Any Out of Staters Following MA's Special Senate Election? Vol. Coakley v. Brown

[scott frost]

Some legitimate items at stake here tonight in the Martha Coakley v. Scott Brown race. President Obama's health care reform bill, Democrats fillibusterproof mamority in the Senate, etc.

Mass has an obvious reputation has a blue state, as seen with the Kennedy political dynasty, but that has potential to change this evening as several localpolls show that the republican Brown has a slight edge. Race has turned really nasty as of late and the importance can be seen in the fact that the Presidentwas in town this past weekend stumping for Coakley.

I live in Boston and will be voting after work but was wondering if anyone outside the state has been paying attention to this race.

 

[derventa]

Im voting....


10 year Roslindale resident

 

[kingtre]

in state - but yes it has gotten ugly...

Seeing arguments between people holding signs and walking by

yesterday trying to watch 24 and it was just ad after ad - martha bashes brown, brown defends, bash, defend every commercial break

I even got a email from KARMALOOP trying to rally the hypebeast voting base

 

[filly413]

They said ol' boy denies emergency contraceptive to rape victims talk abt defication of Character SMH!!!!

 

[scott frost]

yesterday trying to watch 24 and it was just ad after ad - martha bashes brown, brown defends, bash, defend every commercial break

Didnt mean to leave out my fellow MA NT'ers.

The ads have become really old and I can't wait until they're done. Coakley decided to go in the smear campaign direction and I think its going tocome back to bite her in the end.

 

[nyvictory45]

I can't say i've been following the day to day back and forths between the candidates but I'm very interested to see what happens. Seems like Brownwill prob win so I'm even more interested how Obama and the dems respond to that.

 

[JD617]

Voted this morning.

I think its going to come back to bite her in the end.
I agree.

 

[daytona 5000]

I miss MA

 

[igotdemkickz21]

Originally Posted by DAYTONA 5000

I miss MA

I miss going to college in MA (Holy Cross).

Yea, I've been following this. Pretty huge deal if the GOP can pull off a win in one of the bluest states in the country. Will say a lot about how peoplefeel about Obama a year after.

 

[shaunhillftw49]

Brown wins

 

[stevenxpham]

Goodbye health care plan.

 

[essential1]

Originally Posted by igotdemkickz21

Originally Posted by DAYTONA 5000

I miss MA

I miss going to college in MA (Holy Cross).

Yea, I've been following this. Pretty huge deal if the GOP can pull off a win in one of the bluest states in the country. Will say a lot about how people feel about Obama a year after.

Yeah he's not doing enough..

Word on the Capitol is that the Dems are preparing to be more forceful and outspoken.

And instead of trying to pass Liberal policy. They are going after strong liberal policy..

And to that I say about %%*+!%! time.

But my breath is not being held.

 

[inine5]

regular people in the nation sleeping on this result..... but it's gonna affect the entire country. huge upset victory for the GOP..... and the democratsscrewed themselves with this one. they slept on the GOP candidate and he just stole a seat (and vote) that was held for 40+ years.....

 

[lazy b]

[h1]Brown wins Massachusetts Senate race, CNN projects[/h1]
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• President Obama "frustrated" by Massachusetts Senate race, aide says
• Good turnout expected as Massachusetts votes to fill Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat
• Republican Scott Brown ahead of Democrat Martha Coakley in recent poll
• Democrats would lose filibuster-proof majority in Senate with Brown win

Boston, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Republican Scott Brown has won Tuesday's special election for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy, CNN projects based on actual results.

With more than three-quarters of results counted, Brown had 52 percent of the vote to 47 percent for Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate, according to the the National Election Pool, a consortium of media organizations including CNN.

Independent candidate Joseph Kennedy, a libertarian who is not related to the Kennedy political family of Massachusetts, had 1 percent.

Brown's victory made real the once unthinkable prospect of a Republican filling the seat held by Kennedy, known as the liberal lion, for almost 47 years until his death due to brain cancer last August.

