MA-Sen: The Coakley Difference

Coakley fared best in liberal suburbs immediately west of Boston, the Berkshires, and in cities such as Lawrence, Springfield, and New Bedford, though not by the large margins required to win statewide.

That’s the kind of thing that could have been reversed had Coakley campaigned aggressively in those areas, in the style of a presidential primary — even as she lost ground in the swing suburbs.