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Unions got out the vote in MA

Some would have thought that Baker could have won—like Weld, etc., appealed to fiscal conservatives/moderates but socially a liberal—gay running mate, etc. But perhaps the “base”
abandoned him (under the same set of circumstances, we may get Vicky Kennedy as a Senator in 2 yrs); he seemed stiff)
and other reasons: Dems made ads showing Patrick as warm and
fuzzy while Baker was seen as a heartless CEO who would lay off a bunch of state workers (and if you were a state worker
or knew one, why would you vote for him?)...

The unions banded against him—an ad he ran showed what a friend Patrick was to the pinky-ring union people and
the point was made YOU could lose YOUR union- or state-
job under him. And then there was a ballot question that
proposed slashing the sales tax to 3 per cent from 6.5;
while a “stop the double tax on alcohol” bill worked,
this managed to bring out the union people, etc. and those
who were concerned that such cuts would be devastating.

Even Baker came out saying he would support a cut to 5 per cent, not 3. So the Dems and libs and union people came out to vote for Patrick and they checked off every single D on the ballot.

Bielat may have gotten a cong. seat had he run in the
10th. Perry got close but the neg. ads killed him. And in the 6th, such things as “an anti-Obama lawn sign” wrecked
the chances of Bill Hudak against arrogant incumbent
John Tierney despite Tierney’s wife being convicted of
money laundering. While some said Tierney didn’t run any positive ads, he did run at least one I saw, and people
were caught up in the Keep The Bums In mentality here.

“Lawn signs don’t vote”. If you only saw all the Hudak
signs that were out. Tierney signs got out too, at the end,
but for various reasons he won (maybe the city votes killed off the candidacy?) Many Hudak signs are still out there,
perhaps in defiance, but he did get caught up in the
Keep The Bums In mentality here