Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: Massachusetts Dems try to 'Akinize' Michael Sullivan

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' MA-Sen: Good to see Massachusetts Dems being smart and trying to "Akinize" former US Attorney Michael Sullivan while it's still early. Sullivan seems to have earned the "front-runner" label in the GOP Senate primary, perhaps because he was able to earn a spot on the ballot through the use of volunteer petition-gatherers, as opposed to paying professionals, as his opponents did. And he not only has enthusiasm on his side, but he's also far and away the most conservative of the trio of Republican hopefuls:

He has said he is opposed to abortion rights and gay marriage. He also opposes a ban on assault weapons and high capacity ammunition clips. His two primary opponents, state Representative Daniel P. Winslow and Cohasset businessman Gabriel E. Gomez, support gay marriage and abortion rights, but do not favor a ban on assault weapons.

Indeed, Sullivan's conservatism (he was a Bush appointee, after all) may explain his supporters' motivation, and it also makes him the most likely candidate to emerge with the nomination, particularly since he's running against two relative "moderates." But Democrats are nevertheless eager to ensure that happens, staging a series of events to call attention to Sullivan's out-of-step right-wing views. It's a move that can pay double dividends: helping Sullivan to win his primary, and making him more unacceptable to general election voters if he does.

The best recent example of this happened last year, when Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill ran ads ahead of her state's Republican primary that purported to "attack" Todd Akin as unacceptably conservative. It helped him win a three-way fight for his party's nod, and of course, the rest is history. Bay State Democrats don't need Sullivan to implode in the way Akin did in order to prevail, but it's heartening that they're actively engaging the race and taking the right steps to make sure this seat stays blue.