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.
