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MA-Sen: Results Thread

by: James L.

Tue Jan 19, 2010 at 8:00 PM EST


Polls have now closed in Massachusetts, as Martha Coakley and Scott Brown square off to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate. In the primary, we got our first nibble of results fifteen minutes after polls closed, so hopefully we won't be waiting too long for the first trickle of numbers to come in tonight.

RESULTS: Boston Globe | Associated Press | The Boston Channel | WBZTV

RESOURCES: Town benchmarks (Wasserman's chart) | Jeff's projection model

9:33PM: (Crisitunity): Coakley missed most of her baselines:
Agawam 35/64 (should've been 41/57 under 2008 model)
Andover 41/58 (should've been 44/55)
Braintree 37/62 (should've been 38/60)
Fall River 57/41 (should've been 61/38)
Needham 52/47 (should've been 54/45)
New Bedford 59/39 (should've been 62/37)
Springfield 61/37 (should've been 65/34)
Wellesley 50/50 (should've been 53/46)
Westfield 36/62 (should've been 41/57)
Fitchburg was 40/59, almost exactly how Suffolk pegged it. (Should've been 48/50, the biggest underperformance I've seen.)
But we beat the spread in Belmont:  59/40 (should've been 57/41)
and Quincy was right on: 46/53 (should've been 46/52)
9:23PM: The Associated Press has called this one for Big Brown. Say hello to your newest Senator from Massachusetts: Republican Scott Brown!
9:23PM: Coakley has conceded, according to Cillizza.
9:20PM: With two-thirds of the vote in, Jeff's model has nudged up to somewhere between 47.7 and 47.94% for Coakley.
9:13PM: 1405 precincts are now in, and Brown is holding firm at 53-46. I don't see how Coakley wins this, but look on the bright side, Democrats: at least they'll be a special election for Scott Brown's Senate seat! Democrats only have a 34-5 margin of control in that body!
9:04PM: 1298 precincts in, and Brown leads by almost 90,000 votes. (53-46) Coakley's on pace to end up somewhere between 47.6-47.8%.
9:03PM: Using the Jeff model, Coakley is on pace to 47.5% ('08) or 47.85% ('96). Not looking so hot.
8:58PM: 980 precincts are in, and Brown leads by 52-47.
8:55PM: 875 precincts are now in, and Brown is up 53-46. Wasserman tweeted earlier that he thinks that Scott Brown has won.
8:54PM: Sorry folks -- we're getting utterly slammed with traffic tonight and the site is experiencing some server issues.
8:51PM: 738 precincts are in, and Brown leads 52-47.
8:40PM: We're up to 445 precincts now, and Brown is holding onto his 53-46 lead (or a 33,000 vote gap).
8:35PM: 283 precincts in, and Brown still leads by 53-46 (or about 18,000 votes).
8:32PM: 243 precincts in, and Brown's up to 53-46.
8:29PM: Jeff: Under his 2008 model, Coakley is projected to win 49.2% of the vote based on the returns so far. But using the 1996 model, she's projected to win 52.5%. Still a nailbiter.
8:27PM: 143 precincts in, and Brown leads 51-48.
8:22PM: 116 (of 2168) precincts are now in, and Brown leads by 52-47.
8:20PM: From Jeff: "Coakley's underperforming the baseline by just a little bit. Model sez 48.7% Coakley by 2008; 49.8% Coakley by 1996." Of course, we know that the model is not perfect, but this is looking pretty tight so far.
8:18PM: 36 precincts are now in, and Brown has a 10-point lead.
8:14PM: The AP has a few numbers in from 12 precincts, where Scott Brown leads by 54-45.
8:10PM: Rasmussen just released some details on their e-night poll. Among those who decided in the last few days, Coakley has a 47-41 advantage. Among those who made up their mind over a month ago, Coakley has a "big advantage". I guess this race hinges on just how well Brown is going among those who made up their mind within the past month, but not within the past few days.
James L. :: MA-Sen: Results Thread
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MA-Sen: Results Thread | 214 comments
Please!
please please let Martha Coakley win! I just finished reading Kennedy's memoir and I really don't want a teabagger to have this seat  

17, Gay Male, Democrat, NJ-8  
Lets hope


Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
[ Parent ]
Lets hope


Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
[ Parent ]
Lets hope


Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
[ Parent ]
Lets hope


Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
[ Parent ]
Biggest Campaign F**K Up
I think this along with Hillary losing the Democratic Primary to Obama have to be the 2 biggest campaign blunders since Dewey's loss to Truman.

30 points in 3 weeks. Wow. Her campaign staff should never ever be hired again. Also, someone should challenge Coakley for her AG seat next election. It can't be hard to take it.

Campaign Management Malpractice
cant agree enough... Kevin Conroy should have been tossed out when the DC folks came in to try to bail things out.  With that said, the ultimate boss of the campaign is the candidate, and Coakley did herself, the party, health care insurance reform and Uncle Teddy's legacy a great disservice.

[ Parent ]
At The End of the Day
It's the people's decision and we all have to respect that, whether they vote for Coakley or Brown. Not everybody reads this blog and forms their opinion that way.
Happy to be with you folks, whatever the outcome
I think we can probably still keep a decent SNR here.
Rasmussen
An exit poll with Ras's special sauce
Wonderful. . .
[ Parent ]
Yeah interesting
Basically, it depends on people who decided between over a month ago and the last few days.
[ Parent ]
22%?
22% of Democrats voting for Brown.....very bad

But Ras. did have Coakley up 2 points in their last poll right?  

17, Gay Male, Democrat, NJ-8  

[ Parent ]
Yeah
LOoked very positive until that bit. Can she win losing that many Dems? I doubt it if indies are 65-35.
[ Parent ]
Coakley
She only had 77% of Democrats in his previous poll with her up by 2% with all by 2% of voters accounted for, so we'll see.
[ Parent ]
Those numbers fit the story
by this pollster.  Coakley won those who made their mind early (hard core partisans) big, Coakley won late deciders narrowly, Brown won big those who made their decision in the last month (independents).  Likely result is a narrow Brown victory.
[ Parent ]
22% of Dems voting for Brown =
Brown victory.
[ Parent ]
If 22% of Dems are voting Brown, he's winning by double-digits


For daily political commentary, visit me at http://polibeast.blogspot.com/ and http://twitter.com/polibeast
[ Parent ]
Commenting from Switzerland
where it's now 2:10 AM so hoping this ends soon ! No ganja breaks allowed.
yeah
i am in the airport in bangkok and hoping it will be called (or look good) before the flight!  
[ Parent ]
Coakley balmming WH and National Dems
Did anyone see the Coakley memo blasting other Dems and blaming the Coakley polling on the underwear bomber and Wall Street bailout?

