Desperate Dems try to Palinize Massachusetts Senate race

[free ranger]

Desperate Dems try to Palinize Massachusetts Senate race

Frantic over the possibility that a Democrat might lose the race to replace Sen. Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts, the Democratic National Committee has sent its top spinner, Hari Sevugan, to the aid of Democratic candidate Martha Coakley, who appears to be rapidly losing ground to Republican Scott Brown. But what can Sevugan do to shore up Coakley's struggling campaign? Well, he spent his first day on the job trying to tie Brown to Sarah Palin.

Early Monday afternoon, Sevugan sent out an email to reporters featuring a link to a story on the lefty website TPM. The headline: "Is Sarah Palin Avoiding Mass Senate Race?" The story quoted a Democratic strategist saying that "it's interesting" that Palin is "nowhere to be found in this race." TPM conceded that GOP sources say there has been "no talk" about Palin visiting Massachusetts. But that didn't stop Sevugan, who is quoted declaring that Palin's supporters "are anxious for her to weigh in." At the top of his email to journalists, Sevugan wrote, "Come on, Sarah, why are you being so shy?"

A couple of hours later, Sevugan was emailing again, with a message entitled, "Has the Pit Bull lost her bark?" What followed was a statement from Sevugan on "the surprising silence from Sarah Palin on Republican Scott Brown's bid for the U.S. Senate." Sevugan demanded to know: "Where on earth is Sarah Palin herself? Clearly her supporters are anxious for her to weigh in."

Not long after that, Sevugan sent out another email to reporters, this one with a link to a post by TPM alumnus Greg Sargent, who now writes a lefty blog for the Washington Post. Sargent's post featured Sevugan's question with the headline, "Dems on Palin: 'Has the Pit Bull Lost Her Bark?'"

Finally, when a Brown spokesman, while not specifically mentioning Palin, said that "Scott is not looking for a lot of outside help" and that the race would not be determined by outsiders, Sevugan sent out yet another email to reporters, this one headlined "Weaselly." Sevugan directed journalists to his response to the "blatant dodge by the Scott Brown campaign on the issue of whether he is seeking and/or if he would accept an endorsement from Sarah Palin." Sevugan quoted himself challenging Brown: "That's a weaselly answer. And the people of Massachusetts deserve more than weaselly answers from their next senator…It's a yes or no question, Scott Brown -- Will you accept Sarah Palin's endorsement or won't you?"

Of course, Sevugan never had any evidence at all that Palin was set to endorse Brown and come to Massachusetts to campaign for him, or that Brown was seeking Palin's endorsement or help. It was just all in a day's work, trying to breathe life into a faltering campaign. What will Sevugan think of next?



Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op...#ixzz0cQ0ORLQP

[free ranger]

With all due respect, it’s not the Kennedy seat and it’s not the Democrats’ seat, it’s the people’s seat.

"It's The People's Seat."

[Potemkin]

Desperation taking over the Democrats.

They will be dragging Bush in next.

The Democrats are so bereft of ideas. They are sad. They are no longer my father's Democratic Party.

[free ranger]

From the Boston Herald:

Rage against machine

If Scott Brown wins, Harry Reid loses. What more do you need to know?

Harry Reid - the only white male Mormon politician in America who can use the phrase “Negro dialect” and get away with it - is counting on Massachusetts voters to mindlessly pull the “D” and keep the USS Big Government on course.

Martha Coakley is scheduled to meet with some of those key big-government lobbyists at a D.C. fundraiser tonight. Meanwhile, Democrats have dispatched the Democratic National Committee’s press secretary to Boston to drag Coakley’s stumbling campaign across the finish line.

Team Obama and the Washington elites see this Senate seat as theirs, not yours. They’re annoyed that the race is competitive. In fact, they’re annoyed that there has to be a race at all. They would have preferred Gov. Deval Patrick make a straight-up appointment of some loyal party hack, rather than have anyone face the voters.

But it was their own scheming and sense of entitlement that revoked the gubernatorial appointment process while Mitt Romney was in the Corner Office, and then forced them to push the post-mortem Kennedy seat law last year. And even that’s not enough. Interim appointee Paul Kirk is violating the explicit instructions of the Legislature and openly campaigning for Coakley.

