The final morning roundup.

I can't believe it's finally here.  Election Day in Massachusetts.  And not only is it here, but it begins with an aura of immense importance that nobody could have predicted just a few weeks ago.  The fate of national legislation unquestionably hangs on the results of today's vote.  At no point in my adult life has an election in Massachusetts risen to this level of national prominence and come down to the absolute final hour with such unpredictable results.

The general consensus appears to be the exact opposite of what it was a week ago.  Everything I'm reading points to a Scott Brown victory.  But never for a second forget that this is a Democratic state. There is still potential for the Democratic base to turn out en masse and cast their votes for Coakley.

(As an aside - I'm not sure how, but I somehow got left off the Coakley AND Brown phone lists.  So while all my friends have been complaining about endless calls from both candidates, the only calls I received were from Barack Obama, Organizing for America, and Bill Clinton.  I thought Bill and I had a nice chat, even if he wouldn't answer my questions.)

Let's get to the morning round up:

--The Herald's Hillary Chabot and Jessica Van Sack and the Globe's Stephanie Ebbert, Donovan Slack and Jeannie Nuss offer final reports from the campaign trail.

--Brian Mooney reports on the GOTV efforts of both the Coakley and Brown campaigns in the Globe.  Chabot and Van Sack do the same in the Herald.

--In this Herald story from Chabot and Ed Mason, Scott Brown says he will work the phones until the polls close, which apparently is part of his election day tradition.

--Kevin Cullen opines that, "If Martha Coakley loses today, it won’t be because she didn’t put up enough signs on Blue Hill Ave. It’ll be because she failed to convince enough of the people who put up the Obama signs on Blue Hill Ave. and a lot of other avenues across Massachusetts that Obama’s ability to get anything done depends on her winning the election."

--Conservative groups continue to spread the ridiculous rumor that somehow the election will be rigged and dead people will vote.  One guy in this story says that's the only way Brown can lose.  It's not actually.

--Joan Vennochi writes that Scott Brown, "should also be accountable for the unpleasant rhetoric that some of his supporters are embracing in the last hours of this hard-fought campaign."  In this report by Dave Wedge, Coakley says, “I am surprised by some of the supporters of my opponent. It’s pretty unnecessary."

Now, I have no idea whether or not this was a Brown supporter, but at South Station around 7 a.m. this morning I personally watched as a man walked up behind a Coakley volunteer passing out leaflets, grabbed the leaflets out of his hand, and threw them to the wet ground.  Classy.

--The Fix has a great breakdown of the uncertainties in today's voting.

--Politico reports on the blame game in Washington, and five things to watch in today's election.

That's all I have time for at the moment, but if you think I missed a good link add it to the comments (just the link - please don't past an entire story).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I got a call from Scott Brown this morning. NO, not his campaign, HIM. He threatened me, vote for Scott Brown or I can't say what will happen to your dog. How did he know I had a dog?

Anonymous said...

I have just returned home after "working" the sign-holder gatherings near voting locations in several areas. I mixed with both the Brown and Coakely sign wavers. Most of the Brown holders were not Republicans, just people who were mighty pissed off about the way things are going in DC and Boston. It seems like they had no allegiance to Brown or the Republicans; they just want a change and would support anyone who they thought had a chance to win. Most of the Coakley supporters were government workers and twinkies who seem to think that they will get the most for themselves from DC if there is a big government Democrat in office.
It really looks like this race has turned from an easy victory for the establishment Democrat in a boring 2 way race, into briefly a 3 way race with some worry about name confusion, then finally into this incredible de facto referendum on Obamacare. Brown appears to be the lucky beneficiary of this sudden surge in the national backlash that is coming at just the right time to give him a chance of victory in a race where he originally had no chance. It is not a race about the 3 candidates; it is just a national referendum by Massachusetts proxy. Probably any other Republican Mass. State Senator or Rep.(there are some , aren't there???) would be having the same results as Brown. It remains to be seen if the backlash is big enough here in Taxachusetts or if the status quo will prevail.

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.