Blades First off, I put "Brown vs. Coakley" because Brown comes first alphabetically, so let's not fight over that. Now, on to the sweet senate race deliciousness. Brown is leading in the polls, and if he wins it will likely derail healthcare. There are other far reaching implications with this election, since midterm elections are only 10 months away. In many ways this could be a referendum on Obama's first year, as well as on ObamaCare. Mass. is the bluest of blue states. Obama carried the state by 26 points. So, even a close brown loss could cause a lot of panic among more moderate democratis in purple (mix of red and blue) areas who had gone out on a limb to support ObamaCare. Additionally, every candidate that Obama has gone in to help campaign (Virg. and NJ governor's races) thusfar has lost. It's not that Obama loses elections for people, but if the dems can't hold this senate seat it becomes a strong indicator that Obama is unable to deliver elections for other people (something key to a president's success, being able to campaign and deliver close elections). Obviously feel free to discuss related matters here too. BONUS THREAD CONTENT: Make your predictions! Post them either in this thread or PM them to me and I'll update this OP with predictions throughout the day. Winner gets recognized for being a modern day nostradamus Sir Elliot: Brown by 4.5 Kstigs: Brown by 3
The fact that this is a referendum on the current health care bill or Obama is bullshit. The Democrats will still have a large majority of the Senate votes. If the Democrats wanted to pass a bill, they would've had it done months ago. The fact is they want to squeeze as much shit in it for themselves (and the special interests) as possible. As for Obama, what does this have to do with him? If anything, this is a referendum on the Democrats, not just Obama. My prediction is that Brown will win by 3 points, but I really have no idea what's going to happen.
IMO this race in Massachusetts is a perfect example of how utterly fucking retarded our political system is. I've been watching the race closely, since its outcome will have such large ramifications with regard to health care, and it never ceases to amaze me how broken this system is. In the event that Brown overtakes Coakley for the Senate seat, the Democrats have already been scrambling to try to get a compromised version of their health care bill through before they lose the super-majority if Brown wins. Bear in mind, ~60% of Americans do not approve of the proposed health care initative by the administration, and apparently part of the reason Brown is doing so well in Mass. is because Mass. citizens have been living with a version of universal health care for some time in their state, and they don't like it, according to CBS. Apparently none of this matters to the Democratic party, all they want to do is a get a bill passed regardless of the preferences of the American people who they are supposed to be representing. It also doesn't seem to matter to Democrats that Mass. citizens with first-hand universal health care experience are working to oppose it, if only by getting Brown into office. All of these messages go unheeded by Democrats because they're too absorbed in their own private agendas, and those of the lobbyists who stuff their pockets. Instead of being reasonable, taking a step back and perhaps reevaluating their health care agenda, they want to push it through in whatever broken form they can. It has nothing to do with serving the American people, as if we didn't already know this... It's all partisan politics and special-interests.
The system is flawed because politicians treat it as a job instead of a responsibility. They only care about making themselves look good, and if not bringing up the deeper problems in society is a way to do that, you can bet that they won't.
To be honest, scott brown may win just because people here think martha is so fucking annoying, she has 10+ TV ads out now and not a single one mentions her they're all attacking Brown. Plus, brown is calling eople left and right, my phone just rang and I had a 10 minute conversation with Brown's volunteer.
Lets get something straight right now; Kennedy occupied that seat for over FOUR DECADES. That's nearly half a century of hard core liberal democrat bungling. Don't you think it is about time that the people of Mass get to try something a little different? Maybe a little bit of hope and change for those poor folks. Obama and the dems are in huge trouble in 2010. Chris Matthews, Chuck Todd and the gang are sincerly worried that Obama is going to ignore the warning signs and dig the democrats hole even deeper.
Keep in mind, this Senate seat was first held by JOHN F KENNEDY (JFK) who won it in the 1952 election. Kennedy held it from 52-60, when he won the Presidency. From 60-62 Ben Smith, JFK's college roommate held the seat. Seriously, I'm not kidding. JFK and Smith were roommates at Harvard. In 1962 Teddy won the seat, and held it LITERALLY until the day he died in 2009. This seat has been the Kennedy family seat for 57 years. No matter how this election turns out, I'm just glad a Kennedy is no longer holding the seat. The Senate is not the House of Lords. Other neat historical fact. The 1960 race of Kennedy vs Nixon... Nixon's VP candidate was Henry Cabot Lodge Jr (another scion of a power family dynasty)... Lodge Jr. was the man that Kennedy beat in 1952 to win the Senate seat in the first place. Lodge's grandfather (yes, HCL Jr. was the grandson of HCL Sr.) beat JFK's grandfather for that same seat in 1916. And George Cabot, the great-great grandfather of HCL Sr. was the very first senator from Mass. under the Constitution (as opposed to the Articles of Confederation).
As someone who lives here and voted today: If Martha loses, it will be entirely her fault. She has run a poor campaign and has said some things that were bad things to say. For example, she called Curt Schilling a yankees fan. You don't do that here. While baseball has little to do with politics, baseball and the Red Sox trump religion and politics combined. Also, she has done little to build up support while Brown has been driving across the state for a month meeting people face to face. He is simply a more likable guy. That being said, I voted for Coakley because I support the health care reform. I don't think either candidate was particularly qualified for the job. After all, Brown's biggest claim to fame is his pick up truck. Why a lawyer needs a pick up, I don't know. His only political experience is being a state senator which isn't much of a job. The people in the house do most of the work. I voted for Capuano in the primary. I'm sure he would have done a better job.
Yea, it's been awhile since I've seen a good piece of legislation make it through Congress, especially with regards to health care. If all Coakley is going to do is be another Democrat towing the party line, I can't see why you'd support her. On a related note, I think the polls are now closed, so hopefully we will hear of a winner within the next several hours.
If it is anything less than a decisive victory it will end up just like the Colman/Franken race. The Democrats will simply go to court and whittle down any Republican lead until it evaporates completely.
prolly, or just a shitload of recounts. 20%reporting, 52%,brown 47%coakley, 1%kennedy. its gonna be close as hell
57% reporting, 53-46 brown. It would now require a miracle for her to win. It just isn't mathmatically possible. We're now in landslide territory. Stick a fork in her. She's done.