If she does lose, she only need look in the mirror to find the main reason why. Martha was lazy in the early stages and felt a sense of democratic entitlement and inevitability to this job. After all it would be inconceivable for anybody but a democrat to take Teddy's seat.
Her campaign seemingly was filled with gaffe after gaffe. These included misspelling Massachusetts, no terrorists in Afghanistan, calling Curt Schilling a Yankee fan, refusing to openly debate the main contender one on one, taking December off, watching as a campaign aid knocked a nuisance reporter to the ground then denying seeing it, a Washington fundraiser with health care lobbyists, the quote " deeply religious people probably shouldn't work in emergency rooms" and the last round of simply awful television ads.
The Massachusetts Democratic Party ad stating that Brown would turn rape victims away from Massachusetts hospital emergency rooms might be the dirtiest ad seen here in a very long time.
The bigger picture however is that the average Massachusetts person has taken on that Minuteman feeling of once again being the center of American power and influence. This is more than just a special senate election. It has taken on the feeling of a national referendum on congressional performance.
The health care reform bill is not popular throughout the nation and Massachusetts voters understand that Washington is simply not listening. Even as the overwhelming favorite is in danger of defeat, the word out of Washington is hurry up so we can ram this thing through.
People are taking another look at one party rule and guess what? They don't like it. They are also deeply skeptical of the plan itself. We have mandatory health care in Massachusetts and it has resulted in the highest insurance premiums in the land. This despite the fact that we have more health care institutions per capita than anywhere else in the country.
If part of the plan is a reduction of Medicare reimbursement how can that not affect seniors? If substantially more patients are forced into a system without significant increases in personnel, how can that not mean less care?
Even if the average voter is not sending a message to Washington then there are other factors which may lead to a Brown win. He has simply run a superior campaign in every way. Against an entrenched party with a popular and competent candidate with a 30 point lead at the outset, Brown never stopped working. If he wins it will be a thunderclap that no one in the nation and particularly in Washington will fail to hear.
