For one day at least, candidates give it a rest

With less than two weeks before the primary in the unusual US Senate race in Massachusetts, the candidates are taking an awkwardly timed brief break to acknowledge that family, football, and feasting will probably trump politics in most households tomorrow.

“I love turkey,’’ Capuano said in an interview yesterday. “I love to pet them, and I love to eat them.’’

But he also acknowledged the impact on the short campaign to succeed the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, in which four Democrats and two Republicans are vying for voter attention. The primary is Dec. 8 and the final election Jan. 19.

“We all know it’s tough - Thanksgiving is impossible,’’ Capuano said. “We’re going to do what we can. We have too short a period of time to give up that many days.’’

Only one candidate - state Senator Scott Brown, a Wrentham Republican - said he intends to formally campaign on Thanksgiving Day. Brown’s fam ily is having its Thanksgiving meal tonight because his wife, WCVB-TV news reporter Gail Huff, is working tomorrow, so the candidate plans to spend the actual holiday with one of his daughters, shaking hands at area football games and serving meals at the St. Joseph Plains Community Center in Lawrence.

“It’s a short window and we’re going to try and take advantage of every opportunity,’’ Brown said. “Every day, every second is important.’’

All of the candidates plan to be back in campaign mode Friday, even though some said they believe it will continue to be difficult to get the attention of voters that day, when many people are focused on shopping.

Capuano plans to campaign in Western Massachusetts on Friday and in the Boston area over the weekend, holding “Open Mike’’ forums where likely voters can question him. Several of the candidates today and tomorrow are doing volunteer work - Coakley will serve meals at Goodwill headquarters in Roxbury, Pagliuca plans to volunteer with his family tomorrow at the Pine Street Inn in Boston, and Khazei plans to volunteer tomorrow with some of his supporters at a youth center in Boston.

Some of the candidates are adjusting their advertising strategies because of the holiday.

Khazei, saying light fare is appropriate during the holiday season, released a humorous 30-second TV spot yesterday that shows two babies talking to one another about Khazei, the cofounder of City Year. It ends with one of the babies saying they need a diaper change before switching to Khazei holding up a diaper and saying, “Someone’s got to clean up the mess in Washington.’’

“I don’t want to run political ads during the holidays,’’ Khazei said. “I don’t think people care about that. Let’s do something different.’’

Pagliuca, on the other hand, appears poised to release a new ad today that sharply contrasts his positions with those of his opponents, and some campaigns fear that the ad could be negative and difficult to counter over the holiday. Pagliuca campaign aides declined to comment yesterday on their plans.

For Thanksgiving Day, all the candidates seemed ready to forget about politics, if only for the holiday.

Capuano and his wife, Barbara, usually host relatives at their Somerville home for Thanksgiving, but this year their siblings are hosting instead. Capuano said “one day to do nothing is a treat,’’ and he and his wife may spend the day together at home.

Coakley plans to spend tomorrow at home in Medford with about a dozen relatives. She said most of the food will be supplied by a Medford caterer, after a cooking mishap several years ago in which the attorney general tried unsuccessfully to cut a 25-pound turkey down to a size that would fit in the oven, only to later have it slide off the pan and onto the floor. This year, Coakley said, her most ambitious effort will be to make a salad, and for that she plans to use a recipe from “Raising the Salad Bar.’’

Pagliuca, who called Thanksgiving his favorite family holiday, will gather with his wife, Judy, their four children, and a half-dozen extended family members tomorrow at their Weston home. Judy takes the lead on cooking the turkey and asks everyone else in the household to help with a different dish.

Last year Pagliuca got the sweet potatoes, but his marshmallow topping caught fire when he wandered off to check on the football game and lingered too long. This year he was reassigned to mushrooms.

“My sweet potato days are over,’’ he said. “I’ll never be friendly with the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man any more.’’

Khazei and his wife, Vanessa Kirsch, will host a potluck in Brookline for friends and family, including his cousin Kimberly, WHDH-TV news anchor Kim Khazei. Before they eat, everyone takes a turn giving thanks and reading a random selection from a collection called “A Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings from Buddha to the Beatles.’’

“It’s got Native American blessings, it’s got Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu,’’ said Khazei, who considers Thanksgiving his favorite holiday. “It’s wonderful.’’

The menu includes his mother-in-law’s turkey, his wife’s stuffing, and farm-grown specialties from some Vermont cousins. Khazei handles vegetable cutting, table-setting, and clean-up, plus the morning-after breakfast.

“When it comes to more complicated Thanksgiving stuff, I pass to people who are more talented than I am,’’ Khazei said. “I do my part eating, though.’’

Although the Democrats agree on most public policy issues, their Thanksgiving preferences vary. Capuano’s favorite dish is turkey and cranberry sauce (the jellied kind). Coakley’s favorite is also cranberry sauce, but she prefers a homemade version highlighting whole cranberries (though, since others in the family prefer it, there will also be Ocean Spray cranberry sauce on the table). Pagliuca and Khazei both favor homemade to canned.

The second Republican in the primary, Duxbury businessman Jack E. Robinson, was traveling to Florida yesterday, but responded to questions via a brief e-mail in which he recalled once eating shark for Thanksgiving because he had been an extra in “Jaws.’’ This year, he said, “In honor of the holiday, and to give my overworked campaign staff some much-needed R&R, nothing is scheduled until Monday.’’

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. Eric Moskowitz can be reached a emoskowitz@globe.com.