THE SMOKING GUN – AT 7:15 P.M. ET:  You say you don't believe in press bias?  You say you want proof?  Well, we've got the proof, big time.

The Boston Globe, not exactly known as an institution that takes its liberalism lightly, showed us just how biased a paper could be today, in reporting the last-minute details of the Massachusetts Senate race.  Every late poll has shown Scott Brown ahead, except for one that showed him tied.  Note the way the Globe played the story:

With the clock ticking inexorably towards Tuesday's election and a new poll showing them in a dead heat, Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown are crisscrossing the state today in a last-minute scramble for votes in a race that has drawn national attention.

Say what?  The Globe picked the tie poll as the lead, ignoring all the others. 

Coakley, after stops in Newton and Pittsfield, swung into Springfield to rally supporters for one final stop in Western Massachusetts. As she walked into the Teamsters Local 404 hall, they shouted "Martha! Martha! Martha!"

At least they got the name right.  At another rally last night, one of the Kennedys kept referring to her as "Marcia."  Well, it's close.

"You can see the energy," Coakley said as she shook hands on the way in. "People can see it's a race."

Coakley ended the day in Framingham, before swinging by a phone bank and then gathering with staff and supporters at the Eire Pub in Dorchester.

Brown was in Boston, North Andover, and Littleton, and wrapped up his day with a rally in his hometown of Wrentham, where the Republican candidate took to the stage at a banquet hall as speakers blared "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones...

...The new poll, done for the liberal Daily Kos blog by Research 2000, found Brown and Coakley tied, 48-48. The telephone poll of 500 randomly selected voters was conducted Friday through Sunday and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Thanks for the information.

Other polls have suggested that Brown, until recently a little-known state senator, is tied or slightly ahead of Coakley, the state's attorney general.

Slightly ahead?  One final poll has him up ten, another has him up seven.  Slightly ahead?

Give that reporter a promotion to the editorial page.  Wait, he's already writing editorials.

January 18, 2010