With the projected win, Republicans will likely strip Democrats of the 60-seat Senate supermajority needed to overcome GOP filibusters against future Senate action on a broad range of White House priorities.

Final numbers on election turnout are expected "to be pretty good" despite the wintry weather, said Brian McNiff, a spokesman for the office of Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin.

"I don't think weather is going to impede too many people" from coming out to vote, McNiff said Tuesday. "I think the interest in this election will trump any bad weather."

Galvin predicted Monday as many 2.2 million of the state's 4.5 million registered voters would vote -- at least double the turnout from December's primary. In one sign of high interest, more than 100,000 absentee ballots were requested ahead of the election, according to McNiff.

iReport: Send us your thoughts on the special election

Coakley was initially expected to easily win the race to replace Sen. Ted Kennedy, known as the "liberal lion" of the Senate who made health care reform the centerpiece of his nearly 47-year Senate career. Kennedy died of brain cancer in August.

Until recently, Brown was underfunded and unknown statewide. In addition, no Republican has won a U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts since 1972, and Democrats control the governorship, both houses of the state legislature, and the state's entire congressional delegation.

The latest poll, however, showed Brown leading Coakley by 7 points, 52 to 45 percent. The American Research Group survey, taken Friday through Sunday, had a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. No polls released in the past few days showed Coakley ahead.

In a sign of the high stakes involved, the Coakley campaign held an afternoon news conference Tuesday to complain that voters in three places received ballots already marked for Brown.

McNiff confirmed that the secretary of state's offices received two reports of voters saying they got pre-marked ballots. The suspect ballots were invalidated and the voters received new ballots, McNiff said.

Kevin Conroy, the Coakley campaign manager, said the "disturbing incidents" raised questions about the integrity of the election. In response, the Brown campaign issued a statement criticizing Coakley's team.

"Reports that the Coakley campaign is making reckless accusations regarding the integrity of today's election is a reminder that they are a desperate campaign," Daniel B. Winslow, the counsel for the Brown campaign, said in the statement.

Obama has been both "surprised and frustrated" by the race, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.

Obama and former President Bill Clinton hit the campaign trail over the past three days in an attempt to save Coakley's campaign, which observers say has been hampered by complacency and missteps.

Obama crushed Sen. John McCain in Massachusetts in 2008, beating the GOP presidential nominee by 26 points.

"If you were fired up in the last election, I need you more fired up in this election," Obama urged a crowd at a Coakley campaign rally on Sunday.

Vicki Kennedy, the senator's widow, called on state Democrats to turn out to save her husband's legacy.

"We need your help. We need your support. We need you to get out there and vote on Tuesday," Kennedy said. "We need you to bring your neighbors. We need you to bring your friends."

Brown, who has trumpeted his 30 years of service in the National Guard, hewed to traditional GOP themes at the end of the campaign. He promised at a rally Sunday that, if elected, he would back tax cuts and be tougher on terrorists than Coakley.

He also repeated a pledge to oppose Obama's health care reform effort.

"Massachusetts wants real reform and not this trillion-dollar Obama health care that is being forced on the American people," he said. "As the 41st [Republican] senator I will make sure that we do it better."

Forty-four percent of Massachusetts voters cited the economy and jobs as their top concern in a recent 7 News/Suffolk University poll. Thirty-eight percent mentioned health care as their top concern.

Voters more concerned with the economy were split almost evenly between the two candidates; voters more worried about health care narrowly supported Coakley.

Brown's surprising strength came in part because some independents and conservatives who have supported Democrats in the past were having second thoughts.

Democrats far outnumber Republicans in Massachusetts, but there are more independents than Democrats and Republicans combined.

Several Democratic sources said multiple Obama advisers have told the party they believe Coakley is going to lose. The sources said they still hoped Obama's weekend visit to the state, coupled with a late push by party activists, could tip the balance in her favor, but Obama aides have grown increasingly pessimistic since Friday.

Facing the possibility of Coakley's defeat, Democrats were trying to figure out if they could pass health care reform without that crucial 60th Senate vote. But top White House aides publicly insisted they are not engaging in any talk of contingency plans, because they believe Coakley will come out on top Tuesday.

