Republican Scott Brown, Democrat Martha Coakley and Independent Joseph L. Kennedy squared off over health care and the economy at UMass-Boston, all vying to permanently replace the late Sen. Edward Kennedy in Washington.
Brown called the health care bill “broken” and claimed Coakley’s stances would lead to a higher deficit and taxes. Coakley said the health care bill would be deficit-neutral and sought to link Brown with the Bush administration.
The election is Jan. 19. At stake is the Senate Democrats’ 60-vote supermajority, a factor in the fate of the national health bill.
A Boston Globe poll had Coakley up by 15 points, while Public Policy Polling had Brown leading by a point 48-47 and “benefiting from depressed Democratic interest in the election.”
