(Thumbnail image: The Boston Globe)
“What was just unthinkable a few weeks ago, Massachusetts is now becoming a battleground state. A new poll shows the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Scott Brown, leading now his Democratic opponent, Martha Coakley, by four points.” (MSNBC)
The Senate seat held by iconic Democrat Ted Kennedy for nearly five decades might fall into Republican hands on Tuesday. Once thought a slam-dunk for Democrats—they now appear to be in serious trouble. In a state where Dems outnumber Republicans 3-to-1, all eyes are now on the special election that’s now being called a referendum on health care.
We’re taking a look at the shift with perspectives from MSNBC, Fox News, NBC News, Politico, and The Huffington Post.
The race is getting nasty and neither candidate was spared embarrassment this week. Video spread of a Coakley aide roughing up a conservative journalist, and a naked layout of Brown surfaced from a 1982 Cosmo Magazine.
But FOX News and the Today Show say embarrassments aside, the biggest reason the race is now a toss-up..is turnout.
LINE: “What this really comes down to is turnout, and this poll shows that there are expected to be a lot of independents showing up, and that Scott Brown is actually leading among those independents.”
“Nobody’s really sure of the group who’s going to turn out. How best do you actually measure who’s going to go out on a cold winter day and vote in an election that a lot of people still haven’t actually even heard about?”
Brown spent some time this week answering questions about a Tea Party fundraiser he was said to be involved in. But Politco’s Mike Allen says on MSNBC’s Morning Joe there’s more Tea Party trouble ahead, and it’s got a Democrat’s name written all over it.
“Getting three percent in the poll…enough to tip things is a Tea Party candidate, a Libertarian businessman. Usually that would be good for Democrats, siphoning away Republican votes, but his name is Joe Kennedy. What if Democrats vote for Joe Kennedy, the Tea Party guy, and not their own Democrat, clearing the way for Scott Brown the Republican? It could happen.”
Democrats fear losing their 60-vote majority in the Senate that’s critical to passing health care reform. But according to Politico, Republicans are all but doing a happy dance seeing this election as a sign of good things to come.
“While few have said so publicly, there is widespread recognition that a Brown victory in one of the most Democratic of states will go a long way for all Republican candidates, offering the clearest signal yet that voters are rejecting the ambitious Democratic agenda.”
The Huffington Post says before Dems start to panic, even if Brown wins, there’s still time to pass health care reform before he would get to the Senate.
“Secretary of State William F. Galvin, Massachusetts' top election official, said certifying Tuesday's results could take more than two weeks.
That delay could give Senate Democrats time [to] push Obama's signature legislation through Congress. Sen. Paul G. Kirk Jr., the interim replacement for the seat, says he will vote for the bill if given the chance.”
So would a GOP upset mean good things for Republicans going forward? Is it a referendum on the Democrats' agenda?
Writer: Chance Seales
