Polls close in crucial Massachusetts Senate race
Posted on 19. Jan, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Economy, Events, Politics, Shera Crossan
Polls closed in a tight Massachusetts race for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday that could threaten passage of President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda and scuttle his push for a sweeping healthcare overhaul.
What once looked likely to be an easy Democratic victory has turned into a desperate scramble after a surge by the Republican, state Senator Scott Brown, over the past few weeks in the race for the late liberal Democratic icon Edward Kennedy’s old seat.
There were no immediate results, and given the expected close tally the final outcome could take hours to emerge.
Reflecting Wall Street’s expectations for healthcare reform, investors drove health insurance and drug company shares higher, betting a Brown victory would at least slow Obama’s healthcare plans.
Hospital companies, which may gain more insured customers under health reform, saw their shares slump.
“If Brown wins, it is our view that Obamacare will not pass Congress,” Avik Roy, a healthcare analyst with Monnes Crespi Hardt, said in a research note.
The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor Index and the AMEX Pharmaceutical index outperformed the broader market, rising 2.3 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively.
HIGH TURNOUT COULD HELP ENERGIZED REPUBLICANS
High turnout could benefit the more energized Brown campaign, even though registered Democrats in Massachusetts hold a sizable numerical advantage.
Massachusetts last elected a Republican to the Senate in 1972, but the weak economy and doubts about the healthcare overhaul have moved voters to abandon political loyalties.
Their possible change of heart could not have come at a more crucial juncture for Obama.
Democrats now control 60 votes in the Senate to 40 for the Republicans.
More From Source
Lets just hope that we get the republican, and hope that Big Brother does not create an accident to befall him. This man (This White Man) may hold the power to stop Comerade Barry Sotelo from turning America into a Bannana republic.
I know thats incredible that he did win and like you said lets hope upon all hopes that HLS or some other idiot doesn’t try to harm him or somehow some accidental whatever takes place. Mr. Sen. Brown is our new Great White Hope!
It was a tense day walking around the house yesterday, I printed out a picture of Kennedy and spit it on it every time I walked by.
The picked on Brown for driving a truck? Why cause you’d rather vote for a guy that drives a cadillac…off a bridge and leaves a woman for dead.
Cadillac’s get worse gas mileage than pick ups anyways blue dog cry babies.
Not only did the hell woman Coakley lose, she lost a race that was guaranteed to blue’s by default, how’s that feel, maybe we didn’t forget that she wouldn’t prosecute a man who raped a 23 month old baby with a hot curling iron because he was tied to her top supporters.
One of by land, two if by see, MA stopped tyranny once and we’ll do it again.