海角大神

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) is poised to become the Bay State鈥檚 first woman senator.

Ms. Coakley won the Democratic primary in the race to fill the US Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy. Her victory Tuesday was by a wide margin 鈥� 19 points over her closest competitor, Rep. Michael Capuano.

While the historic importance of her potential election to the Senate has not been lost on the media or with her supporters, it鈥檚 something Coakley has left largely unsaid on the campaign trail.

In accepting the Democratic nomination for the seat Tuesday, she did acknowledge the importance of her accomplishment, though only briefly.

鈥淭hey said women don鈥檛 have much luck in Massachusetts politics,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e believed that it was quite possible that that luck was about to change.鈥�

Coakley鈥檚 hesitation to discuss gender was probably an intentional campaign decision.

鈥淪he and her people recognize that when you say the first woman, you inject an abstraction into the argument,鈥� says Dan Payne, a Massachusetts-based Democratic media consultant. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something women鈥檚 groups say and do, but most female politicians don鈥檛 do that because they don鈥檛 want voters to feel they鈥檙e different.鈥�

Many voters didn鈥檛 need Coakley to discuss her gender for it to matter to them.

鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled that we鈥檙e going to have a competent female senator from Massachusetts,鈥� said Molly Parr, who was in the audience at Coakley鈥檚 victory celebration Tuesday night.

Ms. Parr was motivated to volunteer for Coakley鈥檚 campaign after the would-be senator spoke out against the Stupak amendment, a provision in the House version of the healthcare reform bill specifying that federal funding cannot be used for abortion services.

鈥淪he played right to me with that,鈥� Parr said. 鈥淚 know my health is safe with her.鈥�

But Coakley and other supporters at the celebration also stressed that her experience as the state鈥檚 attorney general and as a former district attorney was a factor in her success. In her victory speech, she cited job creation, healthcare reform, the environment, community safety, and civil liberties 鈥� common themes in her campaign rhetoric 鈥� as issues she would address in Washington.

Coakley enjoyed early support and fundraising from EMILY鈥檚 List, which works to elect Democratic women in favor of abortion rights. Union groups also lent significant support. And she got a late boost from former President Clinton, who told voters they could trust Coakley 鈥渢o get results鈥� in prerecorded robocalls Monday.

While Coakley was favored during the three-month lead-up to the primary, her margin of victory was wider than previously estimated.

Unofficial results indicate that Coakley earned 47 percent of the vote, with Representative Capuano at 28 percent. Alan Khazei, co-founder of the service organization City Year, and Stephen Pagliuca, co-owner of the Boston Celtics, received 13 and 12 percent of the vote, respectively.

All three of Coakley鈥檚 competitors pledged to support her in the general election and praised her campaign.

But her new rival, state Sen. Scott Brown 鈥� who beat businessman Jack E. Robinson by 78 percentage points to win the Republican nomination 鈥� wasted no time in criticizing Coakley, saying she would be a 鈥減artisan placeholder.鈥�

He acknowledged that he鈥檚 an underdog in the Jan. 19 general election, but he tried Tuesday to appeal to independent voters, telling supporters, 鈥渘ever underestimate the power of the independent.鈥�

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See also:

Candidates for Kennedy鈥檚 Senate seat try to carry his mantle

Massachusetts鈥� would-be senators roil healthcare abortion debate
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