The Atlantic does a nice job blowing up the major points in the memo.

Coakley is a joke.

With all of 0.32% in...
Model says:

51-49 Coakley using 08
43-57 Brown using 96.

12 of 2168
Source

Brown 6,931
Coakley 5,766
Fake Kennedy 123

54-44 Brown so far
according to MSNBC

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
****
Brown opens up a 10 point lead in early returns.

19, Male, Independent, CA-12
Note that Brown's outperforming Romney '02 in the Worcester area


For daily political commentary, visit me at http://polibeast.blogspot.com/ and http://twitter.com/polibeast
Not looking good
But who knows?
Coakley's underperforming the baseline...
by just a little bit.

1.52% below 2008
0.40% below 1996

Model sez 48.7% Coakley by 2008; 49.8% Coakley by 1996.

F This
I'm going to play Burnout Paradise, I can't watch.

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)
Coakley at 61% in Concord
which is pretty good, mixed results so far. I suppose it may all depends on where turnout is higher.
links
boston globe is dead.

http://elections.cbslocal.com/... is the most up to date.

2010 Race Tracker Wiki

these towns are completely in
Ashland, Bolton, Gosnold, Holland, Middleton, Monroe, Oxford, Southampton

Brown won every one except Monroe, which went narrowly for Coakley

Should I watch these returns?
I think I am going to be sick. I never thought this would happen. Ughh!!!

Brown 52 Coakley 47

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  

Am I reading it right or is she overperforming
What she needs in Concord, Cambridge, Lowell and Springfield?
That's correct
I am reading it like that too, although Springfield and Cambridge still have a lot to report. Concord and Lowell are great news, however.
[ Parent ]
Lowell almost completely in
69/29 Coakley

see, that time working in Lowell paid off

Only down 5% now
We're still in it.

NY-14, DC-AL (college) Distraught Mets fan
Live Election Coverage
The Boston Channel link has a live video feed on their site if you don't want to just stare at numbers all night
Coakley at 69% in Lowell
That's outperforming Obama with 94% of precincts in. So some signs of at least a little hope.
..
She joined the DA's office in 1986 as an Assistant District Attorney in the Lowell, Massachusetts District Court office. A year later, she was invited by the U.S. Justice Department to join its Boston Organized Crime Strike Force as a Special Attorney.

Lowell doesn't forget!

[ Parent ]
Apparently they do!
Brown won Lowell 52-47.

I'm just glad that the best parts of Mass to live in (Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, etc) were strongly pro-Coakley.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/

[ Parent ]
Look at the number of votes
that is likely a mistake.
[ Parent ]
how does lowell have 33 precincts but less than
500 votes (according to AP)?  Typo?
[ Parent ]
Yep a mistake it appears
The Globe now shows only 9% precincts in at Lowell.
[ Parent ]
However
She leads with a 331 to 138 margin there, let's hope it expands further !
[ Parent ]
Is there a map or something?
I have no idea how to compare the baselines as some of those places aren't listed in the baselines diary.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
Boston.com

[ Parent ]
All the baselines:
[ Parent ]
New Update...
Coakley's splitting the baselines. 1.1% above 96, 1.6% under 08.

Translates to 49.2% under 2008, 52.5% under 1996.

Is 49.2 enough
for Coakley to win?? Too close to call?
[ Parent ]
3%
The trend's good.
early stuff from
Springfield: 80/19 good guys
Worcester: 75/23 good guys
Cambridge: 88/11 good guys
Lynn: 78/20 good guys

all with under 5% in

Lynn reports more in
51/48 good guys
[ Parent ]
Getting close
And little from Cambridge, Springfield, and Worcester. Nothing from Boston.
Oof
17,000
Make that
24,000 by Boston.com (I have three different pages constantly updating, and they all go in bursts)
[ Parent ]
If you asked me, I'd say that 2008
is the more relevant baseline for current partisanship. But then, they're both worryingly close right now.  
Model convergence?
49.31% under 08
50.04% under 96
not good
Brown w/ 53% per WBZTV (238/2168 reporting)

16, Male, Democrat, CA-42/sometimes CA-32.
Little vote from Democratic cities yet
It will be clearer soon.
[ Parent ]
Hm
winning Nantucket by 3 points is kind of discouraging
53 45
msnbc

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
The polls are looking to be right: Brown by 3-5
But we've still yet to hear from Boston, I think.
lol
despite the Boston Globe calling Cohasset for Coakley before the polls even closed, she actually got smashed there. It's not terrible news because it's a small town and it's the type of place that Brown needs to overperform in to win, but the margin by which she got beat is a bit discouraging.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
Everett County
Brown is getting 47% there. By comparison, McCain got 33% there in 2008. That's not good. For you Democrats, anyways
Everett is a town, not a county eom


21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
[ Parent ]
Not All Bad News...
..but I do not like what I see. Big margins for Brown in Worcester burbs and some of the parts of Metrowest I thought Coakley would do OK in.  

I like the Lowell and Worcester numbers, but have no idea what parts of those cities they come from.  

36, M, Democrat, MD-03

Down
18,000 by AP
yikes!
Woburn is fully in according to the AP and Brown won 59-40. Coakley's going to need to do some major overperforming in the Democratic strongholds. FWIW Concord is fully in and she won 61%,

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
It's tightening up, which is good for Coakley
Only 10 of the 254 Boston precincts have reported yet, but Stephen Lynch said that in Southie there were very few Coakley signs and lots of homemade Brown signs.
Drop from Obama's number
From the 77 towns that are 100% in, she is experiencing a drop from Obama's numbers of 14.58% (unweighted, pure percentage average) and 15.43% (weighted based on total people who voted in the towns).