When you vote for Scott Brown, you’ll be voting against every arrogant Beacon Hill pol who shameless changed the rules of this Massachusetts game.

Tired of massive spending and the terrified of the tidal wave of debt? A vote against Coakley is a no vote to the 24 percent single-year surge in domestic spending under President Barack Obama. Did you have 24 percent more money to spend in 2009 than the year before? Did your business?

Coakley continues to support Obama’s failed trillion-dollar stimulus fiasco, despite an Associated Press report yesterday that even the road construction portion of the money had no effect on unemployment. A Coakley win means more of the same. Washington will borrow trillions more from our children’s future to spend on government waste today.

Do you want to kill the 2,000-page, $2 trillion ObamaCare scam? Your vote against Coakley would be such a powerful blow against the bill that political insiders are already scheming on how to bypass the will of the people.

In what must be a new low, even for Massachusetts, Secretary of State Bill Galvin told the Herald the election will not be considered complete by his office until Jan. 29, when 10 days have been allowed for absentee and military ballots to arrive. That’s 10 extra days for Senate liberals to shove ObamaCare down an unwilling electorate’s throat - and about eight days longer than it took Rep. Niki Tsongas to get sworn in after her special election victory.

What makes Galvin’s play so repugnant is that the U.S. Department of Justice had to threaten to sue him to get him to comply with federal laws protecting the voting rights of military members abroad. For years, Galvin ignored these ballots - and the soldiers, airmen and Marines who cast them - and now he’s prepared to use them to deny the will of the people if, by some miracle, Scott Brown wins.

A vote for Martha Coakley will remind these schemers, cheaters and partisan hacks just how big a sucker you are.

If Coakley wins, it’s a victory for the union bosses who count on their members to toe the line and pull the D. But it’s a loss for union members who happen to have Cadillac health care benefits and will get hit with the 40 percent tax hike Coakley supports.

Vote for Martha Coakley, and your vote will be forgotten the next day. But cast your ballot for Scott Brown, and it will be the vote heard ’round the world.

[Potemkin]

You have to wonder if the people there are not paying attention and will vote for the Libertarian who happens to be named Kennedy.

To top it off his name is Joseph Kennedy.

Will the uneducated suck that Coakley lead away by voting for a "Kennedy?

That would be a kick.

LOL

[free ranger]

Yes, Kennedy sucking off votes from the Dem would be priceless

Yowza: Brown 48, Coakley 47 in new PPP poll

-As was the case in the Gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia last year, it looks like the electorate in Massachusetts will be considerably more conservative than the one that showed up in 2008. Obama took the state by 26 points then, but those planning to vote next week only report having voted for him by 16.

-Republicans are considerably more enthusiastic about turning out to vote than Democrats are. 66% of GOP voters say they are ‘very excited’ about casting their votes, while only 48% of Democrats express that sentiment- and that’s among the Democrats who are planning to vote in contrast to the many who are apparently not planning to do so at this point.

-Brown has eye popping numbers with independents, sporting a 70/16 favorability rating with them and holding a 63-31 lead in the horse race with Coakley. Health care may be hurting Democratic fortunes with that group, as only 27% of independents express support for Obama’s plan with 59% opposed.

[TrashCan Man]

http://Brownforussenate.com

[Potemkin]

http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/12241




Political Tsunami As Scott Brown Ties Race In MA Senate Special Election

Published by AJStrata at 8:11 pm under All General Discussions

It seems the Democrats are about to be rocked to their core (according to polls from PPP) due to a win (or near loss) by relative unknown Scott Brown in Massachusetts’ special election on January 19th to fill the seat left by Ted Kennedy:

Buoyed by a huge advantage with independents and relative disinterest from Democratic voters in the state, Republican Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 48-47.
…
66% of GOP voters say they are ‘very excited’ about casting their votes, while only 48% of Democrats express that sentiment- and that’s among the Democrats who are planning to vote in contrast to the many who are apparently not planning to do so at this point.
…
Brown has eye popping numbers with independents, sporting a 70/16 favorability rating with them and holding a 63-31 lead in the horse race with Coakley. Health care may be hurting Democratic fortunes with that group, as only 27% of independents express support for Obama’s plan with 59% opposed.

