But I wonder if the surprise Republican win in Ted Kennedy’s former seat has all that much to do with politics – in the sense of policies – as has been said.
Electors really do not like being taken for granted, & the Democrat candidate does seem to have done that in this case.
I am reminded of the case of PatrickGordon-Walker.
Harold Wilson had intended to appoint him as Foreign Secretary when Labour returned to power in 1964, but Gordon-Walker lost his seat in what many saw as an unprincipled campaign on immigration & race in his Smethwick constituency.
Reginald Sorenson, long standing MP for the safe East London Labour constituency of Leyton, was persuaded to accept an appointment to the House of Lords & Gordon-Walker stood for Labour in the resulting by-election.
He lost.
There are different theories about why, exactly, but it was clear that the voters were just not going to be told what to do in this way.
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