Massachusetts Senate Race: Voting Has Begun

And finger-pointing has already started among Democrats over this special election for the Senate seat. Some pollsters are even expecting a double-digit loss, while the Democratic supporters are hoping their candidate will somehow pull through.

Finger-pointing begins for Democratic insiders (1/19/2010 Politico)

"CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — As voters head to the polls in Massachusetts, nervous Democrats have already begun to blame one another for putting at risk the Senate seat Ted Kennedy held for more than 40 years.

"Many angry Democrats blame their candidate, state Attorney General Martha Coakley, for running a sluggish campaign that let Republican Scott Brown set the contours of the race.
Some Democratic strategists lay the fault at the feet of President Barack Obama, saying he should have done more to sell the party’s agenda. [I'm not so sure it would have helped. It may have further backfired.]

"And in private conversations, Hill sources say White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has blamed Coakley, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic pollster Celinda Lake for failing to see Brown’s surge in time to stop it." (The article continues.)

Should Democrats lose Massachusetts in today's election, it will have been because of independent voters, just like the governor races in Virginia and New Jersey:

"“We lost independents in Virginia, we lost independents in New Jersey and we’re losing independents in Massachusetts,” said one Democratic campaign strategist. “The only thing those three states have in common is Obama.”"

Boston's Democratic machine, just as entrenched as that of Chicago, could still produce miracles. We'll see. It seems the entire country is watching, including traders on the stock exchanges...

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