Independent libertarian Massachusetts Senate candidate Joseph L. Kennedy, of no relation to the famous political family, is at percent in a recent Boston Globe poll.
Half of voters surveyed said they would pick [Democrat] Coakley, the attorney general, if the election were held today, compared with 35 percent who would pick [Republican] Brown. Nine percent were undecided, and a third candidate in the race, independent Joseph L. Kennedy, received 5 percent.
In another poll reported on by IPR, Joe Kennedy polled at one percent when his name was not prompted. That is, one percent of those surveyed picked “other,” and Kennedy is the only independent on the ballot. In another poll that for some reason “pretended Joe Kennedy does not exist,” Public Policy Polling put the Republican at forty eight percent and the Democrat at forty seven percent, meaning that Kennedy could very well be a factor in this race.
For a history of IPR posts on Joe Kennedy, visit this page.
22 responses so far ↓
1 d.eris // Jan 10, 2010 at 1:27 pm
PPP’s failure to include Kennedy in its poll is likely a large part of the reason it shows such a tight race and could account for a large part of the difference between its poll and the Globe’s.
2 Robert Milnes // Jan 10, 2010 at 2:53 pm
All the hype on IPR notwithstanding, he’s in the single digits. Just like 9% recent special election in GA. Just like Ron Paul. etc. Face it libs. You poll in the single digits. 13% Cato is about your highest. You NEED PLAS. Now, if there is an immediate concerted effort to help the campaign of the Green in CA proclaimed as IN EXCHANGE for progressives voting for the libertarian in MA you might boost that polling. Send contributions to the Green in CA & activists go there now & help campaign for Jan 12 Tuesday election. michael Seebeck, you could score a LOT of points here by going there & Long Beach too. Also go to my websites & volunteer & donate. I could still make it to MA before Jan 19.
3 Morgan Brykein // Jan 10, 2010 at 2:56 pm
This has more to do with the “Won’t Win Anyways” syndrome that effects voters. They are made to think that support for a third party candidate would be a waste because they won’t win anyways. This ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy.
4 Robert Milnes // Jan 10, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Morgan, yes, very astute. Agreed. Well then, this is an opportunity to put a dent into that self fullfilling prophesy. Honestly, I figured it would be close at best for the Green in CA being in such a republican district. But the Independent libertarian has a good chance in MA…IF he can get the progressive vote.
5 Troll Police // Jan 10, 2010 at 4:11 pm
@2 is trolling. Smart Libertarians don’t feed trolls.
6 Don Lake .......... More // Jan 10, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Troll Police (Officer paulie ?????) Jan 10, 2010:
“@2 is trolling. Smart Libertarians don’t feed trolls.”
[a] so post number four is NOT trolling ??????
[b] so Milnes is the (only) trolling poster child
[c] Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
7 Thane Eichenauer // Jan 10, 2010 at 10:18 pm
I hunt trolls and Robert Milnes is no troll.
8 Third Party Revolution // Jan 10, 2010 at 10:49 pm
This may be a good sign. Hopefully Kennedy will place above 5%.
9 Troll Police // Jan 11, 2010 at 12:50 am
troll n. someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community
Mr. Milnes repeatedly attempts to hijack IPR threads with bursts of extraneous comments insulting anyone who doesn’t praise his “PLAS” strategy of magically aggregating “progressive” and liberty-minded voters around a presidential ticket led by him and with any random prominent female “progressive” in the V.P. slot — all of this despite 1) his failure to get a single vote in Denver in 2008, 2) his campaign site’s admissions of his felony stalking conviction, history of mental illness, and homelessness problems, and 3) his spiteful contempt for Ron Paul.
Not every single thing that Milnes writes constitutes trolling, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a troll.
10 stir the pot // Jan 11, 2010 at 4:44 am
PLAS= Pseudo Libertarian Attempts Sanity
11 Robert Milnes // Jan 11, 2010 at 8:22 am
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/extraneous Here at IPR there is no censorship. There are no troll police. Troll police are extraneous.