This number has to get down to 12%  

sorry guys
Unless the Democratic strongholds start bucking (and STRONGLY bucking) the overall trend of the state, this one will be called for Brown soon.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
[ Parent ]
Well
Turnout was high in the areas Brown won. He kept consistent with the 8,000+ votes that McCain got in Woburn, while Coakley dropped significantly. It also looks like turnout and vote margin might not be high enough in Boston, if the following precincts are like the ones so far.
Are we really going to break 2M votes?
That would be something for a tuesday in the middle of winter.  
What Coakley needs
Massive pickups in Cambridge (should get it), Boston (not so sure if it will be enough), Lowell, and Pittsfield, among others.
Coakley has called Brown to concede
An adviser of Brown's says
doesn't surprise me.
NO idea why the news outlets haven't called it yet. Sorry guys it's not happening.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
[ Parent ]
Coakley concedes
Report is that Coakley has conceded and has called to congratulate Brown.
eww
Brown won Barnstable (where Hyannis is located) big. This night just sucks.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
Well
Damn.

Independent Socialist & Chair of SSP Cranky Indianian Hoosier Caucus, IN-09
[ Parent ]
It's over
AP just called it for Brown.

19, Male, Independent, CA-12
Looks like it's over
Margin still even getting wider. Thanks a lot Coakley.
Coakley screw-up
Rasmussen proves it.

"Among those who decided how they would vote in the past few days, Coakley has a slight edge, 47% to 41%.
Coakley also has a big advantage among those who made up their mind more than a month ago."

In believe that juxtaposes when she was actively campaigning and when she wasn't.  

[ Parent ]
Wow, what a spectacular flameout
This must be a sad day for Democrats. I wonder if Uncle Teddy is spinning in his grave right now?
And why the hell is my blog link disabled?

[ Parent ]
Never mind, I just read the Daily Digest

[ Parent ]
Sigh
We march forward.  
Exactly
This is extremely disappointing, should not have happened, etc., but no one ever won an election by finger-pointing or blaming.  This is politics, an on-going battle that ebbs and flows, and as you say, we march forward.
[ Parent ]
Yeah we march forward that's true
And Scott Brown will have this seat for roughly 25 months. But HCR wll move backwards forever.
[ Parent ]
Time for the GOP
to have to get involved in the legislative process.  Let's see them get some blood on their hands.  In fact, we should make a point to include as many of them as possible in whatever way that we can legislatively.  Make every bill as bi-partisan as possible and lets make sure we tie them to whatever we can.

And Obama needs to start having some frank discussions with the American people.  His message of hope and change needs to be completely redone and be a lot more brutally honest, and also maybe get a bit wonky with it because it's very clear that the stimulus did some great things, but most would ever know that.

And the House certainly needs to stop passing bills before the Senate.  That shouldve ended awhile ago.

[ Parent ]
Bi-partisanship caused this mess
The GOP has no intention of cooperating on anything. And why should they? The strategy just helped them win a senate seat in Massachusetts.
[ Parent ]
Bi-partisanship and big tent fetishism.
I'll say it again: conservatism is the enemy, no matter what color they paint the map.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
No having a bad candidate
Created this mess. If Coakley was start and never stop campaigning after the primsry she would of won. It's plain and simple.  
[ Parent ]
Agree
I meant the general environment. Baucus dragging things out with Grassley and Enzi.
[ Parent ]
Oh that's where you were going at when you said that
Then you make a good point. This would of been wrapped up months ago if Baucus and Conrad etc. wasn't trying to get that one GOP vote, which they failed doing.  
[ Parent ]
Idk
Seems like a perfect storm, w/ out the national environment Coakley prevails. So basically crappy candidate + bad environment + decent GOP candidate and campaign = Only way Republicans can win in Massachusetts at federal level.  
[ Parent ]
While that is true...
...good candidates can lose in bad political environments while bad (or at most subpar) candidates can win and good political environments.  While Corzine, Deeds, and Coakley all had abundant problems, we probably would have won two of those three (Corzine and Coakley) in a better climate.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
True
But here are the differences, before we never needed bi-partisanship, but we do now.

We can pass our own jobs bill, and then let the GOP write entirely their own and pass both.

[ Parent ]
There was and is always a difference
Negotiating for sixty votes is hard when dealing with people who represent states than lean to the other party. As I've said before when there are ten (now eleven) Repubs and Lieberman in Obama states and ten Democrats in McCain states there has to be some give and take. Sixty liberals is impossible. Bi-partisan in the sense of getting actual GOP votes is a joke because the most liberal Republican is still well to the right of the most conservative Dem. Which is why it is ridiculous when conservatives complain congress passing a HCR bill without bi-partisan support when their side is not acting in good faith.
[ Parent ]
Game over, can't make up 100,000-vote margin...
...with the precincts that are left.

Funny how Cambridge has had only one precinct reporting, after I read somewhere tonight (can't remember where) that Cambridge is "fast" and reports right away.  But even if Coakley wins every precinct there by 900 votes like she did the first one, that makes up roughly just one-third of the margin, and Boston, too, isn't looking like it can make up anywhere near enough.

It's in the ballpark of what I thought it would be the past couple days, basically a mid-single digit margin.  No question her failure to do persuasion in December and early January cost her victory.  But the anti-Democratic environment, too, cost her 5-10 points, so what would have been maybe a 10-point win even with her bad campaign in a neutral environment instead became a defeat.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

Brookline will make up some of that margin too, Taunton might
still some Brown towns haven't reported yet. I'm guessing it will end up around Brown 52 Coakley 47.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
[ Parent ]
Will there be another election this year?


Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
Ummm....noooooooooooo
This particular seat is up for election in 2012, so Mr. "Get Buck Naked for the Camera," Brown is going to get two years of experience as a Senator.  
[ Parent ]
Special elections
I think Senators serving out another's term face a special election within two years of their start date (unless they served the final portion of the term).  Does this special election negate that?  

