ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
One of the big political surprises this month has been the Senate race in Massachusetts. The vote is tomorrow. For Democrats and for President Obama, the stakes are huge. It's the race to fill the seat that was held for almost half a century by the late Edward Kennedy. And all of a sudden, it seems that the Republican candidate could win in a state that tends to vote very democratic. A Republican win would give the GOP enough votes in the Senate to defeat health care legislation and voters in Massachusets say the race between Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown is not just about their state.
Ms. SARAH LEMARE(ph): I feel like it is a referendum on the health care reform because, you know, it will be a vote that could block the reform.
Mr. ZACK BRUNO(ph): For me it has a certain significance because I think, you know, Ted Kennedy was a wonderful man and stood for a lot of good things. For me, I think that, you know, his view should be, or his ideas should be passed on.
Mr. JEREMY KELLY(ph): I mean, in Coakley's eyes, I always see references to the Republicans as a whole preventing Brown from getting that 41st vote. I mean, so, these are definitely national issues.
SIEGEL: That was Jeremy Kelly, along with Zack Bruno and Sarah Lemare speaking today in Boston. And we put the question of how nationally significant this race is to Fred Thys who's a political reporter from member station WBUR in Boston. I asked Thys if the race is seen there as a referendum on President Obama.
FRED THYS: My sense from talking to voters this weekend is that, especially the Scott Brown voters, they seem to be angry about certain things in the Obama administration. Exactly, yes, they are upset about the pace at which they see health care moving through Congress. They think it's going too quickly. They are concerned about spending. They feel that there's just too much spending going on in Washington, that the deficits are out of control.
SIEGEL: Now, on health care there's a special relationship with Massachusetts because the state has a health care reform regimen already in place.
THYS: It does. And what I found going around with these two candidates is that some of the Brown supporters are with him precisely because of our experiment with health care here. They object, in particular, to being forced to take out health insurance, which we have to do here, it's mandatory. That's the only way we can get universal health care coverage.
SIEGEL: Is it really a Tea Party style campaign in Massachusetts?
THYS: There are many people with Tea Party T-shirts at Scott Brown events and in his campaign headquarters. They all are from Massachusetts. I have yet to meet a single person who was not from Massachusetts. So, while he may be getting assistance from out of state, there's very much a homegrown feel to his campaign here.
SIEGEL: Now, on the Democratic side, the Democrats have said, well, President Obama was there over the weekend. You can't get much bigger than that. Have they managed to galvanize Democrats and have they managed to get Massachusetts Democrats to feel that this really is about Washington and not just about Massachusetts?
THYS: Certainly President Obama had the biggest crowds this weekend. Many, many people who were not able even to get into the rally with him. Massachusetts Democrats are very much aware that a lot is on the line tomorrow. And I think it took them a while. They've been telling me, as I've gone around with Coakley, it may have taken them a while to realize this, but the barrage of television ads, the national attention on this race, they say, has awakened them and will ensure that they turn out at the polls tomorrow.
SIEGEL: Typically, what's the difference between a Coakley event and a Scott Brown event?
THYS: The Coakley events are rather subdued. There are middle-aged people who are committed Democrats ready to volunteer, in look of some bit of a pep talk from Coakley. Whereas the Brown rallies, you come there expecting a small crowd and you end up seeing this huge crowd showing up all of a sudden. And it's a mix of people. They're the curious, they are the, you know, diehard Republicans, some of the Tea Party folks and then just people who've been turned off also by some of the negative advertising that's come from the Democratic side against Scott Brown.
SIEGEL: The conventional wisdom seems to be that Scott Brown has run a very effective campaign and Martha Coakley has not been the most effective candidate. Does that seem to be what most people think when they follow the campaigns or is that too simple?
THYS: You know, just before President Obama was here, former President Clinton was here on Friday campaigning for Coakley. And at that event, again, mainly middle-aged women, in this case, attending the Coakley event with Bill Clinton. Women were telling me that they felt that Martha Coakley had not done a good job at running her race, that she'd been asleep at the wheel, so to speak, taking the race for granted and only awoke when the polls first started to show that Scott Brown was within striking distance.
SIEGEL: That's Fred Thys, political reporter from member station WBUR in Boston. Fred, thanks a lot.
THYS: Glad to do it, Robert.