People may recall the political disaster of Martha Coakley's campaign to fill Teddy Kennedy's senate seat. She won a Democratic primary contest and assumed that in deep blue Massachusetts that was tantamount to victory and took off for a Caribbean vacation while Scott Brown shook hands in freezing weather. She lost.
There were accusations that the real problem was that she refused to get caught up in Brown's nasty campaign that was tinged with sexism. However, two years later Elizabeth Warren came along and managed to beat Brown into a corner without ever having to do anything to damage her dignity and personal integrity. Now Coakley is running for governor and rapidly falling behind her Republican opponent.
Charlie Baker jumps 9 points in new Globe poll
Republican Charlie Baker has opened up a 9-point lead over Democrat Martha Coakley, 45 percent to 36 percent, according to a new Globe poll that depicts a far more comfortable advantage than either candidate for governor has enjoyed in months.
The poll reflects an October surge in independent voters toward Baker’s column. It was independents who provided Governor Deval Patrick with his margins of victory in 2006 and 2010.
Baker’s standing has improved from last week’s poll, which showed the two candidates dead even. It can be attributed largely to the gains he has made in voters’ perceptions of who would improve the economy and manage state government, areas that already were tilting his way. At the same time, Baker has offset the deficits he faced on issues such as education and health care, where Coakley still holds an edge, but a diminished one.
Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren both have plans to make appearances with Coakley in an effort to boost her sagging campaign. Of course the election is not yet over, but one can't escape the notion that Coskley's political charisma quotient hasn't improved since the last time around. People who are closer to Massachusetts politics than I am likely have some ideas as to why the Democrats decided to place bets on her a second time.
Clinton and Warren have proved that Democratic women candidates can win elections. So have a number of other Democratic women candidates. 2016 will likely be the year when we find out if the country is ready for a woman president. Clinton and Warren seem to be the two most likely prospects to test that barrier. The process of turning US politics into a gender neutral environment still has a ways to go. When the history of that gets written down the road Martha Coakley is unlikely to even make it into the footnotes, but for the moment it leaves one wondering why is this happening all over again.