Massachusetts Mess
Jan 20, 2010
It was a disaster. Pure and simple. No point in sugar-coating it.
Republican conservative Scott Brown handily defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts special election to fill the seat of the late Edward Kennedy. The vote was 52% - 47%.
President Obama’s agenda is in serious trouble. The universal health care bill, a life-long dream of Senator Kennedy, faces new obstacles.
GOP election prospects for November look brighter.
The only kernel of good news: the President and his team have more than nine months to turn things around before the November 2010 elections.
As for the President’s arms control agenda, the change means less than on other issues. In the Senate, with 67 votes needed to approve a new nuclear reductions treaty or the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, we now will need at least eight Republican votes instead of seven. This is one issue where bipartisanship would have been required, regardless of the outcome in Massachusetts.
Council for a Livable World supporters once again demonstrated outstanding support for a progressive candidate in a tight race. You were generous with your donations and your time. You contributed over $20,000 to the Coakley campaign, and volunteered many hours to call and e-mail voters in Massachusetts.
Today is a dark day, but we have overcome high hurdles in the past.
Thank you for helping out a good cause. Now we have to redouble our election efforts for November to elect good Senators and Representatives.
Massachusetts Senate Race is Down to the Wire
Jan 14, 2010
Thank you for your overwhelming response to help Martha Coakley, running for Senate in Massachusetts. In just days, Council for a Livable World supporters have contributed thousands of dollars to help her campaign.
Recent polls show the race is still too close to call and Republican Scott Brown could still win next week’s special election for the Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy for more than forty years.
A survey conducted by Public Policy Polling shows Republican Scott Brown actually leading Democrat Martha Coakley by one point. A second poll by the Boston Globe finds Brown and Coakley neck and neck among respondents who were “extremely interested” in the race.
Contributions for the last few days of the campaign are crucial. Right wing groups such as the US Chamber of Commerce, American Future Fund and National Republican Trust PAC are pouring money into the state in these final days to elect one of their own.
Polls Show Mass. Senate Seat in Jeopardy
Jan 12, 2010
Several polls show the seat of the late Senator Edward Kennedy in jeopardy of being lost to conservative candidate Scott Brown (R) in next week’s special election.
A survey conducted by Public Policy Polling shows Republican Scott Brown actually leading Democrat Martha Coakley by one point. A second poll by the Boston Globe finds Brown and Coakley neck and neck among respondents who were “extremely interested” in the race.
Progressive Martha Coakley plans to take decisive action in these final days of the campaign to regain control of the race and win the election.
The polls are mixed. One poll showed Coakley ahead by eight points and the same Boston Globe poll listed above showed Coakley 17 points ahead of Brown, 53-36 if all potential voters are counted rather than those most interested.
Special election outcomes are notoriously difficult to predict, so any polls are of uncertain reliability. But it is no longer the proverbial “slam dunk” that a progressive will win Sen. Kennedy’s Senate seat in Massachusetts.
According to political pollster Andrew Smith, “If there ever was a time for a Republican to win here, now is the time.’’
A Republican victory in Massachusetts will have far-reaching consequences across the country, and could jeopardize passage of much legislation in 2010 and even ratification of nuclear arms treaties.
Republican voters, angry because of the struggling economy and the Obama Administration, are more motivated to turn out than Democrats.