By Paul Chesser
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—There may be intense interest in tomorrow’s special Senate election inside the Washington D.C. Beltway and in various political circles elsewhere, but repeated circling of this western Massachusetts city revealed mostly indifference.
A 50-something woman clerk at a Walgreen’s pharmacy in town was aware of the election, but said she’d be too busy to vote. “I work three jobs,” she said.
And a manager at a McDonald’s said he could not remember any discussions in his restaurant about the contest between Republican Scott Brown, Democrat Martha Coakley, and Independent Joe Kennedy.
But surely a Dunkin’ Donuts perched right next door to a National Association of Government Employees/International Brotherhood of Police Officers (both affiliates of the Service Employees International Union) building, where a phone bank for Coakley operates Monday, would have heard some buzz about the race? You know, dedicated public servants chatting up their candidate over a cup of coffee?
“There’s an election tomorrow?” said the donut shop clerk in response to this reporter’s inquiry.
A visit to the headquarters of the Springfield Fire Department, which will serve also as a polling place on Tuesday, did not reveal any interest in the U.S. Senate either. There beats the heart of the Springfield Association of Firefighters (IAFF Local 648), but no pulse for politics.
“When I go home from my job here,” said an on-duty fireman who revealed he was a single father, “my focus is totally on my son.” He added that he had not heard any talk around the headquarters about the race, and that he was not aware of any union efforts to recruit help from members to support any of the candidates.
Only an afternoon rally for Coakley at the building for Teamsters Local 404 drew a little over a hundred supporters out on a sunny-but-cold holiday. Watch for a Watchdog.org report later tonight about that event.
