Keller @ Large: Voters See Through Senate Race Spin
BOSTON (CBS) - Say what you will about polls, and the attention we in the news media pay to them during political campaigns.
Listen to Jon's commentary:
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Sometimes we overdo it, but for the most part, you've got to admit that polls tend to be more often accurate than not, and they do represent the opinions of actual voters, as opposed to the hum of opinion from partisans and pundits that we normally get.
I love a good poll, so it was with great interest that I read the results of the Boston Globe poll yesterday on the US Senate race between Scott Brown and likely challenger Elizabeth Warren.
The campaign has only recently started to engage in earnest, but the attack ads have been flowing for months now.
And the most interesting finding of the Globe poll is that for the most part, you, the voters, have been doing a great job of seeing through and dismissing the bogus spin on both candidates.
For instance, the Democrats' indictment of Brown is that he is a right-wing Republican pretending to be a moderate independent, that he is a tool of Wall Street and big oil indifferent to the suffering of children with breathing problems, remember that especially vile ad?
Voters aren't buying it.
The Globe poll shows Brown is viewed as far better able to work across party lines than Warren.
News reports ranking Brown as one of the most bipartisan-voting senators have helped blunt that attack.
And his high favorability rating suggests voters know him and generally like him, whether or not they'll eventually vote for him.
Voters are also rejecting the Republicans' efforts to falsely brand Warren as a snotty Harvard elitist, out of touch and looking down her nose at the rest of us.
Instead, people appear to respect her intelligence, education, and activism on behalf of consumers.
I predict as they get to know her better, they will be even less susceptible to that GOP spin.
The Globe poll found the race was a dead heat, and no wonder.
These are two strong, personable candidates, each in their own way, and it's reassuring to know that most of us have the common sense to ignore the mudslinging and keep an open mind about the difficult choice ahead.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
