Massachusetts: Jersey Redux

A state that was simply overwhelmingly liberal, a state where the Democratic voters would eventually come "back to the party", a state where the party bosses kept smugly asserting they were very much in control of the situation....no, this is not about Scott Brown and Massachusetts, it's actually about New Jersey and all the reasons we heard why Chris Christie could not capture the governor's seat.

It does sound familiar, no? So does the polling:

The Massachusetts Senate race is now a toss up.

Buoyed by a huge advantage with independents and relative disinterest from Democratic voters in the state, Republican Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 48-47.

About the same lead Christie held in the final days of his campaign, one he wound up winning by 4. In a state that has a 600K Democratic voting advantage, no less. Again, sound familiar? Even the pollsters are starting to make the comparison:

As was the case in the Gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia last year, it looks like the electorate in Massachusetts will be considerably more conservative than the one that showed up in 2008.

Another blast from Jersey's recent past:

In New Jersey, CNN's exit poll says Christie won independents 58-33 over Corzine, with indies making up 27 percent of the electorate.

The final tally in fact showed independents breaking for Christie 59% -32%, ensuring his margin of victory. Scott's got that beat, though:

Brown has eye popping numbers with independents, sporting a 70/16 favorability rating with them and holding a 63-31 lead in the horse race with Coakley...

True, ten days is plenty of time for the left-wing hate machine to get cracking. But Martha Coakely came into the final stretch trying to seal her win by playing a prevent defense, and as the great John Madden once said, "All a prevent defense does is prevent you from winning..."