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
Depends what cycle
Teddy was re-elected in 2006 so this special is to complete his term and the seat will be up again in 2012.
[ Parent ]
Depends on State Law
This seat will be up again in 2012.
[ Parent ]
CNN has just projected a Brown win
On bright side, Coakley's political career is all but over and Dems will never again take a race for granted in MA. Not that this doesn't sooth the massive hit will be to the Democratic party.
Coakley's
isn't going to be the attorney general next year, either she'll be forced to retire or she will be primaried. This doesn't bode well for Deval Patrick as well. Deval Patrick is facing Corzine like approval ratings and 2 very credible opponents in the general election in November. If Charlie Baker or Tim Cahill can replicate Brown's strategy, Deval Patrick is done.

19, Male, Independent, CA-12
[ Parent ]
Patrick
The governor is far from done. He's unpopular, sure. But the three-way race leaves him with a reasonably good chance of winning.

But sure, how is Coakley's career not over after this?

[ Parent ]
Cannot
think of anyway in which Coakley can carry on after this disaster. She shoulders so much of the blame for the loss that I really can't imagine her in office after the next election.  
[ Parent ]
You know, a lot of pols would have done what Coakley did......
You're a Democrat up by 20 in polling in mid-December for a January special in the quintessential liberal state.  Voters are thinking about Christmas and New Year's.

Yes Coakley fucked up.  Bigtime.  And maybe Capuano or someone else might not have taken victory for granted......but are we so sure?  Everyone says Capuano would have fared better......but who's to say if he pulled off the big upset over Coakley he wouldn't have gotten a big head and also mailed it in for today?

We learned a lesson tonight, a critical one about campaigning.

But really, this will happen again.  Not this year, and maybe not in 2012 or 2014 or even 2016.  But one day this one will be a distant memory, albeit one everyone remembers and talks about (with disgust on our side), but still distant, and we'll reach the point that we laugh off the neverending truly misguided efforts to analogize so many races in the 2018 midterms to Brown-Coakley 2010.  And then we'll get burned again.  And so it goes.

Tonight sucks, it hurts, and even having braced myself for defeat it still hurts a lot once it actually happens.

I don't know what Obama and Congressional Democrats will do now.  Actually, Obama will push them to do health care anyway.  And he's right.  But the question is whether Congress now will run scared and bury their heads, not realizing they're really just digging their graves by doing that.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

[ Parent ]
I doubt it will ever happen again
Not until this race is a very distant memory and those running for office have all forgotten.

But lesson learned, when you are sitting on MILLIONS in campaign cash, fucking spend it and dont sit on your ass!

[ Parent ]
I could buy the Christmas/New Years argument
But her first ad went up January 7. What a joke. House progressives are just gonna have to suck it up and vote for the senate bill or November will be a hell of a lot worse. I wonder how many more retirements this leads to? Sigh. It didn't have to be this way.  
[ Parent ]
You're totally right, but they won't do it......
Anthony Weiner says the Senate bill is "bad" for NYC.

Bad compared to WHAT???  Today's system?

The House should suck it up and pass the Senate bill, and at least we have reform and we can claim a real and major accomplishment.

Unfortunately they think they have to tack toward the economy and jobs, and what's so short-sighted about that is that there's little they can do that they haven't already done.  Theypassed the stimulus and it was a good thing and it's helped stop the bleeding, and the Fed's loose money policy also has helped stop the bleeding, as did the bailouts.  But none of it is popular because unemployment is still 10%, which the public doesn't conscientiously realize is ultimately because there's little government CAN do to speed up recovery and jobs.  Anything Congress does this year on the recession will be cosmetic, won't make anything better, and they'll just look that much more incapable of helping people.

If only they focus on what they CAN control, like enacting the Senate health care bill and then TRYING to do financial industry reform, then they at least look like they might be able to govern.

But walking away from health care because we're "down" to a 59-41 Senate majority AND we still have a 257-178 House majority just makes Democrats look incompetent.

Sadly, I'm now bracing myself for a true bloodbath in November, with losing the House a 50-50 possibility.  Losing the Senate still is much less than 50-50 simply because there aren't 9 more seats to be lost without running campaigns as bad as Coakley's in some of them, which is highly unlikely now that Coakley's loss serves as a wake-up call to take campaigning seriously.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

[ Parent ]
19 campaign events in 40 days
Lazy. Chuck Grassley visits all 99 Iowa counties every single year.
[ Parent ]
FUCK
FUCK THIS ALL!!!!!!! DEMOCRATS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IDIOTS AND ALWAYS WILL BE! I swear if I hear one word out of Glen Beck's big mouth then I will explode! Right now Im too pissed off to say anything else. Im going to bed! Night everyone  

17, Gay Male, Democrat, NJ-8  
Oh calm the hell down
The whole party isn't to blame. Coakley is, she's the one that made gaffes, come off like and stopped campaigning for a month. The whole party isn't to blame here so relax. Al this means HCR is dead and Mitt Romney WILL be the next President of the U.S. in two years.

In other words fuck you Martha and fuck you Massachussetts. Have fun having a tea bagger for atleast two years.  

[ Parent ]
Its not just Massachusetts
its the whole country. Our nation is turning anti-democratic VERY fats. My dad was always a teabagger-like person while my mom and sister were Democrats in 2008 and voted for Hillary in the primary. My sister is now a teabagger and is proud of it and my mom repeatably says she'd vote for McCain if the election was today. Democrats have a big problem nationwide. Its not just Mass  

17, Gay Male, Democrat, NJ-8  
[ Parent ]
They don't have a big problem
There going through a year which will be bad for them because there the party in power and add in the fact Martha Coakley was a bad candidate. This has nothing to do with the nation aledgely becoming anti-Democrat. Also your mom is clueless is she thinks McCain would fix everything in a blink of a eye. Sorry your wrong.
[ Parent ]
Don't have a big problem?
First, New Jersey and Virginia. Now the Dem loses in Massachusetts. When does it become a problem? Seriously, the sky isn't yet falling but it is quite clearly raining outside.
[ Parent ]
That's a great line.
"...the sky isn't yet falling but it is quite clearly raining outside."  

