STUNNING - AT 9:34 A.M. ET:  I believe this is the first poll among likely voters for the special election in Massachusetts on January 19th to fill the Senate seat vacated by the death of Edward M. Kennedy. 

State Attorney General Martha Coakley holds a nine-point lead over her Republican rival, state Senator Scott Brown, in Massachusetts’s special U.S. Senate election to fill the seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds Coakley ahead of Brown 50% to 41%. One percent (1%) prefer some other candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided.

That is stunningly close in Massachusetts, a very, very blue state.  The national Republican Party, in another fit of imagination, is giving no help to Brown, having written off the seat. And it is unlikely that Brown can pull it off.  But even a close loss would be a dramatic political statement. 

The special Senate election will be held on January 19 and special elections typically feature low turnout. That’s one reason the race appears to be a bit closer than might typically be expected for a Senate race in Massachusetts. Kennedy carried 69% of the vote when he was reelected in 2006.

There are still two weeks to go.  Brown should pour it on.  The GOP, from around the country, should start writing some checks.  Concede nothing this year.

January 5, 2010