Up today in Massachusetts: Special U.S. Senate election, Markey v. Gomez

[No Elephants]

I'm sorry that the Party chose Markey over Lynch.

IMO, Lynch was much more populist, not to mention that he still actually lives in Massachusetts and has not been absent a reported 75% of the time. Heaven knows, the schedule of the House is not very demanding and Markey lives all the way over in nearby Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Markey used to list Chevy Chase, where he paid a million dollars for his home, as his primary residence, until his actual residence became an election issue. Then, he changed the records to show his parents' modest home in Malden, Massachusetts (not exactly a chi chi town). He still does not show that he occupies that home in his Massachusetts real estate tax records. (Massachusetts gives a modest real estate tax break on one owner occupied home.) Still, Markey claims he's always lived in Malden, even when his parents were still alive.

All righty then. That settles that. Good to know the next Senator from Massachusetts is not violating the Constitutional residence requirement for U.S. Senators and hasn't been violating any Constitutional residence requirement for Reprentatives for many years.

Also, Lynch seemed to me to wrestle with his conscience, becoming more pro-equality and pro-choice as he went along, despite his heavily Catholic personal beliefs (and his heavily Catholic constituency).

But, as soon as the Party backed Markey, the state party and state Democrats went right along. This included unions, even though Lynch is known for his pro-worker, pro-union stances. Lynch never had a prayer, if you'll pardon the expression.

I think the Party should stay out of primaries. That is our one and only shot at a vote of any meaning.

But, I guess they feel it's important to make sure the candidate is the most electible (allegedly). Doesn't matter that Lynch polled better than Markey against all 3 Republican primary candidates, including Gomez. They knew Markey would win this election, no matter what.

Sigh.

[No Elephants]

1. Turnout is going to be a major issue. The Secretary of State predicted a low turnout,

although I don't know if he expected it to be any lower than usual for a special election.

But, after his prediction came the weather report. Bright, sunny, dry--and 94 degrees.

I don't know how many people, especially seniors, will vote today.

[Enthusiast]

2. It shouldn't be much of a contest.

But no seat is safe after the corporate takeover of the nation. Even though I contributed to Markey's campaign I still do not know his position on GMOs, KXL, Chained CPI, NSA and other things I want answers on.

[No Elephants]

3. Were you aware that he didn't even show up for the Keystone vote?

As far as the other things, he ran on fulfilling Obama's agenda at the same time that he promised not to cut OASDI. Of course, his boss, Pelosi, says chained CPI is not a cut to OASDI.

So, doublespeak.

[No Elephants]

4. Wow.

Martha Coakley conceded to Scott Brown before 6 pm, which left many bewildered. They asked a campaign aid or manager why Coakley had conceded so early. The reply was that Coakley knew she had lost when she saw the turnout numbers from Boston, Boston being the most reliably Democratic part of Massachusetts.

A local Democratic commentator (one of the few) mentioned that, by 3 pm during Coakley-Brown election day, 80,000 Bostonians had voted (far from great, as Coakley noted). By 3 pm today, 40,000 Bostonians had voted.
But, of course, the Boston figures do not stand in isolation. It depends on turnout from other cities and towns, too.

Still, half the lousy 2010 turnout. it's stunning.

Then, too, the timing of the election is bad. Aside from today's weather, which no one could have predicted sixty days or so ago, a lot of schools are out already, which means a lot of families, or moms and kids, anyway, have left Boston for the summer. Cape Cod, New Hampshire, Vermont. Many Bostonians have at least one summer retreat.

As for the state as a whole, Secretary of State says today may be the lowest turnout for a U.S. Senate election ever.