The Chicago Politics of Massachusetts

The lion of Congress, Ted Kennedy, died August 25th this past year. As much as many conservatives didn’t like him politically, he was well respected by most.

But when he died from brain cancer he left a whole in politics as well as in the Senate. And Massachusetts law required that an election be held to choose Ted Kennedy’s replacement. And everyone thought it would be a slam dunk election — a Democrat would obviously take the seat. But not so fast.

The Democratic candidate is Massachusetts Attorney General Martha M. Coakley and the Republicans had put forth Scott P. Brown and the Independents offered up Joseph L. Kennedy (no relationship). But this is far from a runaway election for the Democrats.

2010: Massachusetts Special Senate Election
Brown	41%
Coakley	50%
Some other candidate	1%
Not sure	7%

Rasmussen

Coakley’s lead is within single digits which is making the Democrats quite concerned. The Democrats are actually realizing the possibility of  Ted Kennedy’s replacement being a Republican.

The Democrats are already fearful that if this happens, that it could affect the results of the Healthcare Bill. So IF Brown should win, the Democrats have already decided that they would delay his certification until after the Healthcare Bill has been voted on, with  the interim Senator Paul Kirk being the Democratic vote.

Today, a spokesman for Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin William Galvin, who is overseeing the election but did not respond to a call seeking comment, said certification of the Jan. 19 election by the Governor’s Council would take a while.

Newsbusters

Another source told the Herald that Galvin’s office has said the election won’t be certified until Feb. 20 – well after the president’s address said. “We’d have to wait 10 days for absentee and military ballots to come in.”McNiff”Because it’s a federal election,” spokesman Brian

But that wasn’t the case in 2007

In contrast, Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) was sworn in at the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 18, 2007, just two days after winning a special election to replace Martin Meehan. In that case, Tsongas made it to Capitol Hill in time to override a presidential veto of the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program Newsbusters

 

What a difference 3 years make. The hypocrisy of the Democrats once again rears its ugly head

 

But this tactic of the Democrats could actually backfire on them. Since the tactic to delay Brown’s certification is now well known, this has infuriated many already motivated Republicans, but it’s also caught the eye of Independents who were planning on voting Republican. And the Democrats  could very well stay home. No one seems to be up for the Chicago politics style that is being discussed and it could also affect them in the future. The Democrats need to stop abusing the election process and stop playing politics. The American public is getting really tired, really quick of the shannigans.