BOSTON, MASS. – On Election eve, as Republican Scott Brown criss-crossed the Bay State, greeted by gaggles of fervent fans, his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley made a pit stop in Dorchester’s fabled Irish Catholic watering hole, the Eire Pub. Poking your head in this bar has become a must for aspiring pols, and not just for Boston-based candidates, or statewide office seekers like Coakley.
A bronze plaque commemorates Ronald Reagan’s visit in 1980. And a retiree that sidled up to the bar recalled when Bill Clinton donned an apron and served up Irish fare from the kitchen.
Coakley had a more strategic and symbolic interest in paying her respects to this political landmark. The Boston Globe painted its patrons aptly: “The people who drink at the Eire are police and firefighters, postal workers and teachers. There are many union members who have traditionally voted Democrat, but many of them have a conservative bent, so everything is up for grabs.” And Coakley’s difficulty connecting with that constituency is at the root of why her once-waltz has become a Republican rout. The Kennedy clan is revered here. It was a final stab in her campaign-long quest to convince Massachusetts Irish Catholic voters that only she can continue Teddy Kennedy’s legacy.
Crowded near the door that night were what some might disparage as “Labor goons,” straight out of Central Casting: all buzz cuts and broad shoulders. These were Teamsters that the Coakley campaign had hauled in to reassure the regulars that she’s on their side. Perhaps indicating that they showed up more out of loyalty to their Local than to Coakley, these characters skedaddled after she sipped haltingly from her pint of Sam Adams. It was painfully reminiscent of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Canadian whiskey shot shenanigans back before the Indiana presidential primary in ’08.
One of the bartenders reckoned that his patrons were about evenly split. But on Election Day, outside Ward 2, Precinct 4 in Quincy, Mass., five out of six white men with pronounced Massachusetts accents interviewed – five of whom worked in construction, and would be right at home throwing back a Bud at the Eire – readily owned up to backing Brown and cantankerously expressed why: they wanted to send a message to Washington and the Bay State Democratic establishment.
Quincy’s Democratic mayor caused a stink when he became the most prominent Democratic office holder to publicly come out for Republican Scott Brown, perhaps going along with the mood of the voters in his town that he’ll have to face in the future.
Others who entered the Eire on Coakley’s behalf stood out from the regulars like sore thumbs. There was a lone black man, ambling aimlessly about with a Coakley sign, and a grey curly-headed, bespectacled fellow who looked like he’d rather be in a bookstore in Brookline. And there was the paralegalling recent college grad, a young lady from Concord, New Hampshire. Rare for a Coakley backer, she professed that the AG was her gal from the get-go. To this over-achiever, Coakley shouldn’t even have to be bothered by a boob like Brown. Coakley is “really smart” and “understands issues.” Then she added, with half-heartedly apologies: “I know some people criticize that.” “Some people:” like the ones she had no idea about how to mingle with in the Eire Pub.
The numbers tonight indicate that “some people” might just be “most people” in the Commonwealth: at least those people who felt compelled to go to the polls.
