Democrats in the liberal fiefdom Massachusetts are alarmed. In fact, they seem so alarmed it's hard to say whether they are concerned that they could lose the open seat bequeathed by Ted Kennedy, or they're just irritated the Republicans have made it an actual contest.
Before the special election, I stated that Martha Coakley would emerge the victor by a mere few percentage points in Massachusetts, enough to leave the impression that no Democrat is "safe" in his or her seat for the midterms in November. Many of the Republicans I spoke with could not quite fathom the idea of Ted Kennedy's seat turning red. Some even rolled out half-baked conspiracy theories of the Service Employees International Union counting the votes or even--a la Minnesota--"discovering" ballots in the trunk of a car.
