Turnout Is Key in Massachusetts Battle
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Turnout Is Key in Massachusetts BattleTurnout Is Key in Massachusetts BattleThe fight for a Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat,ATM Partsand with it President Barack Obama's domestic agenda, is coming down to one essential challenge: maximizing turnout of core supporters.Voters thronged to the polls early Tuesday morning. As dawn broke in the frosty Northeast, the GOP publicly relished the possibility that a previously obscure state senator, Scott Brown, could wrest the election from Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley, considered the fly-away favorite until a week ago.The Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy is up for grabs,#x with the Democratic nominee losing ground to the Republican contender, the News Hub reports.
In contrast to the light turnout for the party primaries last month, the candidates expected heavy a turnout following the national attention thrust upon their race. There was a clear sign at one polling place: A line of cars stretched for nearly a half-mile from the gymnasium at North Andover High School, the polling place for a community of about 30,000 about a half-hour north of Boston. Some drivers turned around in exasperation, the Associated Press reported.Both campaigns in Tuesday's special election to succeed the late Edward Kennedy, joined by allies on the left and right, are mounting extraordinary efforts to boost turnout, pouring millions of dollars into advertising while flooding neighborhoods with canvassers and phone lines with last-minute appeals to vote.This eleventh-hour push was more akin to a presidential campaign in a closely fought battleground. But it is unfolding in a traditionally liberal state that has rarely seen a grass-roots showdown. The contest may come down to whether the Democratic Party's traditional allies can overcome what appears to be a surge of local enthusiasm for the Republican candidate."It's a four-alarm fire up here on both sides," said Ellen Malcolm, president of the liberal group Emily's List, which is airing a radio ad statewide attacking Mr.Brown.Mr. Brown,Japanese Swords, until now a little-known state senator, has launched what his campaign called a "voter bomb,"ATM Partsin which supporters are encouraged to sign onto the campaign online and commit to get 20 people to the polls. Ms. Coakley launched a "snow-a-thon," with about 1,000 volunteers working phones from their homes.After making a speech in Springfield, Ms. Coakley was swarmed by supporters. "I've been on the phone for the last two nights," Jack Rioni told her as she waded through the crowd. Ms. Coakley, the state's attorney general, stopped to shake his hand. "You've been getting good response, right?" she asked.Candidates made last-minute appeals to voters Monday. Scott Brown, right, campaigns in Boston before a Boston Bruins hockey game.
Yes, Mr. Rioni responded, "but a lot of people are annoyed about all the calls."Mr. Brown, meanwhile, encountered large crowds and throngs of national media, underscoring the quick change in status for a candidate who just last week was considered a long shot.The conservative Massachusetts Family Institute circulated a "voter guide" highlighting Mr. Brown's support for restrictions on abortion, while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce aired television ads lauding his economic views.Most special elections are routine affairs, with low interest among voters. #xBut with Mr. Brown presenting himself as the GOP's crucial 41st vote in the Senate—the vote to break the Democrats' filibuster-proof majority—national party officials and interest groups see the contest as critical to health-care legislation and other top Obama administration agenda items.The White House and its Democratic allies,ATM Partsstunned by polls showing Massachusetts tilting toward the Republican state senator, have scrambled to build a volunteer network "literally overnight" in a state where they haven't needed one before, one party official said.相关的主题文章：
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