Somehow, the press presents Scott Brown's win as a Republican triumph. Without going into denial that he indeed won, it should be noted that Brown only garnered 64,000 more votes than did John McCain in the presidential election of 2008. However, Coakley "lost" 833,000 voters who went for Obama in '08. (Plus, presumably, a good portion of the extra 64K that Brown picked up.) That tells me that while enthusiasm for Brown was modestly stronger, the loss of enthusiasm on the part of Democratic or centrist Indies was the real problem for Coakley.
Scott Brown 1,168,107 Martha Coakley 1,058,682
John McCain 1,104,284 Barack Obama 1,891,083
Brown picked up 64K votes Coakley lost 833K votes
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So how do the Dems re-energize?
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