Mass. Dem Senate Primary: Personal Perspectives

One week from today, voters in my home state of Massachusetts will winnow the field of candidates for the Senate seat held until earlier this year by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. The primaries for Democrats and Republicans take place next Tuesday.
I've seen two of the Democratic candidates for the seat up close -- Attorney General Martha Coakley and Congressman Michael Capuano. When I met Coakley at a Democratic State Committee meeting last year, she came off as very approachable for a member of the press. Capuano, whom I heard at an appearance at Harvard 10 years ago, when I was an undergrad and he was beginning his first term in Congress, seemed blunter. Addressing an audience of students, he stressed that selflessness, not ego, should motivate people to enter politics.
Seems like voters find the styles of both Coakley and Capuano preferable to the two other Democratic candidates, Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca and City Year head Alan Khazei. In a poll last Tuesday, Coakley led all Democratic candidates with 36 percent, followed by Capuano (21), Pagliuca (14) and Khazei (14). We'll see if these results hold true on primary day.