Having worked in places like Iowa and New Hampshire on Presidential campaigns, I always wondered what it was like to be a local and have campaign workers parachute in, have politics explode around you and be inundated by others telling you what to do.
As a registered Democrat in Massachusetts today, now I know feeling. I have read that $10 million is being pumped into this race, with the majority of it coming from large interest groups from outside the state. Democratic organizations, especially, are getting increasingly insistent that we have to elect Martha Coakley in order to further the Democratic Agenda in Washington.
This, to me, has become the bizarre upside-down cheesecake part of the final hours of the race.
Martha Coakley is in trouble for three reasons, from what I can see. She's not a great candidate. She got outworked, and out-hustled, by Scott Brown. But the biggest reason that she is in trouble is because of the same Washington DC establishment Democrats who are now telling us that we have to elect her or their agenda in DC is in trouble.
I have heard, today, that the race is all about spending.
Well, I heard from people outside the state that the race is all about spending. I haven't heard anyone here say that.
I have heard, today, that the race is about health care. I do believe that Brown's supporters are inflamed about the public option, thanks primarily to false information. And it is ironic that people concerned about health care are supporting a candidate who doesn't give his staff health care, I might add.
But this race is actually really, very simple, to be honest. At least if you look at it from the view of the voters here.
The activist part of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, those that traveled to Iowa to help John Kerry, and are always part of the fundraising and volunteer machine for Democrats, are really disgusted with what they see as the failure of the Democrats in Washington to do anything that they said they would do. Iraq, global warming, health care, Gitmo, don't ask, don't tell. You name it, it remains undone.
So they are not energized and are sitting out the race in silent protest.
And the Republicans are energized by the race, a light in the dark Republican night, which, actually, is starting to get a little too bright for my comfort. Virginia, New Jersey and now Massachusetts. It's not a good trend line, one might say.
But finally, there are the 51% of Mass voters who say they are neither Democrats or Republicans. Who are actually, unlike the Independent Scott Brown, independent. These men and women of the Bay State gave the Republicans a try, and nothing good happened. Then they gave Democrats a try and really, they don't see that anything good has happened.
So it's back to the Republicans. And then it will go back to the Democrats. And so on. And so forth. Until one party actually does something. Not for DC, but for the average American.
Or unless, out of this ping ponging of affiliation, a third party emerges. Because I promise you this. If there was an option C today, that person would run away from it.