Full poll here. Health care seems to be one of the main forces driving the race. He is also closing the fundraising gap as well. Someone blogging at Brown’s election headquarters notes this:

The response we have been getting from independents is overwhelmingly supportive. From the calls I made, people seemed genuinely angry with the current state of the economy and politics. The support was genuine, not just lip service to get me off the phone.
People are furious at the attempt to delay a certification if Brown wins. That point hits home with a lot of the people we have called.

As usual, the centrists and independents are driving this movement. I heard Brown on a few talk shows and he is smart to not uncork too much rabid conservative issues, keeping with the economic angles and staying away from the hot social issues that got the GOP in hot water in 2006 and 2008.

If Brown is elected, it will be a sign of the strength and breadth of the Tea Party revolt – which is also not a far right phenomena only. As long as conservatives can stay away from insulting centrists and independents they will find allies to take down the liberal government now in place and start anew. But it has to be a partnership spanning center-left to as far on the right it can go before the purists start destroying the momentum and synergy.

Reagan’s coalition can rise again – if the various factions focus on common ground instead of differences. Which is how Reagan did it, after all. Fingers crossed Brown is a sign of a major political realignment we have not seen since the aftermath of Carter and the leadership of Reagan.

[Lars]

Originally Posted by Potemkin

http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/12241




Political Tsunami As Scott Brown Ties Race In MA Senate Special Election

Published by AJStrata at 8:11 pm under All General Discussions

It seems the Democrats are about to be rocked to their core (according to polls from PPP) due to a win (or near loss) by relative unknown Scott Brown in Massachusetts’ special election on January 19th to fill the seat left by Ted Kennedy:

Buoyed by a huge advantage with independents and relative disinterest from Democratic voters in the state, Republican Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 48-47.
…
66% of GOP voters say they are ‘very excited’ about casting their votes, while only 48% of Democrats express that sentiment- and that’s among the Democrats who are planning to vote in contrast to the many who are apparently not planning to do so at this point.
…
Brown has eye popping numbers with independents, sporting a 70/16 favorability rating with them and holding a 63-31 lead in the horse race with Coakley. Health care may be hurting Democratic fortunes with that group, as only 27% of independents express support for Obama’s plan with 59% opposed.

Full poll here. Health care seems to be one of the main forces driving the race. He is also closing the fundraising gap as well. Someone blogging at Brown’s election headquarters notes this:

The response we have been getting from independents is overwhelmingly supportive. From the calls I made, people seemed genuinely angry with the current state of the economy and politics. The support was genuine, not just lip service to get me off the phone.
People are furious at the attempt to delay a certification if Brown wins. That point hits home with a lot of the people we have called.

As usual, the centrists and independents are driving this movement. I heard Brown on a few talk shows and he is smart to not uncork too much rabid conservative issues, keeping with the economic angles and staying away from the hot social issues that got the GOP in hot water in 2006 and 2008.

If Brown is elected, it will be a sign of the strength and breadth of the Tea Party revolt – which is also not a far right phenomena only. As long as conservatives can stay away from insulting centrists and independents they will find allies to take down the liberal government now in place and start anew. But it has to be a partnership spanning center-left to as far on the right it can go before the purists start destroying the momentum and synergy.

Reagan’s coalition can rise again – if the various factions focus on common ground instead of differences. Which is how Reagan did it, after all. Fingers crossed Brown is a sign of a major political realignment we have not seen since the aftermath of Carter and the leadership of Reagan.

If the GOP pulls-off another 1994, that would be sweet. But if they then pull-off another 1995 and blow their newfound victory in an orgy of power-corruption they will be doomed to wander the political wilderness for another 15 years or, more likey, be replaced forever by the Tea Party.

[flourbug]

Oops, I see FR beat me to the YouTube video. I like the way he thinks, off the cuff - this is not a rehearsed soundbite, it is the way the man feels.

