Suddenly Vulnerable, Democrats Scramble In Race For Ted Kennedy's Senate Seat

Boston, Massachusetts, United States (AHN) - The race for the Senate seat of the late Ted Kennedy entered its final lap late Monday when state Sen. Scott Brown and state Attorney General Martha Coakley debated for the last time. The contest in the Democratic stronghold has become competitive, with Brown trailing Coakley in polls by narrow margins.

The two candidates exchanged volleys over healthcare and the economy. Coakley warned voters against supporting Bush-Cheney economic policies, to which Brown had responded that she was running against someone who drives a truck, not Bush and Cheney.

Brown, a three-term state lawmaker and a lieutenant colonel of the Massachusetts National Guard, criticized his rival of letting enemy combatants defend themselves in civilian court. He also hammered Coakley on taxes.

The 50-year-old Republican is statistically tied to Coakely, 48 percent to 47 percent, in a Public Policy Polling survey released last week. A Boston Globe/UNH poll early January had him trailing at 36 percent to 53 percent.

The gains are significant, apparently from the reaction of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which was secure by polling in November that had Coakley leading by 20 points but is now pushing hard to raise $250,000 before election day.

"It's turning into one heck of a battle. We need your help... Republican Scott Brown is within striking distance," J.B. Poersch, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told supporters in a fundraising email over the weekend.

On Tuesday, the Harvard Law Record warned in a headline, "Surprising GOP surge could derail Coakley candidacy."

The special election for the seat Kennedy represented for nearly five decades is on Jan. 19. A third-party candidate with no relations to the Kennedy clan, independent Joe Kennedy, is running. He was trying to raise $100,000 for his bid, but has only received $15,107.

Brown, on the other hand, continued to make Democrats jittery by raising $1.3 million on the day of the debate, far more than the $750,000 he had planned.

Coakley has proven her fundraising ability, reporting $4.1 million in contributions in just six weeks in November. She had raised $2 million in the first four weeks of her campaign. Over the weekend, she raised $100,000 in a day.

The 56-year-old Democrat is revving up her efforts against what is increasingly looking to be contested race. She launched her first negative TV ad on Monday, blasting Brown for being a"lockstep Republican" who "supports for tax breaks for the wealthiest 1%." She holds a rally with former President Bill Clinton and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).

Massachusetts is holding its first open Senate race in 25 years. Kennedy, who died last August after more than a year of battling brain cancer, had taken the seat from his brother, John F. Kennedy, and occupied it for 47 years, while Kerry has never lost re-election since his first term in 1984.