Today is turning out to be a pretty busy day in Massachusetts the surprising center of the health care reform debate. As time passes the election is turning further and further in favor for the Republicans. This is after the fact that Democratic base has been lighting the proverbial fire under the collectives asses of the Massachusetts Democratic base. But what concerns the Democrat party officials is that their phone calls, emails, and advertisements are in fact working but the Democrats that are showing up are voting Republican.
What if the robust calling effort is turning out voters for Mr. Brown, instead?
A surprising poll by Gallup points out, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, that Massachusetts residents are no more likely than all Americans to identify themselves as Democrats. Only 35 percent of Massachusetts residents consider themselves Democrats, matching the national average.
A spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office said that by 9 a.m., two hours after the voting began, more than twice as many people had cast ballots than during the same time period in the December primary. That, of course, was long before the race became nationalized. By late afternoon word began slipping out of the White House of President Obama’s anger. To whom this anger is directed at has largely escaped the media.
In the meantime we are all anxiously awaiting the final vote count in Massachusetts where early exit polls have shown the Republican Scott ahead of Crazy Coakley.
But he also dismissed polls showing a swell of support for him. “I’ve never been a big poll person,” Brown said. “I’m up in some, I’m down in some. And we’ll see what happens, 8:01 (p.m.).” By 8pm eastern time we should have a clearer picture of the final numbers.
Voters faced backups at some polling stations, and Secretary of State William Galvin says he expected from 1.6 million to 2.2 million people to vote – a spread of between 40 percent and 55 percent of registered voters.
A light snow started falling steadily shortly after the polls opened north of Boston, covering roads and sidewalks with a slippery coating. Some voters in Haverhill, about 35 miles north of Boston, grumbled as they navigated snow banks and thick slush to get to the polls. National Weather Service meteorologist Charlie Foley called it “kind of an annoyance.”
Some voters, like 38-year-old computer programmer Sara Perry, said keeping the filibuster-proof majority in Congress was more appealing to her than Coakley herself. “I’m not a big fan of hers, but I really want to keep that balance,” she said.
Elsewhere, supporters who huddled under umbrellas with their Brown campaign signs said they were optimistic that his message – and his potential importance in the health care debate – is resonating with voters.
“People are tired of all of the back-room deals on health care and everything else. Nobody likes the secrecy, and this is a way to put the kibosh on that,” said John Pepper, a Republican from Cheshire, Conn., who took a day off from work to campaign for Brown in western Massachusetts.
In Washington, senior White House adviser David Axelrod said the White House expects Coakley to win. Axelrod said Obama, who campaigned with Coakley Sunday in Boston and cut a last-minute ad, did everything he could to help.
“I think the White House did everything we were asked to do,” Axelrod told reporters. “Had we been asked earlier, we would have responded earlier. But we responded in a timely fashion when we were asked.”
The swift rise of Brown has spooked Democrats who had considered the seat one of their most reliable. Kennedy, who died in August, held the post for 47 years. The last time Massachusetts elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate was 1972.
A Suffolk University survey taken Saturday and Sunday showed Brown with double-digit leads in three communities the poll identified as bellwethers: Gardner, Fitchburg and Peabody. But internal statewide polls for both sides showed a dead heat.
A third candidate, Joseph L. Kennedy, a Libertarian running as an independent, said he’s been bombarded with e-mails from Brown supporters urging him to drop out and endorse the Republican. Kennedy, who was polling in the single digits and is no relation to the late senator, said he’s staying in.
