Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley swamped her rivals yesterday to take the Democratic nomination for the late Ted Kennedy's seat in the U.S. Senate. Coakley was the target of an exceptionally boneheaded attack, even by today's low standards of political discourse. She signed on to the states' amicus brief in Wood v. Allen, written by the Indiana AG's office. Allen happens to be a capital case, but it involves an issue in federal habeas law that is common to capital and noncapital cases alike. To say that the Mass. AG should refrain from joining an issue of interest to the enforcement of criminal law in Massachusetts simply because the underlying case happens to be a capital one is an argument that only foaming-at-the-mouth anti-DP fanatics would buy.

This story by Matt Viser in the Boston Globe notes the criticism by Rep. Michael Capuano, who finished second yesterday, near the end of the story. Most of the article is about Capuano's criticism of Coakley for saying attacks on the Patriot Act were overblown, which they most certainly were. It's good to see that these attacks got little traction, even in Massachusetts, even in a Democratic primary.

Perry Bacon of AP has this story on the election results. State Sen. Scott Brown won the task of carrying the GOP banner up a very steep slope.

If Coakley wins the general election, as most political observers think is likely, how good a senator will she be on criminal justice issues? Only time will tell, but I will go out on a limb and predict that she will be far better than the late Sen. Kennedy was. (Okay, that's a short, sturdy limb.)