Dan Kennedy says that the special election to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat “may be over before it begins,” thanks to Attorney General Martha Coakley’s considerable advantages in the race.
In addition to Coakley’s statewide name recognition and her likely status as the only woman in the race (in a state where most Democrats thought it was time for a woman president last year), I think she’s helped by the early entry of US Rep. Stephen Lynch in the contest. Lynch is clearly seen as the conservative in the Democratic primary, as evidenced by his reception at a health care reform rally on Boston Common yesterday. From the Boston Globe:
The rally crowd was not so kind to US Representative Stephen Lynch, a South Boston Democrat who is strongly considering a run for Kennedy’s seat. Boos drowned out Lynch’s speech, though he said he is 100 percent in favor of reform.
“He’s in favor of health care reform but not in favor of the public option, and that’s the difference between the sheep and the wolves,’’ said Bill Wasserman, 82, of Ipswich.
My guess is that if any polls show Lynch within striking distance of the nomination, health care reform liberals — not to mention women’s groups and gay rights groups — will throw money at the candidate most likely to stop the South Boston Democrat, and that candidate is almost certain to be Coakley.
But there is one strong reason for US Rep. Mike Capuano and others to jump into the race anyway. There doesn’t seem to be much sense in patiently waiting for John Kerry to vacate the Bay State’s other US Senate seat. By that time, someone unknown to us now may have leap-frogged over more veteran pols to become the front-runner. That’s what Coakley did; she’s been attorney general for less time than anyone in our congressional delegation (except Niki Tsongas) has been in office.