His health care bill at stake, President Barack Obama plans a weekend trip to Massachusetts to campaign for endangered Senate candidate Martha Coakley after a poll showed an edge for Republicans in the race for a seat Democrats have held for over a half-century.
The White House said he will travel there Sunday.
"If Scott Brown wins, it'll kill the health bill," Democrat Barney Frank, D-Mass., said, underscoring the stakes of Tuesday's special election.
I have to admit I am stunned by this race.
If somebody would have told me six months ago that Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, in true blue Massachusetts, might go to a Republican I would have never believed it. And yet here we are.
I am not very happy that Obama is going to campaign on Coakley's behalf. I realize that he has no choice, too much is at stake, but I also know that if she loses it will further damage the President's credibility and render him virtually impotent when it comes to helping Democrats in the 2010 races.
As much as I hate to give credit to ANY Republican right now I have to say that Matt Grew, Scott Brown's campaign manger, has played this very smart. He has kept the more polarizing Republicans, like Sarah Palin, away and run this campaign almost like an independent would.
This could serve as a blueprint for successful Republican campaigns to come. If he wins that is.
Here's hoping the Massachusetts Democrats get off their ass and save this seat. If they fail to do so, the failure of Obama's health care plan rests directly on their shoulders.
Update: You know perhaps we should not just leave this in the hands of the New England Democrats. If you want to help you can click here and provide either financial support or volunteer your time. This is a very important election for ALL of us.
Update 2: Real Clear Politics has posted several polls from this race and seven out of ten show Coakley ahead. Some by quite a margin indeed.
Update 3: Did Scott Brown lie about knowing anything of the Tea Party movement right after being freshly teabagged?
Coakley's in good shape.
ReplyDeleteThe one poll that has Brown ahead is highly suspect. The same company had Corzine ahead 9 points days before the election, he lost by 4 points.
Five ThirtyEight, who tracks pollsters, has the company near the bottom in accuracy.
All the other polls have Coakley up 8 to 15 points.
I will be voting Tuesday, for sure. Coakley hasn't campaigned hard enough, but hopefully this scare will bring diehard dems out to the polls.
ReplyDeleteI would've howled had Palin campaigned for Brown, given his Levi-esque modelling career (nearly nude mag spread.)
That is so scary. What are these idiots trying to do to our country?
ReplyDeleteOT but Palin has made such an ass of herself. she's being called out on her idiocy everywhere.
Here's one called "The Other Sarah; What's Wrong with Sarah Palin?"
http://www.politicususa.com/en/Other-Sarah-Palin
Will she ever go away? I'd pay to have her go home to Wasilla and just get out of the national scene.
Rarely do I get fired up about an election...one politician being as bad as another. But I will be at the polls on Tuesday,scott brown scares me almost as much as palin.
ReplyDeleteGet out and vote people of Massachusetts! Yes, Coakley was lazy, what was she thinking, but we're all depending on you.
ReplyDeleteGee, I wonder why the good democratic folks In MA are looking towards a republican? Could some of those Massachusetts fishermen be PISSED OFF at Jane Lubchenko and the resource grab to privatize the fisheries that she is shoving down the country's throat?? Hard to remember our President is supposed to be SAVING jobs, not elinating them all over the country. 1200 crewmen lost their jobs when Crab was privatized. Tell your friends to come to the Rally in Washington DC February 24th. Remember this horrible policy was added on to the budget omibus bill by the Late Ted Steves. It did not go through proper hearings! Lives are being ruined, and people in Massachusetts are PISSED OFF.
ReplyDeleteBill Clinton and John Kerry were there today for Coakley. The Unions organized on her behalf this week. Phone banks are set up all over the Country.
ReplyDeleteCoakley WILL win this, do not worry. She and the Dems became complacent because they thought she was a shoo-in.
As of now, the big guns have been called in. And they Dems in MA now realize they cannot safely sit this one out.
YES WE CAN!
and YES WE WILL!
By the way, opponent Scott Brown is PRO-CHOICE - do the teabaggers know this?
ReplyDeleteI have to give Brown credit for doing ONE smart thing - his campaign told Palin to "Stay Away!"
Gryphen, thank you so much for the post. I hope that the people who comment that Martha will win are right. 538 is the most reliable poll.
ReplyDeleteIt is ironic that her opponent once posed for nude photos. It must be OK for Republican candidates, included the former fake Republican reporter, Jeff Gannon. But, some one is being a hypocrite when they condemn Levi for the same kind of thing.
You can guess what corporate giants are throwing money behind Brown.
ReplyDeleteCoakley started late. She has not yet begun to campaign.
Frank is right. *IF* they lose, the health care bill is dead.
Let us pray that Sarah Palin gets it into her head to campaign for Brown and do it blatantly, vocally and with lots of media attention. She's the best thing that could happen to Coakley.
You're right about Obama. But what choice does he have? He has to go and try to help. I don't know how MA feels about Obama. I hope he can influence enough voters.