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
Of course there is a problem
But candidates and campaigns matter. Deeds and Coakley were terrible and Corzine was an incumbent with terrible job approvals. Much more to it than to say it is just the environment.
[ Parent ]
True, if Capuano wins
the primary Scott Brown is likely in the ash heap of history. However, to deny the environment to is to argue against reality. Unless your Neo in the Matrix, reality always wins.  
[ Parent ]
You make a point
Sure the environment would of brought out some more voters for Brown but if Dems in the state would of elected someone competent in the primary like Capuano Brown still wouldn't of won. You can't ignore the invironment but like what the previous poster said, candidates and campaigns matter, it really does and it shows in NJ-GOV, VA-GOV and MA-SEN.
[ Parent ]
I agree.
Thank you so damn much conservadems for dragging your feet, kneecapping the Democratic agenda, and fighting against popular provisions like the public option.  Now, we have nothing to show for our majorities, a base that keeps getting ignored at best, and a fired up Republican base.  

This was SUPPOSED to be another promising cycle before this shit started.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.

[ Parent ]
Dude, you really need to chill
From your username, I'm assuming you're in high school or early college.  I've been an active Democrat (and an openly gay one) for a long time, and remember the disappointments of 1994, 2000, 2004, etc.  I also remember the triumphs -- working on Paul Wellstone's campaign in 1990, Julia Carson's tough re-election in 2002, and of course 2008.  People voting for our candidates in those elections weren't idiots.  Neither were our candidates.  Neither am I -- or you.  So get a good nights sleep, and get ready to go back to fighting the good fight tomorrow.
[ Parent ]
He does have a point though
And that's because Democrats try to legislate and do what's right, Republicans do what's popular and what will get them to win.  They're great at cutting taxes but when it comes time to cut spending, they know they cant do it like they would want to because it isnt popular while tax cuts are, and they do it extremely irresponsibly.

Maybe it wasn't always like this, but as a 23 year old who hasnt gotten to follow along for decades, it is very clear to me that Democrats are whimps and they created this anti-Democratic mood themselves with them screwing up HCR so badly.  The GOP knows how to play ball and we work in good faith in a system where good faith gets abused.

[ Parent ]
Exactly.
NOTHING can be blamed on the Republicans (Maybe that's the silver lining of this race.  At least we can maybe blame the Republicans again.).  

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
They created this mess?
Don't fault everyone in the party, why don't you go out and blame the conservatdems who dragged their feet for months on this. How bout the tea bsggers who stormed the town hall meetings and spread lies about the death panels. Sorry but your partially wrong on this.
[ Parent ]
if you go through all my comments
You'll see I blame conservadems quite a lot.  I do not identify with them whatsoever and I think they are self-fish.  They want the benefits of being in our party but will do nothing to lift a finger for us as a whole, such as sucking it up and voting for something they dont necessarily like so we can get the good publicity and further the party.

I dont go as rigid in my belief of this but to be a political party, you really do have to stand for something, and us having such a huge sect of non-liberals in our party who care very little about excelling the party and getting us our victories and care more about their power as being in the middle and the deciders, ie Lieberman.

And in fact, thank you for calling me out a bit on this.

[ Parent ]
Perhaps ...
But what are we going to do?  I think you're right that HCR was screwed up, and that contributed to SOME of the anti-Democratic mood.  However, some of it just comes with the territory.  While Obama was dealt the worst hand since Lincoln or FDR, it's been his hand to play for a year, and I don't think there's much he could have done to prevent the party from taking an electoral hit.

But take heart -- midterm losses do not necessarily mean the bottom is out of the tub.  We know what happened in 1994, and Bill Clinton turned out OK (of course, the huge downside is that he was pushed to the right).  In 1982, Republicans lost 27 seats in the House, and Ronald Reagan did pretty well in 1984!

I don't want to give the impression I'm not pissed about tonight, as we lost a seat that should have been a slam dunk, and it really does hurt HCR.  But this is not the end of the political world.

[ Parent ]
Thank You Indiana Progressive
GT4Obama you do need to chill, I suspect it's because your young and overactive but it's not the end of the world although it feels like it. Take his advice at heart because the man's got a point.
[ Parent ]
I had
a sick feeling this race was turning into New Jersey in November. Coakley like Corzine surged towards the end, but the independents were in Brown's camp and nothing Coakley could do would lure them away.  

19, Male, Independent, CA-12
When she actually campaigned
She did well. Absolutely unforgivable. This is almost entirely down to going dark for a month and letting Brown define himself.
[ Parent ]
"When she actually campaigned"?
As long as you're not including her braindead comments on Curt Schilling and Fenway Park in your definition of "campaigning"...
[ Parent ]
I thought she was kidding
about Schilling being a Yankees fan, but the interviewer took it as a serious comment.
[ Parent ]
Rasmussen has no reason to lie
People deciding a month ago went for her and same again with people making their mind up in the last few days. That gap is yawning.
[ Parent ]
Yep
Coakley's political career is over. Anything she runs for ever again, she will get her ass kicked. Probably won't even be AG for much longer.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
Unbelievable
So Massachusetts just voted to repudiate Teddy Kennedy and "the cause of his life," damning the Party is has supported steadfastly since the years of JFK.

I find it hard not to freak out about this.  The only State that supported George McFreakingGovern in 1972 just voted for a Republican for federal office.  It just voted to destroy the Democratic agenda in Washington.  It just voted for a more conservative health care bill, since it seems that the ping-ponging strategy will have to be used now.

How the hell did this happen?

Oh come on Sean
You know damn well how this happened. It's been explained here millions of times.
[ Parent ]
Obviously, tempers are running a bit high
I'm not saying that I'm going to pretend to be surprised.  A flawed candidate, a failure in GOTV, a well-funded GOP effort:  I know how this individual circumstance came to be.

My point is simply to put things in context, Tim.  I'm not usually wont to pessimism, but this result is horrifying.  Yes, Coakley made massive mistakes, but one would have thought the margin of error would have been high enough in Massachusetts of all places.

It's simply astonishing to me that Massachusetts would vote to derail health care reform.  That's my main concern tonight.

[ Parent ]
Getting
a more progressive Health Care bill is dead as of tonight. Joe Lieberman is already crying that Democrats need to be more "centrist" and maybe HCR wasn't the best thing to do. Tomorrow morning he's going to yank his support for the bill and take Lincoln, Ben Nelson, and Landrieu with him. We can still force the house to swallow the senate bill, but that's going to take a lot of arm twisting, but Pelosi has pulled through before.  

