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.