I am voting and bringing anyone who needs a ride to the polls. I still think this is a scare tactic but I would have put my vote in anyway. Brown is involved with the teabaggers right there tells me all I want to know.
ReplyDeleteBarb
Anon, Brown WAS nude in that photo shoot. A covering hand was all that was between the family jewels and our prying eyes.
ReplyDeleteLevi at least had a hockey glove or something not part of his body to cover his stuff -- which makes him not entirely nude.
Scott Brown flipped on his pro choice stance. He's now pro-life. The baggers demanded it basically. It was in HuffPo on the 14th of Jan. He's a lying scheming weasel and Pumas like TexasDarlin, a rabid nasty PUMA re-opened her blog after 5 months in hiding to push for him.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/14/scott-brown-held-tea-part_n_423198.html
Time to invoke the spirit of Tip O'Neal.
ReplyDeleteThere's a BIG worry with the race:
ReplyDeleteEasily Hacked Diebold Systems to Decide 'Toss-Up' U.S. Senate Special Election in MA on Tuesday
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7650
A Coakley loss is hardly the "end of the world". All the Democrats have to do is get rid of the 60 vote majority to end a filibuster.
ReplyDeleteCome on Dems. Show some strength and tell the repugs to go F themselves.
I am also a MA voter and will be doing everything in my power to keep Scott Brown out of Ted Kennedy's seat. Brown has promised to use his vote to scuttle health insurance reform, and has also claimed that waterboarding is not torture. He is no moderate. It would be the ultimate travesty if Ted K's seat went to someone who would thwart the main achievement that he fought so long for: health coverage for all Americans.
ReplyDeleteNot feeling too great about this situation given what I've seen of the Mass. elections controls.
ReplyDeleteCoakley, by all accounts, appears arrogant and comparatively non-responsive. And I am a registered Democrat. I do not want Brown to win.
ReplyDeleteI would never vote for a candidate who couldn't be bothered to stand outside Fenway in the cold to shake hands, and answer questions.
Like Coakley.
Hillary Clinton stormed upstate NY when she ran for senator, against all odds.She persuaded die hard Republicans like my father, because she 'showed up' shaking hands and aswering questions. . .regardless of the weather.
I only vote for Dems (or any other candidate) who walk the talk.
Coakley is piss poor in this regard. If Brown wins, she is to blame.
Along with the Dems who backed her.
It's MA fer heavvins sake...no one better than this???
Think Progress has a report on Brown's supporters. He is backed by Wall St. front group FreedomWorks (Dick Armey) It is corporate interest with this candidate. He needs to lose.
ReplyDeleteAfgter having stated to Obama to "sat away", wonder if Brown wants everyone to stay away from this?:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/news/scott-brown-nude-in-cosmo
A couple of new campaign slogan's are being suggested for Republican Senator Brown to use - LOL
"Who Needs Joe Plumber When You Can Have Scott Six-Pack?"
"Scott Brown: A Name You Can Trust, Abs You Can Believe In"
"Vote for Brown. He Has One Hell of a Stimulus Package."
Coakley was one of the first state-wide row officers to support Clinton so why is a dipstick like TexasDarlin going against a fellow Clinton supporter? Is it because meathead Bill is in MA??
ReplyDeleteI posted this over at mudflats and it's worth reposting here:
"I saw that. And I saw how the [Brown] properties are valued at merely “$100,000.”
He’s got a 3000+ sq ft home in Wrentham by a lake… that has to have a value in excess of 500k.
He has 2 condo’s in the student ghetto area between BU and BC – but these are renovated condo’s in the 1800 block of Comm Ave west of where Washington St crosses – which puts those condo’s in the 400k range each.
He has a place on the waterfront in Rye, NH. That’s the same town Dan Brown and a whole bunch of millionaires call home. Cheapest home along that road runs about 1.5 million.
Yeah, he’s an every man’s man alright.
But here’s the disconcerting part. Kennedy almost lost the 1996 election to Romney. Romney’s wife cost him that election when she opened her mouth about how poor they were because they had to sell stock holdings to make ends meet. Most of the governors for MA – including a Dem who was really a Repub – have been republican. Going backwards… well, except for the current guv and Dukakis, it’s been repubs since about 1976.
The guy who Kerry beat way back was a repub.
Despite its reputation as a liberal bastion, MA does elect repubs.
But Brown reminds me of Lakian. Who was found in his office in the buff.
Martha needs to be careful. As a prosecutor, she’s had some hi-interest cases involving kids.
A whole bunch of years ago, she allowed an accused pedophile priest to plea his way to freedom. Some people don’t like her because of that.
That same priest was later convicted of molestation. Martha was really the one who put the spotlight on him and other pedophile priests. Some people don’t like her because of that.
