**** UPDATES BELOW ****
This article will be updated during the day today.
The final debate of the MA Senate race will take place tonight, January 18, 2010 .
From Fox News.
“Turnout Critical in Tight Massachusetts Senate Race”
“Both sides say turnout will be key in a race that could decide the fate of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. Obama campaigned Sunday for Democrat Martha Coakley.”
“BOSTON – Democrats and Republicans ramped up election eve get-out-the-vote efforts in their close battle for a Massachusetts Senate seat that could decide the fate of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul and the rest of his agenda at the opening of the 2010 midterm campaign season.
Obama needs newly embattled Martha Coakley to win Tuesday’s special election for the late Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat and deny Republicans the ability to block his initiatives with a 41st filibuster-sustaining GOP vote.
The president campaigned here Sunday with Coakley, who has seen the double-digit lead she had two weeks ago evaporate under a strong challenge by Republican state Sen. Scott Brown.
Voter turnout is normally low in special elections, but even in staunchly Democratic Massachusetts, apprehension about Obama’s health care overhaul is fueling a huge wave of populist support for Brown.
Polls show that independents, who make up 51 percent of the state’s electorate, have responded enthusiastically to Brown. His campaign is targeting them as well Republicans, who are outnumbered by Democrats 3-to-1 in the Bay State.”
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/18/turnout-key-tight-massachusetts-senate-race/
MA Senate debate, Monday, January 18, 2010, Scott Brown, Martha Coakley, Joseph L. Kennedy
**** Update January 18, 2010, 1:50 PM ****
From Fox News
“Voter Enthusiasm a Problem for Coakley, Polls Suggest”
“A new poll out of Public Policy Polling on Monday underscored the depth of Coakley’s challenge.
The poll showed Brown leading 51-46 overall, 64-32 among independents and winning 20 percent of the vote from those who backed Obama in 2008. On the flip side, the survey showed Coakley pulling just 4 percent of the vote from those who backed John McCain, in the 2008 presidential race.
And the poll reflected the enthusiasm gap from which Coakley suffers. Eighty percent of Brown supporters said they were “very excited” about Tuesday’s election, while only 60 percent of Coakley supporters felt the same way.”
Read more:
“White House Predicts Martha Coakley Will Lose Tuesday’s Election”
**** Update January 18, 2010, 4:45 PM ****
**** Update January 18, 2010, 6:20 PM ****
From CNN Political Ticker
“Poll: Brown makes gains in Mass. Senate Race”
” A new poll released Monday afternoon indicates that Republican Scott Brown has a 7-point edge over Democrat Martha Coakley in Tuesday’s special election in Massachusetts for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat.
According to an American Research Group survey, 52 percent of likely voters back Brown, a state senator, with 45 percent supporting Coakley, the state’s attorney general. Meanwhile, 2 percent back Joseph Kennedy, a third party candidate who is not related to the late senator. The 7-point advantage for Brown is just within the poll’s sampling error.”
Read more:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/18/poll-brown-makes-gains-in-mass-senate-race/
**** Update January 18, 2010, 7:25 PM ****
From Politico
“New poll: Brown up 9”
“A new InsiderAdvantage poll conducted exclusively for POLITICO shows Republican Scott Brown surging to a 9-point advantage over Martha Coakley a day before Massachusetts voters trek to the ballot box to choose a new senator.
According to the survey conducted Sunday evening, Brown leads the Democratic attorney general 52 percent to 43 percent.
“I actually think the bottom is falling out,” said InsiderAdvantage CEO Matt Towery, referring to Coakley’s fall in the polls over the last ten days. “I think that this candidate is in freefall. Clearly this race is imploding for her.””
Read more:
Citizen WElls 