A lot happened in the Massachusetts senate race before it burst on to the national stage only about ten days ago. In today’s slideshow we show you some of what you missed.

Martha Coakley’s campaign just held a press conference regarding alleged voting irregularities in Massachusetts, presumably setting the table for legal battles to come if the outcome is too close to call.

Worth noting: One of the Coakley attorneys at the presser was Marc Elias, counsel for Sen. Al Franken during the protracted Minnesota election contest last year.

Late Update: Likewise, the RNC releases a survey which it claims shows voters would want a victorious Brown seated immediately.

“If it’s the end of health care, it’s the end of the Democratic majority.”

That’s Paul Begala from a few moments ago on CNN when asked whether a Brown win meant the end of health care reform. So true. It really is nothing to fear but fear itself. The Dems have no choice but to finish the job. No choice.

And I strongly suspect that means the House has to pass the senate bill.

Sen. Russ Feingold told a local TV station today that the result of the Massachusetts race will define the agenda for the rest of the year. If Coakley loses, says Feingold, “it’s a serious problem and it’s probably back to the drawing board on health care, which is unfortunate, because everybody agrees we have to do something about health care and so it would be unfortunate to lose this whole effort.”

Eeesh. Kind of glad he’s not in charge of messaging for the Dems. Or is he? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

The intra-Democratic blame game is in full force. And Celinda Lake, a highly respected Dem pollster, who polled for the Coakley campaign, is hitting back at White House criticism. Her main points was that the Coakley campaign was underfunded and under-supporting by Washington. But here’s the point I cannot get my head around. Lake says they didn’t have money for tracking polls …

No money for tracking polls.

So why’d they get caught off guard? They weren’t watching.

Let me be clear: I’m not sure this is a criticism of Lake. Maybe they just refused to pay for a tracking poll. The pollster can’t create a budget that doesn’t exist. But, no tracking polls?

We’ve been talking to the Senate historian, Massachusetts secretary of state’s office, and others who are in the know trying to figure out when and under what circumstances Scott Brown could be seated in the U.S. Senate if he wins tonight.

Any lag between the election and the swearing in could be crucial to Democrats passing health care reform. So it’s an important question, though admittedly there’s a element of political science geekery at play here, too, like for instance when you try to determine the circumstances of Teddy Kennedy’s own 1962 seating almost immediately after his win in a special election.

Eric Kleefeld and Brian Beutler have been hitting the phones for the last couple of days and they sort it out for us in this report. The bottom line is the Senate seems well within its own rules and recent precedent to wait to seat Brown until Massachusetts certifies his election, which as we reported yesterday will take at least 15 days, and probably closer to 20 days.

We’re getting some limited information, not just anecdotal now, but statistical, suggesting strong turnout in the bluest parts of Mass.

A reader brings us up to speed after the jump … Read More

I’ve had a few questions about why I’m pushing for Plan B (just passing the bill through the House) rather than Plan A (completing the negotiations and passing the revised bill through the senate before Brown, if he wins, is seated). Here are my thoughts. Read More

Two really good, short articles from TNR about the Mass senate election and what it means for health care reform. One by Jon Cohn, another by Jon Chait. The bottom-line is broadly consistent with what I wrote earlier today. I’m not sure it’s quite that the Dems have nothing to fear but fear itself. But it is a classic case where they’re only really in trouble if they lose their nerve, freak out and listen to the voices telling them to pull the plug on reform. It’s time for buck up, shut up, pass the bill and move on — quickly through the senate if they’re certain they can and if not just push it right through the House.

Who are the pols going to be who can rise to this moment?

Just how did the progress of Health Care on the Hill and the Massachusetts senate special election intertwine to get us to this point? Check out our new timeline where you can see it unfold before your eyes.