[free ranger]

Reporter roughed up outside Coakley fund-raiser



A Weekly Standard reporter says he was roughed up last night outside a Washington, D.C. fund-raiser for Attorney General Martha Coakley by someone he believes is associated with her U.S. Senate campaign.

John McCormack, the magazine’s deputy online editor, writes about the incident outside the Sonoma restaurant in an online dispatch entitled: “We Report, We Get Pushed.”

According to McCormack’s account, Coakley took two questions from reporters after the event, but declined to respond to his question. McCormack wrote he asked Coakley whether she stood by statements she made during Monday’s debate about terrorists in Afghanistan.

He provided the following transcript of what happened:

“TWS: Attorney General Coakley, you said last night that there are no terrorists in Afghanistan--that they’re all in Yemen and Pakistan. Do you stand by that remark?

COAKLEY: I’m sorry, did someone else have a question?

GRIFF JENKINS, Fox News: I did. Why are you in Washington tonight?

COAKLEY: We planned an event after the primary that would be a unity event in Washington. We’re also in the middle of a very intense campaign ...”

McCormack wrote after Coakley finished her answer he followed her and asked her why health care industry lobbyists were supporting her at the fundraiser. He said she did not reply.

As he continued to walk down the street, he said a man who appeared to be associated with Coakley’s campaign pushed him into a freestanding metal rail.

“I ended up on the sidewalk. I was fine. He helped me up from the ground, but kept pushing up against me, blocking my path toward Coakley down the street,” he wrote.

McCormack said the man asked him whether he was with the media and he responded he works for the Weekly Standard.

His online entry includes a YouTube video of the incident, in which you can hear a man ask McCormack if he’s OK after he fell. The reporter then tangles with the same man, showing him a press credential as he tries to make his way around him.

McCormack wrote he eventually caught up to Coakley, who declined to answer his question.

He said Coakley staffers informed him they don’t know who pushed him. In an updated blog post, McCormack writes he believes he was pushed by Michael Meehan, president of Blue Line Strategic Communications in Washington, D.C. The Associated Press also identifies the man as Meehan, based on photos and videotape of the incident.

A Coakley spokeswoman could not provide an immediate response to a Herald inquiry about McCormack’s account. Meehan did not immediately return an phone message or e-mail.

A message left for McCormack was not immediately returned.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/pol...icleid=1225332

[free ranger]

Coakley Thug Roughs Up Reporter

[free ranger]

OMFG! DSCC: Shoved reporter tape a GOP 'dirty trick'

(who are you going to believe: the DNC or your lying eyes?)

A spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is describing the video above, which shows a Weekly Standard reporter getting pushed around by a DSCC consultant, Michael Meehan, as a "dirty trick" by "Washington Republicans."

DSCC spokesman Eric Schultz refused to go into detail about the incident, or to criticize Meehan, who confronted reporter John McCormack, in McCormack's telling, after the reporter followed candidate Martha Coakley down the street asking unwelcome questions.

Meehan is a veteran Democratic staffer, Bostonian, and Obama appointee to the Broadcasting Board of Governors. But friends said they found the video both inappropriate and out of character.

"It is no surprise that Washington Republicans are trying to use every dirty trick they have to throw the Coakley campaign off their stride, but we are determined to end this campaign talking about the issues that matter to voters, like creating jobs and lowering middle class taxes," said Schultz in a written statement.

McCormack drew attention earlier this year when the husband of liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava called police after he followed her after an event asking questions.

"Asking tough questions is one thing, but acting like John McCormack did tonight shows a complete lack of decency. This self-described reporter repeatedly screamed questions while our candidate was doing what she is supposed to be doing: speaking with voters (remember, those who will decide this election?). And then this 'reporter' followed the candidate to her car, continuing to carry on in a manner that would make the National Enquirer blush," fumed Scozzafava's spokesman after the incident. [UPDATE: The audio subsequently seemed to show that McCormack had been fairly polite.]

ALSO: The caption on the video comes from McCormack, not me. He tells me the videographers wouldn't identifiy themselves to him, but both he and Democrats say the appears to be from a GOP trackers.

