Poll indicates signs of a GOP resurgence in some N.E. districts

[formerlurker]

Poll indicates signs of a GOP resurgence in some N.E. districts
Shake-ups raise risk for Democrats
By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff  |  February 14, 2010

It was another week, another telltale of the turbulence besetting New England Democrats.

One of the party’s biggest names, US Representative Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island, announced he will not seek reelection, 37 days after Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut did the same. In between, a little-known Republican, Scott Brown, knocked Washington off-kilter by winning the Massachusetts Senate seat of Kennedy’s late father, Edward M. Kennedy.

In some of the most reliably Democratic states in the nation, well-known Democrats are suddenly vulnerable. And the GOP, counted out in the region not long ago, is eyeing a resurgence.

Since the 2008 election, no Republicans represent the six New England states in the US House of Representatives. But a recent WMUR Granite State poll indicates that if the election were held now, the New Hampshire GOP would probably recapture both congressional seats lost to the Democrats four years ago and retain the Senate seat Judd Gregg is relinquishing.

In the First Congressional District in the eastern part of the state, the more conservative of the state’s two congressional districts, two-term Democratic in cumbent Carol Shea-Porter, whose favorability ratings have plunged since last fall, appears to be in the most peril.

Democrats and Republicans enjoy roughly equal party registration in New Hampshire, but independents are a plurality that holds the balance of political power in the state. Shea-Porter fares poorly with self-identified independents in the WMUR poll.

 

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/14/poll_indicates_signs_of_a_gop_resurgence_in_some_ne_districts?mode=PF

[NHSparky]

Love to see how the Globe correspondents still refer to it as, "Ted Kennedy's seat."

And freefall ain't the word for Che's numbers.  She'll be lucky to be a dog-catcher in Rochester by the time she gets done in November.

[miskie]

Love to see how the Globe correspondents still refer to it as, "Ted Kennedy's seat."

And freefall ain't the word for Che's numbers.  She'll be lucky to be a dog-catcher in Rochester by the time she gets done in November.

The Globe has always been the mouthpiece of Massachusetts Democrats -shamelessly so-

Here is a delicious piece from a regular columnist, Charles Pierce

The longest shot
Call it a Senate race if you want, but it’s not.
January 10, 2010

Dear Scott Brown: Well, we’re almost here, aren’t we? The end of a long, arduous, four-month campaign for a Senate seat that you have approximately the same chance of filling as you did the pilot’s chair of the Starship Enterprise. Things might not be looking too terrific for our Democratic president -- or, for that matter, for his good pal, our Democratic governor -- but the notion that Massachusetts would elect a Republican to fill the seat left vacant by Edward Kennedy was the property of people who buy interesting mushrooms in interesting places. You might as well expect the House of Windsor to be succeeded on the British throne by the Kardashian sisters. (And, by the way, if Teddy gets wind of how you claimed in your commercials to be the true heir to the tax-cutting legacy of his brother, the president, he’s going to come back from the dead and beat you severely over the head with a yachting cap.) But you’ve got a career now. In fact, I’d like to make you an offer. You may not have noticed, but your party doesn’t have much of what the sportswriters call a bench around these parts. I would like to make you the permanent Republican candidate for US senator. Seriously, you’re good at the job of being a candidate, and it’s going to be hard enough for your party to groom another state legislator every six years. Think about it. It beats working for a living.

(Edit - corrected authors first name - Mashed Scott Brown's and Charles Pierce's names together)

[NHSparky]

I think Scoot-on-the-rug Pierce had the Democrats of MA in mind when he wrote this:

In fact, I’d like to make you an offer. You may not have noticed, but your party doesn’t have much of what the sportswriters call a bench around these parts.

Which is why Coakley thought she could phone it in.