Like fans cheering for their favorite football teams, voters nationwide are paying attention to the special U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts. Almost half of them are rooting for Republican candidate Scott Brown over his Democratic opponent, Martha Coakley.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 49% of likely voters nationwide want Brown to win, while 34% are cheering on Coakley. Seventeen percent (17%) are undecided.

Given Massachusetts’ status as one of the most Democratic states in the country, it’s perhaps no surprise that the gap is somewhat narrower when voters are asked who they think will actually win the race. Forty-four percent (44%) predict Brown will be the winner, 35% say Coakley. Twenty-one percent (21%) aren’t sure.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of Coakley’s fans expect her to win while 69% of Brown’s fans think he will prevail. Those who want Brown to win are also twice as likely to be following news about the election as those who favor Coakley - 47% to 24%.

While 86% of GOP voters nationwide want Brown to win, only 65% of Democratic voters hope Coakley will capture the Senate seat held for 46 years by the late Edward M. Kennedy. Fifty-five percent (55%) of unaffiliateds also want Brown to win.

Scott Rasmussen takes a closer look at these factors and how they play out in recent polls of Massachusetts voters. A Rasmussen Reports survey of Bay State voters last week found Coakely with a two-point lead over Brown, 49% to 47%.

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As is the case in Massachusetts, Republicans nationwide are much more interested in the race than Democrats. Forty percent (40%) of Republican voters are following news of the campaign Very Closely. Just 20% of Democratic voters say the same. From an ideological perspective, 41% of conservative voters say they’re following it Very Closely along with 17% of liberal voters.

Among voters nationwide, the election is all about health care. Among those who Strongly Favor the health care legislation before Congress, 86% want Coakley to win. Among those who Strongly Oppose that legislation, 88% want Brown to win.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters nationally say they are following news stories about the Massachusetts special Senate election at least somewhat closely, with 32% who are following very closely. Thirty-one percent (31%) are not following news accounts of the contest very closely, but just 10% are not following them at all.

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Republicans nationwide – and a plurality (44%) of unaffiliated voters - think Brown will defeat Coakley. Fifty-three percent (53%) of Democratic voters say Coakley will emerge as the winner.

Once again, the Political Class and Mainstream American voters don’t see eye-to-eye. Sixty-two percent (62%) of the Political Class want Coakley, currently the state attorney general, to win, while 58% of Mainstream voters prefer a Brown victory. Just over half of each group expects their favorite to win.

Just 38% of voters nationwide favor the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That matches the lowest level of support yet. Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters oppose the plan. As has been the case throughout the debate, those who feel strongly about the issue are more likely to be opposed. Just 18% of voters Strongly Favor the plan while 44% are Strongly Opposed.

Nationally, 62% of voters say Brown is at least somewhat conservative ideologically. Coakley is seen as at least somewhat liberal by 50%.

Those figures include 22% who say Brown is Very Conservative and 28% who say Coakley Very Liberal.

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