A dozen years ago, a baby named Matty Eappan was allegedly killed by his british nanny. Louise Woodward either popped or dropped him, but after Martha got her convicted, the judge let her go back home with time served. Some people don’t like her because she prosecuted Woodward; others because Woodward was set free with no real punishment. Somewhere on my blog, I wrote a story about that case. Woodward went on to get a law degree but currently teaches dancing in Shropshire. The case still draws sharp comments from Coakley supporters and detractors.
Coakley has spent most of her professional career as either a federal (early years) or state prosecutor. She has won elections. She is married to a police officer. In the primaries, she beat a sitting US Congressman who lives in the next-town-over (Joe Kennedy’s old district). Her head is in the right place. Who knows where Brown’s head is.
I’ve been making calls to MA from my house. I have free long distance otherwise I wouldn’t do it. Lots of people are making calls. I just hope Brown makes more robocalls than Coakley. Cuz, yanno… robocalls just really tick people off."
And remember... Brown is a teabagger so he is NO moderate !!
Today Coakley called World Series hero Curt Schilling a Yankee fan.
ReplyDeleteWell, vote your conscience folks.
ReplyDeleteCoakley has been missing and negligent in her response to media regarding her political priorities. The Dems are telling those Dems in Massachusetts that Coakley is better than the alternative; I saw it stated today that the DNC said "like it or not you MUST vote for her." Party solidarity rules, it seems, whether you like the candidate or agree with her tactics or not.
We ended up with Palin as Gov because the majority felt that she was the "lesser of two evils".
I personally would stay away from a vote that was a race between two unsuitable candidates.
What Brownie was doing was assiduously avoiding overt association with the teabaggers, all the while trying not to piss them off. He didn’t exactly disavow the teabaggers, but he was being very coy and parsed his words mighty fine. He knows damn well that the teabaggers are political Kryptonite. If he openly embraces them, he is DOA in any political race. Since any GOPer running for office who possesses at least half a brain that functions at least intermittently knows that the teabaggers have proven that they are unable to sway an election, why do the Republicans spend so much time ingratiating themselves to these feckless dullards? If Brown loses by a narrow margin, he can blame his obsequious flirtations with the teabaggers.
ReplyDeleteThe teabaggers are are bunch of slobbering, imbecilic, inbred cousin fucks who think that democracy means screaming at the top of your lungs and not letting anyone else talk. These morons will certainly take their place as one of the more inexplicable footnotes to American history, but they are not a political force to be reckoned with. They are a force to be mocked, ridiculed, and spat upon.
By definition, teabaggers are ALL morons and Sarah Palin is their queen.
Here's the other thing, Coakley is no Ted Kennedy, and to merely state that she shares his intellect or political acumen is to do him a great disservice.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that Ted Kennedy would have wanted Mass to throw just "any old Dem" that hasn't proven themselves into his seat merely because she is a Dem and can "save the healthcare debate".
I see so much compromise on the part of my fellow Americans regarding this vote that I am frankly shocked at the how low we are willing to go to get a person of "supposed" like values into a political position.
I'm seeing the two sides; the far right and the far left getting closer and closer together in their political discourse and tactics. That is worrying me more and more each day.
No one is thinking for themselves any longer.
And any Mass residents that would happen to resent my input regarding their elections, well we Alaskans have had to weather the insights of those not residing in our State regarding our political climate so I felt that I could chime in on what is going on in your state.
Who was Jeff Gannon really available for. Not a reporter, but he was there. For who?
ReplyDeleteI was so excited about these RCP polls...that is, until I realized that the polls are dated. If you look at the dates, Coakley was way ahead months ago, but Brown has pulled ahead +15 as of now. So the 7 out of 10 doesn't mean all that much because the polls are over a span of months. I'm trying to remain hopeful, but it's hard.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to ask me, I would have tosay, it would be in our best interest to lose this dem seat. It's the only way your going to get congress to rethink the way they do politics. Can the filibuster and go back to the 51 vote majority with the VP as the tie breaker. The way it stands now, it's unconstitutional for the fact that it removes the VP tie breaker vote. Right now our fore fathers are rolling in their graves. So if Coakley wins, all we are doing is putting Liebershitzner back in the drivers seat, we are back to a stalemate.
ReplyDeleteJeez, my grammar is getting so bad, I just might need Sarah to help me with it.
ReplyDeleteSorry everyone, I have a lot on my mind lately.
AKPetMom - as someone who has known Coakley for a number of years, I take great exception to your description of her and to the labels you attach to her.
ReplyDeleteMartha Coakley is NOT an "unsuitable candidate." Nor is she anything like Palin. Coakley is NOT a member of the far left. Indeed, she was attacked quite vociferously by MA's far left during the primaries - in which she beat their candidate, Congressman Mikey Capuano.
As for Ted Kennedy, he embraced his stature as a person of the "far left" as he was so often labeled by the neocons. And he was quite familiar with Martha Coakley. Frankly, were he to vote on Tuesday, he'd be first in line to vote for Coakley.