While I procrastinate from pre-writing, here are some final thoughts less than four hours until the polls close. #WesternMA is #mapoli, too. Voters expect something in most races, esp higher profile ones. "But the narrative..." isn't really a thing (unless you're Martha Coakley).

The personal still matters A LOT. It's why I think @JoeKennedy's strength in #WesternMA has felt real. He was here and that's what people want. (but maybe diminished after Markey became to progressives what Dunkin is to coffee).

Either way, Markey would be wise to visit more. Even if he was visiting a fair amount before this race, he needs to be here more. He's not @SenWarren and never will be. Gotta work it. (If Kennedy pulls it out, I suspect he will be present or #WesternMA will turn on him).

But what is personal for local officials? It is relationships. Now are Neal's all that? Alone? No. But there's a reason why a lot of progressives here who have said and done all the right things sputter. They don't built the relationships. It's a centerpiece of urban politics.

The successful reformers in Spfld have always understood this. Some came from the same background as the machine types (note: anybody who says there is a machine in Springfield today is either a fool or blotting out blog posts I know they've read). They cld connect w/ people.

Today it takes a little more work because a lot of the community fabric is frayed. You gotta go to a lot more stuff yourself because it's less likely you grew up with a bunch of people who were already part of this CYO league or that neighborhood association, etc.

With suburbanization, a lot of people still have ties to Springfield (or Holyoke/Chicopee as the case may be).

But these relationships are HOW YOU WIN. Many of these cities and towns have a very elastic tolerance for ideology as long as you keep the damn street paved.

Sarno would be out on his ass if he faced a well-financed challenger because of the quality of life stuff alone. You know how I know? The Trash fee is how he won! It's the same deal with state legislators and, yes, congressmen.

I suspect that the reason why this won't keep the Berkshires from slipping toward Morse is because the Neal relationships are not as deep. But north of Lenox, it becomes a lot more like the lower Valley: relationships.

If Morse were running against e.g. a Downing, he'd be hitting the same wall in Pittsfield he's hitting in Springfield. It's not enough to carpet bomb the airwaves with high-minded ads about PAC money. It has no reality to people who busted a tire in a pothole.

What's startling is that there are real progressive opportunities to organize in the lower Valley to build relationships. Staying on the sidelines of an effort nearby and then touting your leadership on the subject isn't...leadership. SEE https://www.wmasspi.com/tag/welcoming-communities-trust-ordinance

Now of course, I could be wrong about all this and the ads and the mailers did the trick. Voters could have been slurping up national stories from progressive media, kick local press to the curb and ignore Morse's not-terrible, but meh record as mayor.

The funny thing is Morse's success in 2011 and to a lesser extent in the reelects was based on relationships and a nostalgia, too. E.g. "This place has had tough times, but it's home let's make it better." That's not this race, though.

There's a structural problem that makes it hard to run the kind of race that COULD get under the nail of Neal's hold on the lower Valley. But progressive funding that Morse relied on (and didn't get until this month) isn't built for that.

You COULD hack that a little by meeting more people districtwide and not just at Democratic Committee breakfasts. Regular people & groups. E.g. Go to Glendi even if you're not running for something in Spfld. It would still be a VERY heavy lift, but it's a start.

In the end, we can't all be glued to what the talking heads in DC and NYC are saying to understand our own world. So don't knock the relationships. It's what gives texture to our communities. It's also how you win. FIN