[free ranger]

The fact that people who work either for or with the state’s Attorney General feel free to commit assault and battery on a reporter should tell Massachusetts voters all they need to know about Coakley and her views on public accountability. . . . You know, a state Attorney General should be the person to enforce the law — especially, as this photo shows, she witnessed the assault and battery...

[Ought Six]

So a Dem staffer assaults a reporter, and the Dems are 'a victim of a dirty trick' ??? Seriously ?!?

Most people would have written this whole thing off as a mistake if the Coakley campaign had shown the sense to simply apologize to the Weekly Standard reporter. Instead, they attacked the victim of the assault, and falsely tried to pretend *they* were the victim of some 'trick'. This is pure political stupidity and incompetence. If this is an example of their campaign skills, no wonder their support is plummeting.

[leistb]

Up is down. Down is up.

[Potemkin]

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/po...04#articleFull

Coakley cites GOP ‘stalkers’ in D.C. dust-up
By Laura Crimaldi and Hillary Chabot
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - Updated 32m ago

EmailE-mail PrintablePrint Comments(630) Comments LargerSmallerText size Bookmark and Share Share Buzz up!

Bay State Attorney General Martha Coakley blamed GOP “stalkers” today for triggering tensions outside a Washington, D.C., fund-raiser last night where a Weekly Standard reporter said he was roughed up by a Coakley campaign volunteer.

Coakley, a Democrat, is in a red-hot race for U.S. Senate against GOP rival Scott Brown, where a poll out yesterday places the two only 2 points apart closing in on the Jan. 19 special election. The post-fundraiser fury has now sent both parties scrambling.

Coakley said she is not “privy” to the facts surrounding the incident involving reporter John McCormack last night, who wrote about the episode outside the Sonoma restaurant in Washington, D.C. in an online dispatch titled: “We Report, We Get Pushed.” The Wall Street Journal reported the Coakley fund-raiser at the Sonoma restaurant in Washington, D.C. was put on by health care industry lobbyists.

“I know there were people following, including two from the Brown campaign who have been very aggressive in their stalking,” Coakley told reporters during an appearance at Kit Clark Senior Services in Dorchester. “I’m not sure what happened. I know something occurred, but I’m not privy to the facts. I’m sure it will come out, but I’m not aware of that.”

McCormack told the Herald he met Coakley Jan. 5 after a radio debate at the WTKK (96.9-FM) studios, where he asked her four questions.

“She knew that there was a reporter who asked her a question. We had met before. I asked her four questions. She saw me get knocked to the ground and kept walking,” said McCormack. “I wouldn’t say I was surprised. ... She’s decided she’s entitled to the seat without answering questions on issues that are of national importance.”

McCormack said there is a 10-inch rip on the right leg of his suit pants and a tiny bruise on his right leg from the incident.

An Associated Press photograph shows Coakley looking at McCormack while he’s lying on the sidewalk.

Michael Meehan, the Coakley campaign volunteer involved in the scufffle, told the Herald he did not push McCormack. He said he was escorting Coakley to her car outside the restaurant when she encountered a scrum of reporters and Republican operatives.

“I did not push him,” said Meehan, who is president of Blue Line Strategic Communications in Washington, D.C. He said he is volunteering for Coakley and has 25 years of experience as a Senate press aide. (He has released a statement and apology.)

Meehan said he helped McCormack up after he tripped over a low fence in front a book store near the restaurant and asked him if he was OK. He added McCormack was not wearing a press credential and refused to identify himself when Meehan asked who he was.

“He wouldn’t tell me who he was and he wouldn’t tell me who he works for,” said Meehan. “Reporters get to ask questions. That’s totally legit. Republican operatives can’t chase a candidate down the street.”

Meehan said he let McCormack pass after he displayed his press credential. He added he’s left two messages for Meehan and wants to apologize for “my part in his fall.”

Coakley complained she’s been followed by Brown operatives.

“I do know that the Scott Brown stalkers who have followed me around and the people at that press conference ... were incredibly aggressive about trying to get in my face,” Coakley said. “I didn’t see what happened so I can’t say.”

