And down the stretch they come!
Related: Massachusetts Democrats Drifting Toward Gomez
Picked up another one in Globe today:
"Markey holds solid lead over Gomez, poll says; A 13-point gap with 10 days to go, but disengaged voters remain unpredictable" by Frank Phillips and Michael Levenson | Globe Staff, June 16, 2013
Democrat Edward J. Markey holds a solid lead over his Republican rival, Gabriel E. Gomez, as the two enter the final week of the special US Senate campaign, according to a new Boston Globe poll.
Markey, who has driven up concerns about his GOP opponent with a barrage of hard-hitting television ads, leads Gomez 54 percent to 41 percent, with only 4 percent of the respondents saying they were still undecided about whom to support in the June 25 election.
When you include voters who said they haven’t yet made up their minds but are leaning toward a candidate, the race tightens slightly, with 54 percent favoring Markey and 43 percent favoring Gomez.
Gomez is the candidate poll respondents find more likable and he holds the lead among unenrolled voters — the critical bloc of independents whose support he’ll need to top a Democrat in Massachusetts. But that margin is only 9 percentage points. Analysts believe that for a Republican to win in Massachusetts, he must win the unenrolled vote by a 2-to-1 margin.
The Cohasset private equity executive has also failed to make inroads with women, leaving Markey with a huge margin among female voters....
Andrew E. Smith — director of The Survey Center at the University of New Hampshire, which conducted the poll — said the wild card that can’t be measured is whether voters will turn out on Election Day....
One poll respondent, Donna Aronson, 81, a registered Democrat and retired businesswoman from Westwood, said she will be voting for Markey, but in an interview said it will be without much enthusiasm....
Respondent David Hutchinson, 45, a Democrat from Medford who works as a manager at a logistics and trucking company, said he doesn’t buy Gomez’s argument that he is a different kind of Republican than the GOP congressional leadership. Hutchinson will vote — albeit with little enthusiasm — for Markey....
But another traditional Democrat, Peggy Grant, 66, a retired customer and sales service manager from Norwood, said she will be voting for Gomez because she thinks Markey comes across as a “know it all” and she much prefers Gomez’s demeanor.
“I don’t like going against the Democratic Party, but that’s who I’m voting for,” said Grant who supported US Representative Stephen F. Lynch over Markey in the primary....
Indeed, many respondents said Gomez came across as the more affable of the two candidates....
--more--"
Also see:
Bill Clinton whips up crowd at Edward Markey rally
Biden latest top Democrat to stump for Markey
Spanish-language newspaper endorses Markey
Not a good sign for Gabe.
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
Gomez, Markey differ on economic remedies
Gabriel Gomez is no Scott Brown
"The candidates answered more than a dozen questions from audience members at a Boston forum on a wide range of issues: health care, affordable housing, jobs, immigration, military spending, transportation, the environment, gun control, taxes, student debt, and on the recent hot topic of rules on phone and Internet privacy, with several saying they had a hard time finding differences in the candidates’ responses.... “They both said the same thing.”
I counted two votes for Markey and two undecideds.
