MARTHA'S MOUTH – AT 8:26 A.M. ET:  The chief Coakhead speaks:

MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) -- Democrat Martha Coakley is predicting victory today in her hard-fought campaign against Republican Scott Brown.

The attorney general voiced confidence to reporters after casting her ballot at an elementary school near her home north of Boston. Polls opened at 7:00 a.m. EST in the special election to replace the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Coakley said she wasn't paying attention to media or polls suggesting she might lose to Brown, who's ridden a wave of support across the solidly Democratic state.

She hasn't paid much attention to anything, in fact, including the loyalties of Red Sox great Curt Schilling, whom she described as a Yankee fan, or the presence of terrorists in Afghanistan.

The only consolation of a Coakley victory would be to look forward to the gaffe of the week.  We can live without that.  "Senator Brown" sounds just fine.

January 19, 2010