According to McCormack’s account, Coakley took two questions from reporters after the event, but declined to respond to his question. McCormack wrote he asked Coakley whether she stood by statements she made during Monday’s debate about there being no terrorists in Afghanistan.

He provided the following transcript of what happened:

“TWS: Attorney General Coakley, you said last night that there are no terrorists in Afghanistan - that they’re all in Yemen and Pakistan. Do you stand by that remark?

COAKLEY: I’m sorry, did someone else have a question?

GRIFF JENKINS, Fox News: I did. Why are you in Washington tonight?

COAKLEY: We planned an event after the primary that would be a unity event in Washington. We’re also in the middle of a very intense campaign ...”

McCormack wrote after Coakley finished her answer he followed her and asked her why health care industry lobbyists were supporting her at the fund-raiser. He said she did not reply.

As he continued to walk down the street, he said the man later identified as Meehan pushed him into a free-standing metal rail.

“I ended up on the sidewalk. I was fine. He helped me up from the ground, but kept pushing up against me, blocking my path toward Coakley down the street,” he wrote.

McCormack said Meehan asked him whether he was with the media and he responded he works for the Weekly Standard.

His online entry includes a YouTube video of the incident, in which you can hear a man ask McCormack if he’s OK as he lay on the ground. The reporter then tangles with the same man, showing him a press credential as he tries to make his way around him.

McCormack wrote he eventually caught up to Coakley, who declined to answer his question.

[Potemkin]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/201...t-in-mass.html

Blue-State Blues: Win or Lose, GOP Sets Frame for '10 in Massachusetts

January 13, 2010 8:14 AM

Rick Klein By Rick Klein

Did Republicans already win in Massachusetts?

Not next Tuesday’s Senate election itself, of course -- few observers really think that’s winnable even now, no matter how toxic the environment for Democrats these days.

But the fact that this is a race at all -- or, at least, the fact that it’s being treated like a race over the final week -- is itself a victory that tells important tales for both parties. A narrative for 2010 didn’t have to wait beyond the first month of the year to get written.

The pieces are there: the Kennedy seat, the fate of the health care bill, Tea Party fervor, an anti-establishment Republican, a Democrat clinging to a lead in the bluest of states.

Democrats are being forced to spend very real resources in a place they should not, by any calculation, have to worry about it. They’re being met by resources (perhaps a more renewable variety at this stage) that Republicans never dreamed would be worth spending.

And they’re being forced to combat the very real perception that if it can happen in the Hub, it can happen in Arkansas or Nevada or Virginia, too.

“Aware that she has little time for the hand-shaking and baby-kissing of a standard political campaign, [Democratic candidate Martha Coakley] has focused instead on rallying key political leaders, Democratic activists, and union organizers, in hope they will get people to the polls,” David Filipov writes in The Boston Globe.

“By at least one measure, her strategy is working: A Globe poll published Sunday showed her leading her Republican rival, state Senator Scott Brown, by 15 percentage points,” he writes. “For many Democrats, that is too close for comfort, in a race for the seat held for so long by a Kennedy in one of the bluest states in the land. Other polls have showed the race much tighter. Despite that, there is a subdued, almost dispassionate quality to her public appearances, which are surprisingly few.”

At the very least: “Massachusetts state Sen. Scott Brown (R) has thrown a major scare into the Democratic establishment in his bid to win next Tuesday's special Senate election over once heavily favored Attorney General Martha Coakley,” Dan Balz and Chris Cillizza write in The Washington Post. “A victory, or even a narrow loss, by Brown in the competition for the symbolically important seat would be interpreted as another sign that voters have turned away from the Democrats at the start of the midterm election year.”

Not just a win is potentially dangerous for Democrats: “Brown’s threat to health reform is in some ways larger. He’s showing how Republicans can run against reform -- something sure to play out in other high-profile campaigns this fall, such as those of Reps. Frank Kratovil Jr. (D-Md.) and John Adler (D-N.J.), along with Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.),” Politico’s Chris Frates reports.

“A close race -- within five points, or even ten -- would generate significant panic among Democrats in other races presumed to be safe,” The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder writes.

No running from health care -- from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s new ad targeting Brown: “On health care? Brown wants to be the deciding vote to kill Ted Kennedy’s legislation.”