19, Male, Independent, CA-12
[ Parent ]
They didn't repudiate Kennedy......
They simply weren't thinking about Ted Kennedy.  They let him go emotionally awhile ago.  They were simply moving on, moving forward, looking ahead.

My only real concern now is health care.  I've assumed it's dead with a Brown win, if for no other reason than that Congressional Democrats now will run scared rather than avail themselves of any of the options for getting this done even after a Brown win.  If they charge ahead and get it done anyway, I will be proud and consider the political price worth it.  But if they bury their heads in the sand like I think they will, all they've worked for will have been in vain, as they'll get slaughtered this November anyway.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

[ Parent ]
Are you kidding?
All this means that the Senate Bill will be passed straight through the House. I hope Dems are smarter than letting healthcare die. If Democrats don't pass anything, say goodbye to all the branches of Government.  
[ Parent ]
Should be able to get some of the no votes
For it since they view it as more "conservative" than what they voted against. The retirees at the very least. Question is will that be enough to offset the likely lost votes on the left?
[ Parent ]
No, I think the political calculation has changed......
All the conservaDems will take this as a command from voters to walk away from health care.  They'd rather not do health care anyway, the Blue Dogs always want to do the little microlegislation that keeps them safe and nothing more.  This gives them the excuse for that.

And the liberals don't like the Senate bill, as you indicated, so they'll vote no on substance.

The question is whether the Administration and House leadership get it across to the rank-and-file that they're actually worse off this November by walking away than by passing the Senate bill.  They really are, that's true.  Anyone opposed to the health care bill in America isn't going to feel better about Democrats if the Democrats walk away, that cake is already baked...and if anything they'll start accepting the reform and looking for the good in it as a matter of necessity once it's done.  But people like me who are FOR this reform even with is warts will become completely deflated and, frankly, walk away from political engagement until the next cycle.  So they just lose more people by walking, they stem the bleeding by passing the Senate bill.

But I doubt the rank-and-file can be persuaded to see it that way.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

[ Parent ]
Exactly how I feel.
Health care reform is a moral imperative.  It was courageous for this administration to even take it on given the economic climate.  I am OK with 59-41 and Senator Scott Brown if health care gets done.  If not, this entire cycle has been in vain.  And yes, as you say, Dems probably lose lots of seats anyway even if they killing HCR out of political cowardice.

After that, they can pivot to banking reform and jobs for the remainder of 2010.  Dare the GOP to filibuster that stuff.

34, WM, Democrat, FL-11

[ Parent ]
They lose more seats by walking than by passing the Senate bill......
That's the calculation I think the House will FAIL to make, that they won't recognize walking away from health care is actually worse than passing the Senate bill.

But even Barney Frank is getting the wrong takeaway from yesterday, and I presume many others are doing the same.  And they're not going to realize it for a long time, long after we get slaughtered this November.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

[ Parent ]
Frank's statement is a joke
He seriously thinks they can get a better bill than the current senate version through Olympia Snowe? BS. This is as good as it gets. Obama has to sell it and sell it fast.
[ Parent ]
Teh Sux
The nominee should've been Cong. Capuano-D..he would have been able to have distanced himself from alot of the negatives coming out of the "O" Administration, and would've been a stronger campaigner.

In 2008 people voted for change and they are now quite disillusioned.

On to the next battle, thanks again for all the Geeky maps & stats!!

(-8.50/-7.44) "Real Democrats don't make promises they can't keep." Dr. Howard Dean
Hindsight is 20-20...
but Capuano is freaking happy tonight, cos now he can try for 2012. But as they say, that is an eternity in politics.

Indepedent/Lean D. Dude.
All 5s (now TX-5; frmly VA-5 and CA-5)  
[ Parent ]
Not truly Hindsight
As I did not support Coakley in the Primary and I thought Capuano was an better choice.

You'd certainly have thought though that given Coakley won by about 73% in 2006, this would've been a win for her.

Then again noone was really thinking any Democrat would ever lose Teddy Kennedy's seat, not that I know of, in hindsight.

(-8.50/-7.44) "Real Democrats don't make promises they can't keep." Dr. Howard Dean

[ Parent ]
You win some you loose some
We one a whole lot that we where not suppose to win in 06' and 08' and it is what is. Plus Brown is not going to be a Palin rethug, after HCR I think we will be able to get him to vote with us on many things, at least if he wants to stand a chance in 12', and we will get this seat back. As for HCR it is not dead yet, the House could swallow the Senate bill or we could get Snowe or Collins. Is Brown going to be seated tommorow?

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
Precedent
that was set this year in the Roland Burris fiasco means that Scott Brown needs to receive his papers from the Secretary of State before he takes his scythe to the senate and kills Health Care reform.

19, Male, Independent, CA-12
[ Parent ]
Don't bet on it...
The GOP smells blood and they are going for the big KILL!! The question is whether Dems will fight or curl up and get their brains beaten out of them.

Brown probably won't even run for re-election b/c he is made for life and the GOP will take care of him so long as he does what they want (see Joseph Cao). There might be an opportunity w/ Voinovich or Martinez, but 59 senators is still a lot of power, if, of course, they are willing to use it.  

Indepedent/Lean D. Dude.
All 5s (now TX-5; frmly VA-5 and CA-5)  

[ Parent ]
agree
Of course I am disapointed by tonights results but it is not the end of the world. Sometimes the good guys lose a reace, even a race they have no bussiness losing.

Politically this may even end up being a plus for Democrats, Now that they have 41 votes in the Senate Republicans will have to take some of the blame if nothing gets done.


"Where free Unions and collective bargaining is forbidden, freedom is lost." - Ronald Reagan

[ Parent ]
Going forward...
Sometimes there is a silver lining in a crushing defeat. The real effect of this race is what Democrats nationwide, especially Obama, learn from this. Most importantly, American voters (regardless of education, race, income etc) have VERY SHORT MEMORIES and ALWAYS look for someone to blame.

