Scott Brown in dead heat with Martha Coakley for US Senate seat!
Incredible statewide grassroots effort! Bipartisan (and independent!) support fueled by outrage at status quo.
POSTED: Jan 13, 2010
After last month's primary elections for the US Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy, Republican Scott Brown was trailing Democrat Martha Coakley by 30 points in the polls.
No one in the media - and we mean no one - gave him a chance. Even the national Republican Party gave up on Brown and decided to withhold significant financial help.
But they underestimated the outrage sweeping the nation, and even Massachusetts. Barack Obama and the out-of-control Congress have lit a fuse across the country that's even reached ultra-blue Massachusetts. People are realizing that this election can change the course of America. Because of the US Senate's makeup, Scott Brown is literally the difference between the radical Obama agenda -- or any hope of a return to common sense.
By last week the Rasmussen Poll showed Brown down by just 9 points.
Now it's a statistical dead heat.
Yesterday the Rasmussen poll gave Coakley a slim 2 point lead overall, with Brown leading among independents who are likely to vote by 71%-23%. Also this week the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling announced the race a dead heat with Brown up by one, 48% to 47%.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that the Public Policy Poll found that likely Bay State voters oppose the Democratic health plans by 47% to 41% and that they give Barack Obama only 44% job approval -- after Obama carried this state by 26 points only 14 months ago. It also found Republicans much more motivated to vote than Democrats in this election.
Unprecedented grassroots effort and excitement becoming contagious
We haven't seen anything quite like this in Massachusetts Republican politics. By far, this race has generated more grassroots energy than any a Republican campaign in memory. People are excited. They are volunteering, making calls, fundraising, holding signs, stuffing envelopes, anything they can do. Normally moribund Republican Town Committees across the state are calling their lists of voters. Even people who voted for Obama are repenting.
Around the country people are getting involved. On Tuesday a "money bomb" campaign raised over $1.3 million in just 24 hours. (We've been told that the average donation was around $77 - regular people, not like the big-money donations that Coakley rakes in.) And a lot of money from national conservative groups is picking up the slack from the Republican Party's abandonment of Brown, buying pro-Brown ads in Massachusetts.
And Brown seems to be stepping up to the task. In recent emails we've reported that Brown's campaign was boring an unimaginative. It's gotten 100% better. It has real life. He is a very appealing candidate.
At the same time, the Coakley campaign is lackluster. Coakley has become what John McCain was - a Party's flag-bearer but not someone that anybody could get excited about or warm up to. Callers on the local talk shows are ridiculing everything from her strange diction to her absenteeism during the campaign.
Our MassResistance blog reported an anecdote that others have also noticed:
On the Tom and Todd show Tuesday morning (WRKO AM680), Bill Hudak (Republican candidate for Mass. Sixth Congressional Dist., North Shore) called in with a great anecdote on the Brown-Coakley debate Monday night.
He said that the union guys were out in force outside the building with big 4' x 8' Coakley signs. As Scott Brown arrived at the building, he went over and greeted the guys. Hudak overheard them tell Brown, "We're voting for you. We just got paid $50 to hold the signs."
When Coakley arrived, in typical arrogant liberal style, she walked right by the guys holding her signs without a word of acknowledgement.
It's a classic anecdote that describes the Coakley campaign perfectly.
Left-wing Worcester Telegram endorses Brown!
On Sunday, the left-wing Worcester Telegram (owned by the Boston Globe and New York Times) officially endorsed Scott Brown! In a bit of refreshing common sense they articulated what a difference Brown could make in Washington by stopping the Democratic juggernaut:
"That lockstep mentality and one-party rule has not served the people of Massachusetts well on Beacon Hill, but led to a culture of corruption and arrogance. The same has been true on Capitol Hill, where, whether under President Bush or President Obama, large majorities for one party or the other have led to complacency, overspending, and a willingness to shutter debates and muffle the voice of the people."
Read entire editorial here.
It's an exciting time. We think the out-of-touch-with-reality liberal establishment is in for a big shock.
Not surprisingly, the only other really exciting Republican election in recent years was when Scott Brown beat Angus McQuilken for the state Senate seat on March 2, 2004 -- also a special election. Sen. Cheryl Jacques, an activist lesbian, had resigned to run a national homosexual organization in Washington DC. McQuilken had been her chief of staff and had huge liberal support, and it looked like a slam dunk. But Republicans from around the state rallied to the cause and Brown won!
People forget that Ronald Reagan won twice in Massachusetts. It might happen again on Tuesday!
