This election only proves two things: people are stupid and a sucker is born every minute. The good people of Massachussetts (the pitiful minority that voted, anyway) fell for Brown's shell game - rolling around the great state in a pick-up truck. Interesting note, good ol' boy, George W. Bush, now that he no longer needs the populist imagery of his "western white house" lives in Dallas and not Crawford, Texas.
~rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...> wrote: > > Aw damn....well, I guess this may be a wakeup call for some of the Dems who > were still fighting the Prez in stuff like health care. > Damn... > > ************************************* > http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/19/massachusetts.senate/index.html?hpt=T1 > > > > Boston, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Republican Scott Brown has won Tuesday's > special election for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by liberal Democrat > Ted Kennedy, CNN projects based on actual results. > > Brown, a Massachusetts state senator, had 52 percent of the vote to 47 > percent for state Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic contender, > with over 69 percent of precincts reporting in results from the National > Election Pool, a consortium of media organizations including CNN. Independent > candidate Joseph Kennedy, a libertarian who is not related to the Kennedy > political family of Massachusetts, had 1 percent. > > At stake was President Obama's domestic agenda, including health care reform. > > > > > If Brown upsets Coakley, Republicans will strip Democrats of the 60-seat > Senate supermajority needed to overcome GOP filibusters against future Senate > action on a broad range of White House priorities. > > Final numbers on election turnout are expected "to be pretty good" despite > the wintry weather, said Brian McNiff, a spokesman for the office of > Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin. > > > > > "I don't think weather is going to impede too many people" from coming out to > vote, McNiff said Tuesday. "I think the interest in this election will trump > any bad weather." > > > > > Galvin predicted Monday as many 2.2 million of the state's 4.5 million > registered voters would vote -- at least double the turnout from December's > primary. In one sign of high interest, more than 100,000 absentee ballots > were requested ahead of the election, according to McNiff. > > iReport: Send us your thoughts on the special election > > Coakley was initially expected to easily win the race to replace Sen. Ted > Kennedy, known as the "liberal lion" of the Senate who made health care > reform the centerpiece of his nearly 47-year Senate career. Kennedy died of > brain cancer in August. > > Until recently, Brown was underfunded and unknown statewide. In addition, no > Republican has won a U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts since 1972, and > Democrats control the governorship, both houses of the state legislature, and > the state's entire congressional delegation. > > > > The latest poll, however, showed Brown leading Coakley by 7 points, 52 to 45 > percent. The American Research Group survey, taken Friday through Sunday, had > a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. No polls released in > the past few days showed Coakley ahead. > > > > > In a sign of the high stakes involved, the Coakley campaign held an afternoon > news conference Tuesday to complain that voters in three places received > ballots already marked for Brown. > > McNiff confirmed that the secretary of state's offices received two reports > of voters saying they got pre-marked ballots. The suspect ballots were > invalidated and the voters received new ballots, McNiff said. > > Kevin Conroy, the Coakley campaign manager, said the "disturbing incidents" > raised questions about the integrity of the election. In response, the Brown > campaign issued a statement criticizing Coakley's team. > > > > > "Reports that the Coakley campaign is making reckless accusations regarding > the integrity of today's election is a reminder that they are a desperate > campaign," Daniel B. Winslow, the counsel for the Brown campaign, said in the > statement. > > > > > Obama has been both "surprised and frustrated" by the race, White House Press > Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday. Obama and former President Bill Clinton > hit the campaign trail over the past three days in an attempt to save > Coakley's campaign, which observers say has been hampered by complacency and > missteps. > > Obama crushed Sen. John McCain in Massachusetts in 2008, beating the GOP > presidential nominee by 26 points. > > > > > "If you were fired up in the last election, I need you more fired up in this > election," Obama urged a crowd at a Coakley campaign rally on Sunday. > > > > > Vicki Kennedy, the senator's widow, called on state Democrats to turn out to > save her husband's legacy. > > "We need your help. We need your support. We need you to get out there and > vote on Tuesday," Kennedy said. "We need you to bring your neighbors. We need > you to bring your friends." > > Brown, who has trumpeted his 30 years of service in the National Guard, hewed > to traditional GOP themes at the end of the campaign. He promised at a rally > Sunday that, if elected, he would back tax cuts and be tougher on terrorists > than Coakley. > > He also repeated a pledge to oppose Obama's health care reform effort. > > "Massachusetts wants real reform and not this trillion-dollar Obama health > care that is being forced on the American people," he said. "As the 41st > [Republican] senator I will make sure that we do it better." > > Forty-four percent of Massachusetts voters cited the economy and jobs as > their top concern in a recent 7 News/Suffolk University poll. Thirty-eight > percent mentioned health care as their top concern. > > Voters more concerned with the economy were split almost evenly between the > two candidates; voters more worried about health care narrowly supported > Coakley. > > Brown's surprising strength came in part because some independents and > conservatives who have supported Democrats in the past were having second > thoughts. > > Democrats far outnumber Republicans in Massachusetts, but there are more > independents than Democrats and Republicans combined. > > > > > Several Democratic sources said multiple Obama advisers have told the party > they believe Coakley is going to lose. The sources said they still hoped > Obama's weekend visit to the state, coupled with a late push by party > activists, could tip the balance in her favor, but Obama aides have grown > increasingly pessimistic since Friday. > > Facing the possibility of Coakley's defeat, Democrats were trying to figure > out if they could pass health care reform without that crucial 60th Senate > vote. But top White House aides publicly insisted they are not engaging in > any talk of contingency plans, because they believe Coakley will come out on > top Tuesday. > > The seat is currently held by former Kennedy aide and longtime friend Paul > Kirk, who was appointed to the seat on an interim basis. > > > > > Galvin, the Democratic secretary of state, said last week that certifying > Tuesday's election results could take more than two weeks -- potentially > enough time to allow congressional Democrats to pass a final health care bill > before Brown is seated, if he should win. > > But multiple Democratic sources said this is unlikely. Even if House and > Senate Democrats could reach a deal to meld their bills and pass them in the > next couple of weeks, there would be a huge outcry from not only Republicans, > but also an increasingly distrustful public if they appeared to be rushing it > through. > > Two Democratic sources in close contact with the White House told CNN on > Monday they've urged the administration, in the event of a Brown victory, to > push House Democrats to pass the Senate's health care bill as currently > written. Doing so would prevent the plan from having to be taken up by the > Senate again. > > "I think the Senate bill clearly is better than nothing," House Majority > Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said Tuesday. > > > > > A third option would be for Democrats to revisit the idea of trying to push > health care through the Senate with only 51 votes -- a simple majority. > > But to do that Democrats would have to use a process known as reconciliation, > which presents technical and procedural issues that would delay the process > for a long time. A number of Democrats are eager to put the health care > debate behind them and move on to economic issues such as job creation as > soon as possible this election year. > > Senate Democrats could also try again to get moderate GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe > of Maine to vote for a compromise health reform plan. Multiple Democratic > sources, however, have said they believe that is unlikely now. >
