about a candidate who seems to want to appear substantive without actually saying anything specific. She couldn't even nail the fattest of political pitches. Her flat response about working hard landed with a thud.
Article comments
1 - Arch Conservative
Regardless of whether or not Brown wins, the closeness of this race in such a blue state.....the thought that a Republican could come so close to swooping in and stealing the seat that belonged to "the liberal lion of the Senate..." is just a precursor to the bloodbath that awaits the Democrats this November.
Then we can go back to the GOP cornholing us instead of the Dems.
Oh happy day!
2 - Baronius
You didn't mention the moment that's getting the most attention. When Gergen asked Brown essentially, how dare you take the Kennedy seat, Brown answered that the seat isn't the Kennedys', it's the people's. Brown made 49 states worth of friends with that comment, but there are plenty of people in Massachusetts who believe that Senate seat really does belong to the Kennedys.
It'll be interesting. My gut says that a Massachusetts senate seat is a bridge too far for the Republicans. Then again, the GOP has dominated the governor's races in the past twenty years, so the people can find the R lever, and my gut has a lousy win/loss record.
3 - Arch Conservative
Apparently not too many give a shit about the MA Senate race.
Here in NH it's been the talk of the town for the past week. There's nothing quite as ugly as a desparate liberal Democrat lashing out.
Camelot is dead. Scott Brown didn't kill it but he sure as hell is doing his part to help us forget it.
4 - mrdockellis
Interesting update:
Coakley was at a fundraiser in DC with beaucoup healthcare lobbyists, probably trying to cut a deal.
Afterward, one of Coakley's entourage roughed up a Weekly Standard reporter trying to ask a question.
Back in the Bay State, rumor has it they are going to do a voter roll purge. This will take place actually after the election so they can disqualify absentee ballots that come in for Brown.
This post election purge is why they say it will take weeks to certify the winner. That time will be used to manipulate the results, if the race is close and it looks to be very close.
The Democratic Machine is in High gear.
THE FIX IS IN!!
5 - Arch Conservative
You bet your candy ass the fix is in Dock.
When teddy died the Dems felt a need to get someone into office ASAP because "the people needed representation in Washington"
Now that there's going to be an election and it's not up to a Democrat governor to appoint who will go to Washington the Dems are singing a different tune and talking about no deadlines to certify the winner.
I live in NH so I get the MA stations on TV and Coakley is airing non-stop attack ads. The best one is where the narrator tells the audience no less than 57 time sin two 90 seconds that Brown is a "Republican."
The Dems are truly scared. We can fully expect them to engage in all manner of underhanded illegal chicanery to steal this one.
6 - Baronius
Dock, the main reason for the promised delay in certification is to give the Senate time for a health care vote while Coakley is still a member.
7 - Baronius
I keep saying that wrong...Kirk is currently in; Coakley's hoping for the job.
8 - SANDYS
I AM FROM MASS. BUT NOW LIVE IN TEXAS, I WISH TO GOD I COULD VOTE FOR SCOTT BROWN,
9 - Silas Kain
I'll say it again. A vote for Scott Brown is an affirmation of Ted Kennedy's legacy. Ted Kennedy had more friends across the aisle who actually respected him than within his own caucus - that's fact. The Democrat leadership tolerated Kennedy whilst he remained a splinter in their collective feet. Teddy was a larger than life figure, the reluctant heir to a legacy built by martyrs for a cause which has yet to be defined.
I loved Ted Kennedy and make no apologies. He lived his life trying to do the right thing by the people who elected him. Unfortunately, he had to operate within the parameters of Democrat Leadership -- that's what a good Irish Roman Catholic Democrat does. He had his personal problems -- we all do. And in the midst of all the personal dramas of Ted Kennedy's life, he never backed down from doing the people's business. Kicked down by the deaths of three brothers, he picked himself up each time. Displaying a horrific weakness in judgment on that bridge, he lived with the guilt every day and continued to serve. When his young namesake lost a leg to cancer, he fought for other children faced with the same challenge. When his daughter was fighting lung cancer a few years ago, he could have exploited himself. He didn't. Quietly he went to that Church on Mission Hill and conversed with his God -- out of the limelight, away from the crowds. And when his own Party's President was faltering, he had the courage to challenge. Though he lost, he returned to the Senate with a renewed sense of optimism and determination. That's the definition of a real public servant.
Ted Kennedy wasn't a saint. He was a man who was born into circumstances few of us enjoy. But he never rubbed it in our faces. He never made the least among him feel that he was better or more knowing by virtue of his family. Quietly behind the scenes he would reach out to constituents in pain, gently counseling them. He cared. It was genuine. It was uniquely Ted Kennedy.
That's what is missing from this Senate Election. We'll never replace Teddy with an equal -- for there is not one among us who could ever stand as he. Let him sleep, he's earned his rest and place in history. This Senate seat belongs to us, the people. We must decide who among the three seeking it are deserving of the chance to replace him. The election is not a referendum on Barack Obama; rather it's a message sent from the good people of this Commonwealth to Washington about how we feel concerning the course laid out by the Legislative Branch. Coakley, Brown and Kennedy (the Libertarian) collectively could never replace Ted Kennedy. They don't have his determination. So out of the three we must choose and give them two years to prove why they are deserving - not of taking Ted Kennedy's seat but of representing our interests in the Senate.
10 - mrdockellis
Silas,
If that wasn't satire, then I'll give points for chutzpah. However, you'll never resurrect Ted Kennedy as anything else except a tremendous waste.
He wasted his marriage by constantly fooling around. He wasted his shot at the presidency by trying to bed down Mary Jo at Chappy. The Kennedy fixers worked hard to cover it up, but manslaughter, negligent homicide call it what you will was simply too much to cover up.
A sad dissolute wasted life like his cannot be redeemed by platitudes or generalities.
Only way to cleanse Massachusetts of the Ted Kennedy stain is to elect Scott Brown. It also shows Massachusetts is ready to move forward from being run by one party (Dems) or one family (Kennedys)
Tuesday, we can drive the first nail in the coffin of the corrupt Democratic machine in the Bay State!
Scott Brown for Senate!!!
11 - Jeannie Danna
Save some nails for the other parties too!
In fact, why don't we all start over...
I can't believe my bleeding, liberal heart!
12 - DW
Looks like you called it, Dock.
13 - Silas Kain
Tell it to Kennedy's constituents. No Senator came close to what his office accomplished for folks around the Bay State. And, on that spirit, I cast my ballot for Scott Brown who will be equally as effective in constituent services. Too bad your heroes like Coburn, McConnell, DeMint and Ensign will NEVER comprehend the concept.