Coakley eases up, enjoying status in race

But as the days wind down to Tuesday’s special primary election, Coakley seems to be taking a decidedly different tack: she’s cracking jokes and smiling for the cameras, seeming far more relaxed at the end of the primary race than she was when it began.

“This is fun for me,’’ Coakley said Friday, after shaking hands - every pair of them - during a meeting with about 100 seniors at a community center run by the Lynn Housing Authority.

Veteran political observers explain the transformation in the simplest of terms. Coakley is feeling good about her front-runner status and is willing to loosen up a bit, they said.

“When you’re feeling stronger, you’re willing to expose yourself more, and when you’re getting a positive response, you want to be out there more,’’ said George Bachrach, a former state senator.

Bachrach, however, also sounded a cautionary note, saying that, despite the polls, Coakley could still be overtaken. “Is the race over?’’ he asked. “No.’’

It was only five weeks ago, during a debate at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, in Dorchester, where Coakley was a paragon of caution, rigidly outlining her views without a hint of humor or fun.

Flash ahead to Wednesday night’s debate at the studios of New England Cable News. There, seated at a table with her three rivals, Coakley dropped one-liners, gently teased the candidate who has registered second in most public opinion polls - US Representative Michael E. Capuano - and smiled confidently into the TV cameras as if she were, indeed, having fun.

“Michael, I wanted to ask you what your favorite color is,’’ she said, dryly, when it was her turn to pose a question to another candidate.

When it appeared as though the moderator of the event, R.D. Sahl, was going to skip Capuano’s turn to ask a question, Coakley quickly interrupted to point out the error. “I’d be very disappointed if I didn’t get my question,’’ she deadpanned. And when asked whether Capuano is trying to play both the insider and the outsider, Coakley responded, saying, “I can certify that this is Mike. He is who he is.’’

Her new approach is not only in contrast to her own reputation, but to that of her opponents, Capuano, businessman Stephen G. Pagliuca, and social entrepreneur Alan Khazei. In last week’s two televised debates, Capuano and Pagliuca angrily and repeatedly tangled, and Khazei displayed an earnestness that has become his trademark.

“She’s joking around and seems to be enjoying herself,’’ said Dan Payne, a Democratic media consultant. “That’s a sign she thinks she’s going to win.’’

Payne attributed Coakley’s cautious air during most of the campaign to her career as a prosecutor - as an assistant Middlesex district attorney, as the Middlesex district attorney, and as the state’s attorney general over the past three years.

“She has a prosecutorial background, and you have to watch your words carefully in court. So she’s learned to be careful when she speaks,’’ Payne said. “Sometimes this can come across as too measured, too indifferent, just giving the facts and leaving the emotion out of it.’’

But over the last few days, Payne said, Coakley seems to have realized she’s running for the seat once held by the late, frequently gregarious, Edward M. Kennedy, and must appeal to voters outside the courtroom.

“She’s recognizing she’s in a campaign and she is one of the politicians,’’ Payne said.

Coakley, for her part, insisted she hasn’t changed since the campaign got underway just a couple of short months ago. “I feel I’ve been the same candidate with the same message,’’ she said.

At the same time, she attributed her cautious demeanor during the Kennedy Library debate to the format - each of the candidates was positioned at a podium - and said the campaign’s abbreviated schedule forced her to wait until the final week to begin her countdown tour.

“We haven’t had time to do a lot of retail campaigning,’’ she said.

Michael Rezendes can be reached at rezendes@globe.com.