12 Robert Milnes // Jan 11, 2010 at 8:27 am
Ron Paul = reactionary/counterrevolutionary
+
Robert Milnes=progressive/revolutionary=
Robert Milnes>contemp for Ron Paul.
Nothing personal. Pure math.
13 Melty // Jan 11, 2010 at 8:33 am
Rasmussen Reports is also good for working the self-fulfilling prophecy.
14 Robert Milnes // Jan 11, 2010 at 8:48 am
OK everybody, we have about a week until this special election. That is enough time for immediate contributions online. & for activists to go to MA & help the campaign. We need to GOTV-get out the libertarian 13% AND the progressive 27% vote. We need to talk with every libertarian and progressive voter to get out & vote for the libertarian-this time. In exchange the libertarians will vote for the progressive where there is no Libertarian. The candidate should get in the media & endorse this strategy. Mr. Kennedy, just ask the progressives to vote for you instead of for the democrat which is a wasted vote or not voting at all. Prof Phillies, endorse this strategy & get your candidate to do so also. Activists stand as near as permissable to every polling station & talk to voters as they go in. Let the media talk with them afterwards-exit polling. I personally am willing to campaign for this candidate in MA up to & including Jan 19 & also willing to attend victory party that evening. I need support to do so. Go to my websites & volunteer & donate. A volunteer message goes directly to me.
15 Troll Police // Jan 11, 2010 at 10:43 am
Not all rules are laws. Not all “police” work for the State. Ignoring isn’t the same as censoring. True libertarians understand that the most important rules are social norms, and say that most laws should be replaced by them. True libertarians also understand that IPR is private property hosting the voluntary associations of its participants, and that by definition nothing done by “censors” here could actually infringe on one’s right of free speech.
How much has Mr. Milnes received in response to all the donation requests with which he spams IPR? Apparently, not even enough to pay the $25 membership dues for the party he fantasizes should nominate him for president.
Trolling delenda est. Don’t feed the trolls.
16 sum dood // Jan 11, 2010 at 1:19 pm
voting for someone only because you think they will win is the real way to throw away your vote
17 Robert Milnes // Jan 11, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Don Lake,Of The New Holy Roman Triumvirate. You think troll Police is paulie? I don’t. stir the pot may be. stir the pot is very incisive & actually does stir the pot. This Troll Police person is much less sophisticated. Most probably a young libertarian male who doesn’t realize how politically incorrect he is here. No match for me really. & I think I have even paulie on the ropes. What say you, One of Three?
18 Ben // Jan 12, 2010 at 12:24 am
Kennedy has been pushing his anti-war message in the last couple of debates. I’m sure it will get him a few disgruntled progressives (the two progressive candidates lost the Dem. Primary).
If you look into the guts of the poll, Kennedy’s voters are far less interested in the election. I would be pleasantly surprised by 5% on election day.
19 Aaron // Jan 12, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Isn’t the internet great? People like Milnes have the freedom to completely embarrass themselves, fighting for and discrediting something in one breath. Seeing these absurdities will inevitably continue to fuel the fire of the growing intelligence movement.
20 Stan // Jan 13, 2010 at 10:50 am
Joe Kennedy shows great promise — but I can’t help but be afraid that he’ll be the next Ralph Nader. With a sizable portion of the public rabid for healthcare reform, his career after this may very well be as the scapegoat for reform’s failure. Nader’s popularity fell after 2000 — how can Joe avoid that?
21 Ben N. Dunnitt // Jan 13, 2010 at 12:06 pm
He’s against the “reform”, so how can he be “blamed” for it failing?
Scott Brown helped write RomneyCare, the Massachusetts individual insurance mandate that is the model for ObamaCare. He is proud of that, even though it has been a disaster for Massachusetts. Martha Coakley supports ObamaCare.
Joe Kennedy is the only one that says government should keep its hands off medical insurance.
Of course it is a stupid line of argument anyway, because the bill will either be on Obama’s desk before the winner of this election is seated, or they will find ways to get Snowe and Collins on board.
22 Anonymous // Jul 1, 2010 at 9:53 am
Problem, Troll Police?
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