With that in mind, if Dems go scurring into the corner with their tails behind them, then they deserve a 1 term presidency and congressional minority. This includes listening to the plutocratic DLCers that gave Bill Clinton a defensive presidency for 6 yrs out of his 8 yrs in office. Go down that road, and Nov 2008 will be a permanent myth NEVER AGAIN to repeat itself.

Obama faces the proverbial fork-in the road, which will determine if he will be Carter or Reagan. Both faced a lot of adversity w/in 2 yrs in office, but both reacted differently to it. Which will Obama choose?

Indepedent/Lean D. Dude.
All 5s (now TX-5; frmly VA-5 and CA-5)  

hahaha, who knew Id ever say this
Reagan!  Reagan!  Reagan!
[ Parent ]
The Senate in 2010
The Republicans certainly have an outside chance of turning the Senate to a 51-49 margin in 2010. They would need to run the board with Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois (probably doubtful), Nevada, New York (I think doubtful), North Dakota (easy pickup), and Pennsylvania, while also protecting Burr and the open seats of Missouri (think we can win it), New Hampshire, and Ohio. Unfortunately Coakley just took a significant amount of DSCC resources and got nothing to show for it.
They would have to win CA or NY
Neither Gillibrand and Boxer are significantly better campaigners than you know who.
[ Parent ]
What?
Gillibrand plowed a well-funded opponent by 20%+ in a historically Republican district last cycle.  

Boxer's margins have been a little lackluster by California standards, but I've always attributed that to her brash partisanship rather than poor campaigning.

Certainly neither has pulled a Coakley.

Has your account been hijacked by Tekzilla?

34, WM, Democrat, FL-11

[ Parent ]
Or did I misunderstand your comment?


34, WM, Democrat, FL-11
[ Parent ]
No I misspoke
I meant both are signifiantly better.
[ Parent ]
I should have known.
Didn't seem like something you would say.

34, WM, Democrat, FL-11
[ Parent ]
Yeah I agree
We should also win Delaware if Biden gets in, Pennsylvania should favor us slightly, and we have a decent chance at Burr's seat and the New Hampshire/Ohio/Missouri open seats.
[ Parent ]
Ah then I disagree
Misread your comment, I think Boxer and Gillibrand will win.
[ Parent ]
I think Gillibrand and Boxer are both vulnerable, albeit Lean-to-Likely Dem
If my calculations from a week back are correct, and with Brown now flipping one suprise-extra seat in GOP favor, Republican wins in NY/CA (+ every single "toss-up") would make the Senate a 50/50 body. To win the majority, they'd need Blumenthal to somehow tank over in CT or target another red state Dem like Evan Bayh.

For daily political commentary, visit me at http://polibeast.blogspot.com/ and http://twitter.com/polibeast
[ Parent ]
Confusing Sentence Structure
Are Gillibrand and Boxer better campaigners or aren't they?
[ Parent ]
Should have been either
Not neither.
[ Parent ]
I doubt 51-49 but I do worry..
.. that Republicans will pick up enough seats that they could take back the Senate in 2012 oe 2014 (Dems have to play a whole lot of defense in those cycles).

"Where free Unions and collective bargaining is forbidden, freedom is lost." - Ronald Reagan
[ Parent ]
Yeah
It would be really nice to keep our majority stable and provide some breathing room heading into the next couple of elections after 2010. At least we'll be able to pick up Brown's seat !
[ Parent ]
Not good.
   Brown has nearly as many votes as McCain got.

24, Male, GA-05
Can we all agree: NO MORE FRIGGIN' SENATE VACANCIES
Obviously Ted (RIP) couldn't help it in this case, but the point still stands.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
Is a little late for that
Let's hope Byrd, Lautenberg, Inouye, and Akaka stay healthy.
[ Parent ]
Hello Groundhogs Year 1994
This is Mass...can only imagine how the other more conservative 49 states will play out in 10 months time.  

KELL
Thankfully
They also have better candidates and campaigners.
[ Parent ]
What a waste
Obama dropped 20 points, the Dems are going to lose 25-30 House seats and we've spent 6 months of Obama's presidency to be 1 Sen seat short.

Thanks Coakley! You've single handily killed Health Care reform. I hope your vacation was worth the 40k lives a year that will die due to not being covered.

40k
You are aware the bill was to cover 30 million exta americans, not 40,000.
[ Parent ]
Yeah
Yes, but 40k die a year from not having health care. If you actually read what I said you wouldn't have posted that.
[ Parent ]
Sorry I interperate it wrong
My mistake but regardless your right on what you said about Coakley.
[ Parent ]
Thanks
Thanks for admitting it. You're right on the Deeds stuff.
[ Parent ]
Agenda is not totally dead
If Brown wants to run for re-election, he will have to support a progressive jobs bill, financial market reform, and EFCA.  
Health Care
The only thing that the Dems don't have 60 votes on though is Health Care and Brown ran on opposing that. The other issues have some moderate Republican support.
[ Parent ]
No he dosen't
First he's a far right teabagger. Second he probally knows after '12 he's gone so he might go out in style and vote lockstep with McConnell and DeMint but that's just my two cents on it. I could be wrong but i'm probally not wrong on that.
[ Parent ]
I bet he doesn't

[ Parent ]
Brown won't run for re-election...
and if he does, he is stupid and will just be a waste of money for the GOP. He will be celebrated in GOP circles for the next month or so and his campaign strategy will be adapted to Obama states to knock of incumbent Dems. However, if Dems curl like salted worms, then they are fucked from NY to CA.

However, I expect Brown will eventually become the 2nd incarnation of Peter Fitzgerald. The more he caters to the national GOP, the faster his fortunes will fall in MA. But if he even tries to be independent, he'll run into the buzzsaw of national polarization and end up nowhere...it's just the way it is.  

