Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Huge Day in Massachusetts

Today, all eyes will be on my home state, Massachusetts. The senatorial race between Martha Coakley(D) and Scott Brown(R) has evolved into a referendum of sorts regarding the health care bill as well as the policies of the Obama administration. I am active in many political discussion boards online and the focus of many has been today's election. The problem is that very few people know what either candidate stands for. The conservatives see Brown as nothing more than the much needed vote #41 while the liberals see Coakley as necessary to carry on the goals of the late Ted Kennedy. Over the past month; local television has been inundated with ads from both campaigns and I, for one, will be happy when this is over. Though I believe Coakley has run a "dirty" campaign; I intend to cast my vote for her.

While some will say that I am voting along party lines; I prefer to think I am voting on the important issues aside from health care reform. Coakley has been a strong advocate for regulation of Wall St. while Brown has not. Coakley has been in favor of removing the pre-existing provision in health care while Brown has not. Furthermore, Coakley's record as Attorney General is laudable. As a state representative; Brown has voted in favor of Republican legislation 96% of the time. I have no desire to see the Bush/Cheney policies return and Brown appears to favor that approach. It's difficult to tout yourself as an independent thinker, as Brown does, when you have a voting record like that.

The emergence of the Tea Party will play a major role in today's election as well as the mid-term elections this fall. Their influence and power seems to grow by the day while their intelligence does not. It is no secret that the Tea Party is merely an extension of the FOX network which, in my opinion, provides more false information than accurate information. Their pundits are nothing more than well paid, misinformed celebrities. In a future article, I will spend more time on Beck, Coulter, Hannity et al but for now; my focus will remain on today's election.

Most polls have the election at a dead heat while others whose credibility is suspect, to say the least, have Brown with an almost insurmountable lead. As for myself, I will stay tuned to the local stations as the individual precinct numbers come in. I have never placed much stock in polls and let's not forget the famous "Dewey Defeats Truman" faux paus in the late 40s. I think a nice nap will be in order today as I suspect the final tally will not be known until very late this evening or early tomorrow morning. As an aside; it is beginning to snow rather hard here in Central Mass. and I fear a low turnout will not bode well for Martha Coakley. We'll just have to wait and see! GO COAKLEY!!

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