Football great Doug Flutie, famed Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, Ayla Brown (Scott's daughter) semi-finalist for American Idol...

Add to the growing list of Scott Brown celebrity supporters actor John Ratzenberger. He was a co-star on the hit 1980s TV sitcom "Cheers." The series was based on a real tavern in downtown Boston, that still exists today. (Though, the Cheers bar was recently reported to be having financial problems with the downturn in the economy.)

From the BostonHerald.com:

[At a Sunday rally in Worcester] Brown, bolstered by a last-minute campaign surge in the polls, reminded the crowd of over 2,000 people that he is their candidate.

Brown was serenaded by his daughter, former “American Idol” semi-finalist Ayla Brown, backslapped by Red Sox [team stats] ace pitcher Curt Schilling [stats], and pumped up by former “Cheers” know-it-all John Ratzenberger during the electric rally.

Ratzenberger is a known conservative and supporter of the Tea Party movement. He's also a friend of Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Cheers Star Ted Danson, an well-known Hollywood liberal, has made no endorsement in the Massachusetts race.

by Eric Dondero

Oldtimer Libertarians might remember the 1991 Libertarian Party National Convention. It was the first LP National Convention covered in its entirety by C-SPAN, gavel to gavel. Ron Paul had run for President on the Libertarian ticket in 1988, with fmr. Alaska State Rep. Andre Marrou as his VP. The ticket had gained a great deal of national media exposure, but never really cracked through. Of course the entire Libertarian Party was excited about the prospects of this "coming out" to America through the relatively new medium of C-SPAN.

And it promised to be an exciting convention. California LP activist Dick Boddie, a Black American and motivational speaker from California was running for the nomination for President against Marrou. During the nominating speeches, Boddie's father, a 70+ year old Baptist preacher gave a rousing speech for his son. The older Boddie, a veteran of the Civil Rights movement, was unfamiliar with his son's chosen political party. In front of live TV he repeatedly referred to his son as seeking the nomination of the "Liberation Party." It was a cringe moment for convention goers, and Libertarians nationwide watching the proceeding on C-SPAN.

Now, a promiment polling firm appears to have made a similar freudian slip, broadcast to the national media, no less, a day before an exceedingly important election where all eyes are focused on Massachusetts.

From the Merriman River Group (affiliated with the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership) at InsideMedford.com:

Brown supporters focused most on pocketbook issues, Coakley supporters on healthcare reform, undecided voters split

A poll conducted by the Merriman River Group (MRG) and InsideMedford.com indicates that Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 50.8% – 41.2% in the contest to fill the seat of the late Senator Ted Kennedy. Liberty Party candidate Joe Kennedy pulls in just 1.8% support, while 6.2% of voters are still not sure. Brown and Coakley both have most of their supporters locked in. 98% of both candidate’s supporters say they are definitely or probably going to vote for their candidate. In contrast, 22% of Kennedy’s supporters are just leaning toward him, suggesting that Brown and Coakley may both want to take aim at swaying those voters.

Such an error would be understandable 10 to 15 years ago, when the LP was a lot less popular. But given the fact that Libertarian candidate Joe Kennedy has received write-ups in the NY Times, Fox News page, and USAToday, you'd think his proper affiliation would have been noted, particularly from an institution that is connected with Harvard.

Certainly neither Joe Kennedy nor the Libertarian Party is to blame here. Once again, it's a case of liberal elites at an academic institution, unfamiliar with libertarian ideals and not at all familiar with the Party that represents those beliefs.

CORRECTION

From the Editor: Turns out we were wrong. Joe Kennedy does indeed have the ballot access designation of "Liberty Party." This, despite his campaigning under the Libertarian Party banner. Apologies to the Merriman Group.

by Robert Romano

January 17th, 2010, Boston, MA—With Tuesday’s special election for the open Senate seat in Massachusetts just two days away, citizen watchdog groups are paying special attention to the potential of voter fraud in a closely-contested race.

“The potential for voter fraud in Massachusetts is almost unlimited,” said Dan Tripp, a project leader for Americans for Limited Government Foundation’s election observers currently on the ground in Massachusetts.

“Voters in Massachusetts are not generally required to show identification at the polls,” Tripp explained, saying that the only voters who would be required to show ID were those first-time voters who registered by mail after 2003. “That’s less than 5 percent of the eligible voting population.”

“For the rest of the voting population, they need only provide a name and address associated with the voting list at the polling location,” Tripp said. “This enables multiple votes at multiple locations, with neither poll workers nor poll watchers having any means to detect the fraud, nor any means of verifying the actual identity of a voter showing up at the polls.”

According to the Massachusetts elections law, Title VIII, Chapter 54, Section 67, “No person shall vote if his name is not on the voting list…” And according to Massachusetts regulations, 950 CMR 54.04 (2009): “The voter must announce his address and name to the election officer in charge of the check-in voting list.”

“Given the lack of any ID requirement, Massachusetts elections law is an open invitation to fraud,” said Nathan Mehrens, counsel for Americans for Limited Government Foundation. Mehrens indicated that “Of course, the most probable fraud is dead voters showing up to vote on Tuesday.”

Tripp said scores of camera crews, poll watchers, and other election observers are deployed throughout the state. “Our special election observers are the eyes and ears on the ground, and who are well-positioned to ensure the legitimacy of Tuesday’s special senatorial election in Massachusetts.”

Americans for Limited Government Foundation, which is sponsoring the extensive election observation project, has partnered with NetRightNation.com, a nationwide coalition of bloggers that is coordinating with Massachusetts bloggers on the ground.

Tripp emphasized that Americans for Limited Government Foundation’s observers “are strictly non-partisan, and designed mostly to deter and detect voter and other types of election fraud and intimidation at the polls.”

“The message to anyone thinking about committing election fraud in Massachusetts is this: We will find you. Our camera teams could be anywhere,” Tripp declared, concluding, “We’re one of many groups engaged in monitoring the Massachusetts special election. The question individuals should be asking when they consider committing fraud is, ‘Is it worth the risk?’”

Courtesy of Adam Bitely at News Alert and NetRightNation.

Estimates: Less than 2,000 for Obama/Coakley event - 4,000+ for Scott Brown

At the Obama rally in downtown Boston, Martha Coakley failed to fill the hall as noted in this video. Meanwhile, across State in Worcester, Scott Brown filled a hall with a capacity crowd of 3,000. Reports that another 1,000 stood outside unable to get into the event. (Photos of Brown rally at InstaPundit.)

Fox News correspondent Carl Cameron speaks of the Martha Coakley campaign in the past tense.

"There's a lot of Democrats in this hall telling us what they think was the problem for the Martha Coakley campaign. Her campaign they argue just didn't get off the ground..."

Meanwhile CNN's Snr. White House correspondent Ed Henry is reporting the following:

Sources: Obama advisers believe Coakley will lose

Washington (CNN) - Multiple advisers to President Obama have privately told party officials that they believe Democrat Martha Coakley is going to lose Tuesday’s special election to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy for more than 40 years, several Democratic sources told CNN Sunday.

The sources added that the advisers are still hopeful that Obama's visit to Massachusetts on Sunday - coupled with a late push by Democratic activists - could help Coakley pull out a narrow victory in an increasingly tight race against Republican state Sen. Scott Brown.

However, the presidential advisers have grown increasingly pessimistic in the last three days about Coakley's chances after a series of missteps by the candidate, sources said.