Indepedent/Lean D. Dude.
All 5s (now TX-5; frmly VA-5 and CA-5)  

[ Parent ]
Get real
Yes Coakley ran a bad campaign but there's more to it than that. I guess everytime we lose a race now it will because the candidate "sucked".  
Wow
Uhm no. But when you go from up 30 to down 5 then yes "YOU SUCKED". It takes a complete lack of effort to cough up a 35 point lead. For example: see Hillary in Iowa circa 2008.
[ Parent ]
Where the hell was the Democratic party leadership
They were asleep at the wheel. This loss effects everyone. You don't just let someone throw a senate seat away. Too many people are giving Obama, Reid, Kaine, Menendez, etc. a pass on this one.
[ Parent ]
Maybe were giving them a pass on this one
Because it's not their fault. There not Gods, they couldn't expect this to happen and neither did any of us and it wasn't towards the end they and us realized that Coakley was a fuck up that could cost them the seat by then there was nothing Obama and Co. Could so. Sorry but your wrong on that. Coakley blew it. Plain and simple.
[ Parent ]
You don't know shit.
Sorry but you don't know shit. She has to invite them in. She did 19 events Brown did 66. She took a vacation. She didn't even talk to Boston's mayor until last week.

Obama is running a county. Reid is worried about his own re-election. Kaine runs the DNC, he did a fundraiser for her but he needs to worry about 2010 money. Menendez didn't do enough but he isn't supposed to have to help her in MA.

The Dems are going to have 8-10 close senate races in 2010. Every cent they spent here was a waste. Coakley didn't fundraise, Coakley didn't campaign, Coakley didn't ask for help, Coakley didn't look at the polls, Coakley set up an awful campaign that lost a 35 point advantage. How is that anyone else's fault?

[ Parent ]
Bullshit

[ Parent ]
Read this
[ Parent ]
Come on
What do you take issue with their exactly?
[ Parent ]
I take issue with letting the party leadership off the hook
Heads need to roll. I've heard Deeds and Corzine lost because they sucked, period. No national implications, nothing, just a couple of bad candidates. Nevermind that insiders said the Dems had to rap up health care before the November elections or there would be problems. Whoops, missed that deadline. Now it's the same thing with Coakley. She sucks, that's all. Do you really think the GOP wasn't following this one? Especially after John Garamendi won with just 53% in CA-10, which is much more liberal than MA. But that was probably because he sucked a little too.  
[ Parent ]
Were letting off the hook
Because they can't help they had to support a shitty candidate who made major gaffes and hardly campaigned. Obama can't help that he's got Congress to deal with. Reid is facing his own re-elections and Melendez is busy with other races like KY, OH, PA, NH etc and Coakley had a hugh warchrst. Plus it was only until a few weeks ago we knew Martha was in trouble and by then there was nothing anyone could do. She was dead in the water. Deeds was the same way only we knew he was a dud months before the election. and Corzine was too slimy to win re-election. As for HCR they wanted to get this done by the end of the month but thanks to asswipes like Baucus, Conrad and Co. dragging their feet that deadline was impossible to meet. As for Garamendi getting only 53 percent of the vote. Who cares. Unlike Coakley and Deeds he actually won. And Garamendi didn't suck. If he did  David Harmer would be representing CA-10, not Garamendi.Sorry but your wrong again.
[ Parent ]
Lesson that should be taken away with all Dems tonight.
No matter how blue the constituency, campaigns and candidates matter.

My blog
Twitter
Scribd
28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
Agreed completely
If Coakley would of run a competent campaign where shenever took any type of time off and she work her butt off she would of beaten Brown. Plain and simple. Never take elections for granted. Or you'll end up like Creigh Deeds and Martha Coakley.
[ Parent ]
You know
She only really had to run some bloody ads. Starting the Monday after New Years at the very latest.
[ Parent ]
Amen to that

[ Parent ]
Plenty blame to go around
But responsibility has to go to those on the ground.
[ Parent ]
Well she did suck
Like Deeds in Virginia, there's nothing more to say on the matter.
[ Parent ]
Well, McDonnell wasn't exactly a sterling candidate himself.
Nor was Christie.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
True
But Corzine was a dud Governor and Deeds couldn't campaign if his life depended on it. It was really the less of the known evils. Atleast in NJ where the last month of the election was a total smear campaign on both sides.
[ Parent ]
McDonnell was an outstanding candidate
He ran as a moderate Dem. Christie not so much but Corzine was always up against it as an incumbent.
[ Parent ]
McDonnell was a great candidate, actually
His campaign, with the exception of the thesis, was pitch-perfect.
[ Parent ]
Pelosi
time for you to get on the phones and convince the Congressional Progressive Caucus and blue dogs who supported the house bill to swallow the senate bill.

Because Jim Webb won't vote for cloture until Scott Brown is in the senate, and you bet he won't be the last.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/...

In many ways the campaign in Massachusetts became a referendum not only on health care reform but also on the openness and integrity of our government process. It is vital that we restore the respect of the American people in our system of government and in our leaders. To that end, I believe it would only be fair and prudent that we suspend further votes on health care legislation until Senator-elect Brown is seated.


19, Male, Independent, CA-12
Haha
Yeah right. That won't happen. Health care is officially dead.
[ Parent ]
They better
Or their majority is dead.
[ Parent ]
Passing a bad bill would do worse.


Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.
[ Parent ]
No it wont
Most of the stuff in HCR wont start for a few days anyway, and most people wont be affected a single bit by the bill anyway.
[ Parent ]
Well then they are screwed either way
And I don't think it is a bad bill actually. In my view passing the senate bill as is represents the lesser of two evils. But that is for another time and place.
[ Parent ]
They H-A-V-E to pass health care reform. MUST. NEED TO. NO OTHER OPTION.
I mean, you have to view this from a purely-strategic standpoint. If they get reform passed, then at least the base comes out in November and folks like Barbara Boxer and Kirsten Gillibrand will probably be in good shape. If they don't pass reform, not only will the base not turn out in strong-enough numbers, but it's not like moderates and Independents are gonna randomly hop aboard the Dem train b/c they opted to do nothing. I think, no matter what, Indies are gonna lean GOP in nearly all of the upcoming races (sans the Safe Dems like Schumer, Inoyue, etc). It's all about making Dems happy and giving them a reason to GOTV. The end.

For daily political commentary, visit me at http://polibeast.blogspot.com/ and http://twitter.com/polibeast
[ Parent ]
Im done for the night
I clearly deserve some tequila, Call of Duty (almost lvl 70!), and a ganj break.

If I were Coakley, Id move to NW Texas as I wouldnt be able to show my face to a Democrat ever again.  

MA-Sen: Results Thread | 214 comments

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