Coakley Leads Fight to Fill Kennedy's Shoes

Massachusetts voters probably won’t let whoever takes Ted Kennedy’s seat be too far removed from the late senator’s ideals, but being too close appears to be a hindrance. With less than a week to go until the Democratic primary that will likely decide the January special election, frontrunner Martha Coakley is the rare contender who hasn’t invoked the Lion of the Senate ad nauseum, notes the New York Times. She’s even run afoul of the family.

“She set up a committee six months before my uncle died,” a Kennedy complained of Coakley’s eagerness. But with statewide experience and appeal, NPR notes, the state’s attorney general is on course to clinch the nomination and the election—unless that snub inspires a Kennedy to endorse another Democratic candidate, like Rep. Michael Capuano. But with Coakley so far ahead, the move is seen as risky. (More Martha Coakley stories.)