It's a Toss Up

Wow. Who'd a thunkit? Martha Coakley in a tight, tight race against GOP candidate Scott Brown for the open MA Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy. Well, now that I think about it, anyone couldathunkit. Why? Because Martha Coakley has run the sh&ttiest campaign I've seen in a long time. It seems that they just transferred her low-key, let-the-voters-come-to-me primary strategy (which was a good one) to the general election, which was a giant error. You can't coast through a general election, even a special one such as this. Recall that not many years ago TK himself was in a fight for his political life against a GOP challenger. So to say that all Massachusetts seats are safe Dem seats is lazy thinking at best and election-losing at worst.

Where has Coakley been? She's made snarky comments about "shaking hands outside Fenway Park" as if that's a waste of her time. Guess what? It IS a waste of her time in terms of trying to reach the maximum number of voters possible. But in terms of winning the "free media" race? The one where the news covers you shaking hands for 10 seconds and it gets played on a loop on all the newscasts? Time well-spent. And in our electoral system where the party in power routinely gets spanked in mid-term elections? Why this lady was not knocking on every damn door to get every damn vote is beyond me.

Further, all her positive ads seem to have gone AWOL. Now the ads are all about Scott Brown, either for or against. Ads for Martha Coakley, featuring Martha Coakley? I haven't seen 'em. Where has Coakley been? The current Coakley ad is such sh*t I laugh every time I see it. It features her pleasant-but-all-business voice saying, "I'm Martha Coakley and I approved this message." Then it cuts randomly to that Deep Man Voice used in promos for films by Michael Bay saying essentially, "Scott Brown is a dangerous f*cking a*&hole." The quick shift in tone and voice is hilarious! Which is great if you're in comedy, bad if you're in politics.

Obviously I'll be voting for Coakley, shite campaigner though she has been, simply because I cannot bear the thought of a major right-winger like Brown (who has done a fabulous job of appearing moderate) representing me. But if I voted on campaign performance alone? Brown would have to win.