A WORD OF CAUTION – AT 9:50 A.M. ET:  With all the excitement over Scott Brown and his Massachusetts run, a word of caution is in order:

Late word has internal polling from both the Brown and Coakley campaigns showing Brown ahead, but not by that much.  About five points.  Massachusetts is a very red state, and the Democratic Party has a superb get-out-the-vote machine.  There are armies of Massachusetts voters who will vote for any Democrat.  In addition, as the Boston Herald reports, Brown's forces have another, serious concern:

Republicans supporting state Sen. Scott Brown and some conservative activists are raising concerns that electoral fraud could throw a close U.S. Senate contest to Democrat Martha Coakley.

“The only way he can lose this is to have it taken from him,” said Roy Dennehy, 65, of North Andover, at a Brown rally yesterday.

A fast-circulating e-mail yesterday by the conservative Washington News Alert stoked fraud fears, suggesting liberal groups such as ACORN and Coakley supporters could pose as one of more than 100,000 dead people supposedly on voter rolls to cast ballots for the attorney general.

COMMENT:  This race isn't over.  Nothing is in the bag.  We'll know after 8 p.m. tonight, and don't be shocked if the vote count goes on for a long time. 

January 19, 2010