The seat is currently held by former Kennedy aide and longtime friend Paul Kirk, who was appointed to the seat on an interim basis.

Galvin, the Democratic secretary of state, said last week that certifying Tuesday's election results could take more than two weeks -- potentially enough time to allow congressional Democrats to pass a final health care bill before Brown is seated, if he should win.

But multiple Democratic sources said this is unlikely. Even if House and Senate Democrats could reach a deal to meld their bills and pass them in the next couple of weeks, there would be a huge outcry from not only Republicans, but also an increasingly distrustful public if they appeared to be rushing it through.

Two Democratic sources in close contact with the White House told CNN on Monday they've urged the administration, in the event of a Brown victory, to push House Democrats to pass the Senate's health care bill as currently written. Doing so would prevent the plan from having to be taken up by the Senate again.

"I think the Senate bill clearly is better than nothing," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said Tuesday.

A third option would be for Democrats to revisit the idea of trying to push health care through the Senate with only 51 votes -- a simple majority.

But to do that Democrats would have to use a process known as reconciliation, which presents technical and procedural issues that would delay the process for a long time. A number of Democrats are eager to put the health care debate behind them and move on to economic issues such as job creation as soon as possible this election year.

Senate Democrats could also try again to get moderate GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine to vote for a compromise health reform plan. Multiple Democratic sources, however, have said they believe that is unlikely now.

CNN's Jim Acosta, Dana Bash, Kevin Bohn, Ed Henry, Ed Hornick, John King, Suzanne Malveaux, Shawna Shepherd, Jessica Yellin, Alan Silverleib and Tom Cohen contributed to this report.

 

[inine5]

Originally Posted by stevenxpham

Goodbye health care plan.

nail in the coffin......

 

[joe camel smooth]

scott brown with the win

 

[hombrelobo]

Damnnnnnnnnnnnn

 

[essential1]

Originally Posted by iNiNe5

Originally Posted by stevenxpham

Goodbye health care plan.

nail in the coffin......

Not at all.. Reconciliation.. They can put it through with 51 votes and have a much more progressive plan. A few people have already hinted/threatened it inthe Senate and word is the Obama Admin. is looking to re- hatch the plan to go more to the left and push reconciliation.

 

[jordanpp30]

 

[tfromthe617]

sooo long health care.

 

[antonlavey]

Brown went to Tufts.....cool I guess

 

[nyvictory45]

Essential, where are you hearing this from? I've read Obama plans to be more forceful in the coming months but i interpreted it that he would just be morehands-on, rather than more liberal. That would be interesting though if they brought back the public option, which supposedly a majority of people polledsupport, and just passed it with 51.

 

[mjd77]

Originally Posted by Tfromthe617

sooo long health care.

NO. Now they can start over and do it right.

 

[essential1]

Originally Posted by NYVictory45

Essential, where are you hearing this from? I've read Obama plans to be more forceful in the coming months but i interpreted it that he would just be more hands-on, rather than more liberal. That would be interesting though if they brought back the public option, which supposedly a majority of people polled support, and just passed it with 51.

Basically it's the talk around D.C.. It's not set in stone but it is what insiders are saying. Also Rahm plans on trying to become mayorof Chicago which is good news for Obama.. If Rahm goes he will have more of a chance for progressive initiative.


And there is little doubt in my mind that they go through with Reconciliation.. They won't get any votes from republicans (no matter what, they don'twant health care reform even if we use 99% of a bill they wrote).. And this way they can bypass Joe Lieberman, Max Baucus and Ben Nelson who are the reason wecouldn't get it through with 60 votes.. Currently we have 54 or so votes for a strong Public Option..

 

[8tothe24]

, Liberal Massachusetts saved the country from a mistake of a healthcarebill. Maybe now we can actually get healthcare reform instead of transform. Democrats would be stupid to force HC through, they fail to realize that the vastmajority of this country is not progressive. The change they want is not the same change most voted for.