In the new, March edition of Boston Magazine, Paul Kix dissects the final few weeks of the disastrous Martha Coakley campaign that gift-wrapped the Massachusetts Senate seat for Republican Scott Brown.
While you can read the article yourself here some interesting tidbits are summarized below, which were discovered by Kix after interviewing over three dozen campaign insiders.
- Sen. John Cornyn, Chairman of the National GOP Senatorial Committee, had super-positive internal polling, on December 19, showing Brown nearly even with Independents. Cornyn kept the poll under wraps from Michael Steele, and told Steele not to talk about any positive news from MA, so Brown could be seen as an independent.
- The Coakley Campaign, under the direction of campaign manager Kevin Conroy (running his first campaign), wanted to save money on polling & didn't think it was necessary, so no polling was done between Dec 22 until January 6. Coakley was flying blind.
- Alarmed by their own polls, DC Democrats begin trying to contact the Coakley Campaign, starting Jan. 6, two weeks before election day. Sen. John Kerry cannot get anyone to call him back for several days.
- On Jan 6, MA Lt. Gov Tim Murray (Democrat), convenes a meeting of 50 of Massachusetts' most influential state legislators, mayors, councilors & activists in a room to talk about the campaign. He asks how many of them have been contacted by the Coakley Campaign. Three hands raise up, out of 50.
- On Jan 11, at the pivotal UMass Boston debate, Martha Coakley runs right into the hall, ignoring the union members huddled outside holding signs for her. Scott Brown stops to talk to them & shake hands. One union member tells Brown they're being paid $50 to hold signs for Coakley.
- In a Coakley campaign meeting 3 days before the election, Coakley campaign manager Kevin Conroy walks in and says "The biggest thing we need to decide today is how I'm going to get Jets tickets for tomorrow's game." Not known for his humor, the joke hardly comes off as funny.
It's a great article, I highly recommend you read it. Also, the Magazine has a cute article about Bostonians and their pets. Thanks for reading!