Politico points to dismal results for Republicans in Massachusetts as a good indication that Scott Brown might not be a Senator much longer. But a post by NRO’s Jim Geraghty recounting some intelligence from New England indicates that it may be more than the Bay State’s penchant for Democrats at play.
Geraghty’s source talks about the unified effort that Democrats and their organized labor allies made in contacting nearly a million voters to stave off another Brown-esque upset. But the phenomenon is not exclusive to Massachusetts. For example, in Nevada, Washington, and Colorado Democrats defended vulnerable Senate seats by outperforming opinion polls that showed either a tie or a Republican advantage.
When Brown won his election, it had much to do with enthused Republican activists (nationally as well as in Massachusetts) sensing an opportunity and paying lots of attention to the race by making phone calls or going door to door to recruit voters. In past midterm elections, the the Republican 72-hour Task Force would do the necessary grunt work to get voters to the polls. That effort was missing this year – and nothing takes it’s place in 2012, Brown may not be the only Republican Senator in trouble.
Jim Eltringham 