Martha Coakley, Sen — Mass.

I admit I was going for Coakley early on merely because she is a woman. And a Democrat, of course.
So now progressives looking into the real Martha find the chinks. They say she's just another Mass. Dem. political hack, likening her to John Kerry. I say, so?
They say she's run a horrible, insider campaign and didn't even look like she was trying. Well, it also looked from the get-go that she had it wrapped. Dino Rossi v. Chris Gregoire comes to mind, remember that?
And she's not as liberal as Teddy. Well, who is? As for the great Kennedy icon, anybody here old enough to remember his attempt to get the nomination away from Carter?
And there's also this little embarrassment when Boston became a laughing stock after the authorities overreacted big time to a silly prank.
But besides the fact that we absolutely must have her vote on health care, I still want her as the next woman Senator, on the absolutely pragmatic feminist position that incompetent or otherwise dismally disappointing women have as much right to power as their similarly afflicted male counterparts.
Would probably rewrite and put a little snap into that if I had time. But there.