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Democrats in Massachusetts had known for quite some time that they would have to find a replacement for Ted Kennedy, quite possibly for a special election. What they couldn’t have fathomed was that the special election would draw nearly non-stop national attention. Or that it could be seen as a referendum on the president’s health care reform agenda—so much so that President Obama came to Massachusetts yesterday to campaign for Democrat.

That’s right. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) v. state Senator Scott Brown (R) has the nation’s attention. FOX News Channel will actually be live in Boston for some of their programming tomorrow. Sean Hannity can’t seem to spit out a sentence without “Brown” in it.

Indeed, the outcome of tomorrow’s election will have ripple effects, possibly for many years to come. One could say the Republican have already won—claiming victory if Brown even comes close. Polls show Brown has closed the 30-point lead Coakley enjoyed just a month ago. Republicans are spinning this as a reflection of the people’s view of the Health Care Reform bill—they hate it (or at least the way it was formed).

Coakley’s campaign in the Big Book of How to Run Campaign, will have its own chapter on how to NOT to run the stretch drive of your bid for office while enjoying a huge lead (Dick Blumenthal should go to school on this race).

But before everyone gets so excited about how one US Senate race can change the country, we should realize that this truly a traditional race. Martha Coakley is a typical Massachusetts liberal in the tradition of Ted Kennedy. Scott Brown is a typical, Newt Gingrich, right-wing conservative. The choice for Bay State voters is clear. The race is more than interesting in the bluest of blue states.
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When it comes to statewide elections, it’s usually an unpopular policy position or (for incumbents) an unpopular vote that gives a candidate concern about his/her standing with the voters. In the case of Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, she never made it that far.

Bysiewicz is busy trying to explain why she switched from the race for governor, where she led in the polls, to attorney general where she has asked the current attorney general (Blumenthal) for an opinion on whether she is even qualified to serve in the position. Things are getting weirder by the day.
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On the Republican side, former Congressman Larry DeNardis is interested in the governor’s race as are various mayors in the state.
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When it comes to the choice between Leno and Conan, I’ll take Ricky Gervais. That guy is funny.

NOTE: Due to the need for some medical therapy work on my back, the Hanging Shad may not appear everyday…but as often as possible. Thanks for reading.

Members of a Farmington-based nonprofit spent the last few days tirelessly trying to locate one of their doctors who flew into Port-au-Prince just before the devastating earthquake Tuesday afternoon. Dr.David Hall of FaithCare was scheduled to meet with a pastor at 4 p.m. to discuss a mission trip that FaithCare was planning to take in February.

FaithCare has heard reports through the grapevine that Hall was spotted after the earthquake, but they hadn’t received confirmation. Members of FaithCare had been using the Internet, sending e-mails and making phone calls trying to contact Hall. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief this morning. Dr. Hall was pulled from the rubble. Details are sketchy but Dr. Hall spoke to his wife and he is apparently OK.

Hall, formerly of Hartford Hospital and now based in Fort Myers, Fla., is a 59-year-old survivor of five heart attacks, and his heart medication would have run out today..They had been sending photos of him to media outlets in Haiti hoping someone will find him and send FaithCare confirmation that he is alive.
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Lost in all the hoopla of Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz deciding to run for Attorney General instead of governor (in which she was leading in the polls) was her decision not to participate in the new public financing program. The campaign finance reform law is already under fire and oral arguments on lawsuits against the law were heard yesterday in Federal Court in New York. So public financing may not even be a factor.

Former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy has been trying to shame his multi-millionaire rival Ned Lamont into participating in public financing. Malloy’s campaign has been pointing out that Lamont was a big supporter of public financing when the state legislature was debating the bill.

But now that Bysiewicz is not participating, it makes it tougher to criticize Republicans Linda McMahon and Peter Schiff as well as Democrat Richard Blumenthal if they decide to forgo using taxpayers’ money to run.
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A chain of stores very familiar to Connecticut consumers has filed for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy law. Bernie’s has 9 stores in Connecticut, all which will close by the end of next month. Three hundred fifty workers will be laid off. All gift cards and extended warranties will be honored.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is widely seen as the most popular politician in the state. Republicans counter that Blumenthal has never had a serious challenger his many years in the AG’s office.

Well this morning, Blumenthal has another poll in which he soundly smokes all GOP comers. He whips former wrestling executive Linda McMahon 64 – 23 percent, businessman Peter Schiff 66 – 19 percent and former congressman Rob Simmons 62 – 27 percent in a Quinnipiac poll released this morning.

The poll also covered a theoretical Republican primary for governor. Simmons tops McMahon 37 – 27 percent , with 4 percent for Schiff and 28 percent undecided.
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In other “Dodd Domino Affect” news, state Senator John Kissel will forgo joining the field for Attorney General and will run for reelection. Taking the same route is is Ross Garber—a former attorney for John Rowland. Garber was a viable candidate. In a year in which just about anything is not surprising, Garber could have ended up facing his sister-in-law in the general election. Garber is married to Susan Bysiewicz’ sister.
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The executive director of a high profile legislative commission says the group won’t be able to make it to the end of the fiscal year unless the Rell administration helps out.

Teresa Younger of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) wants to transfer money with the commission’s accounts. “The money has already been budgeted,” Younger told CTNewsJunkie. In order to make the transfer, they need the approval of the Financial Advisory Committee, which is controlled by the governor’s budget office.
Last year Rell proposed eliminating all six legislative commissions, including Younger’s, but the General Assembly decided to keep them and simply cut their funding by an estimated 50 percent to help has been made. close the budget gap.
Jeffrey Beckham, spokesman for the Office of Policy and Management, said no decision about whether to add the commission to the agenda.

Two Connecticut aid workers from the Haitian Ministries of the Diocese of Norwich were pulled from the rubble in Haiti early this morning. They were in the mission house that collapsed as a result of a 7.0 earthquake, the largest earthquake ever measured in that area. The two workers were identified as acting director Jillian Thorp, and a management consultant, Charles Dietsch. It will be some time before the full scale of the damaged can be assessed. Communications on the island nation has been severely disrupted but published reports say the quake damaged the National Palace and collapsed a hospital.
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As predicted here on Monday, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz will focus on running for attorney general, abandoning the race for governor in which she was leading in the latest polls. Bysiewicz has a statewide exploratory committee and she never officially declared herself a candidate for any office.
The announcement by Bysiewicz sets up an interesting and long-anticipated match-up in the race for AG with former state senate majority leader and former state party chairman George Jepsen. In his recent statements, Jepsen has gone out of his way to attach himself to Richard Blumenthal who is leaving the AG’s office to run for the US Senate seat that is now open due to the retirement of Chris Dodd.
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In other campaign news, state Senator John McKinney says he is running for reelection and will not enter the race for governor. McKinney was often mentioned (including by The Shad) as a possible gubernatorial candidate. McKinney says running for the state’s top spot would take too much time away from his three children.
There is yet another Republican running for governor and it’s a name from the past. The Hartford Courant reports that former congressman, state senator, college professor and president Larry DiNardis filed papers forming an exploratory committee with his eye on the state’s top political job.