“In a fresh sign of increasing nervousness among Democrats about the race, the national party committees on Tuesday chipped in more than $1 million to help boost Coakley’s prospects,” Roll Call’s Emily Cadei reports.

Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh said Organizing for America is putting out the word to activists: “The call’s gone out that we need all hands on deck, formally, informally ... by carrier pigeon, whatever we can get.”

Coakley was in Washington for a fundraiser at a wine bar on Capitol Hill Tuesday night with the Massachusetts congressional delegation (optic alert!).

The delegation’s dean, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., was quoted by The Hotline as having said inside the fundraiser: “If we don't win this, 2010 will be hell for Democrats.”

UPDATE: The Hotline updated its item this afternoon to say this statement was incorrectly attributed to Markey, but rather was said by Coakley.

And, asked whether she’s asked President Obama to campaign for her, Coakley told reporters: “I haven’t.”

Worth keeping an eye on -- if Brown wins this could be huge: “Should Republican Scott Brown pull off an upset victory in next week's special election in Massachusetts, Senate Democrats may seek to use the chaos surrounding the appointment of Roland Burris last year as a precedent for delaying the swearing in of a man who campaigned as the 41st ‘no’ vote on health care reform,” Mike Memoli and Kyle Trygstad write for Real Clear Politics.

[Ought Six]

A candidate actually came out and called a reporter assaulted right in front of her by one of her own staff members "a stalker" ??? This woman is too stupid to sell lemonade at a kid's lemonade stand, much less hold public office. If it were any other state, I would say that a Dem defeat is a lock. But it is Massachusetts we are talking about here..... They will probably elect her.

[stars01]

I watched the debate the other night~ I'm rooting for Kennedy.


paula

[free ranger]

Coakley Takes Slap Shot At Fenway Fans

The Massachusetts special election continues to amaze. Democratic candidate Martha Coakley has taken a swipe at Fenway Park fans:

Coakley bristles at the suggestion that, with so little time left, in an election with such high stakes, she is being too passive.

“As opposed to standing outside Fenway Park? In the cold? Shaking hands?’’ she fires back, in an apparent reference to a Brown online video of him doing just that.

Well yes, politicians go out to meet the voters even if it means standing out in the cold. At least politicians who want to win in Massachusetts.

Video at link

[Ought Six]

She is like a walking study on how to completely destroy your own candidacy for elected office.

[Ought Six]

Clinton fights for Martha, rails against ‘Tea Party’


Jessica Van Sack
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 15, 2010

About 1,500 supporters packed the Fairmont Copley this afternoon to watch former President Bill Clinton stump for embattled U.S. Senate candidate Martha Coakley.

Clinton used the forum to rail against the so-called Tea Party movement of grassroots organizers who oppose federal government initiatives.

“There is a mass national effort to discourage progressive independents from voting and to discourage disappointed liberals from voting,” Clinton said.

On the heels of a Suffolk University/7News poll that found GOP candidate Scott Brown up 4 points, Clinton downplayed the importance of such surveys.

“The reason these polls are all over the place is because no one knows who’s going to show up,” he said.

“I came here to tell the people of Massachusetts this: This country’s revolution was born in Massachusetts. The Revolutionary War was first won here. The war was over here years before it was finally finished. It started with the Boston Tea Party, and the right wing Republicans have appropriated that on the premise the tea party was against government.”

Clinton added, “What they were against was abuse of power.”

He sought to frame the race as a battle between those who will fight for the powerful and those who will fight for the powerless.

[Ought Six]

Desperate Dems' Bad Taste Reaches *Epic* New Heights


Daniel Foster
National Review -- The Corner blog
01/15

What do Osama bin Laden and the DSCC have in common? No, seriously. They both seem to view the World Trade Center as a symbol for capitalist greed and corruption.

Here is NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh on the use of the image:

“Using the image of a site where over 2,700 Americans died in a terrorist attack to distort Scott Brown’s position on regulating Wall Street is both distasteful and disrespectful. Martha Coakley should immediately renounce this ad and call for it to be removed from the airwaves," he said.

Meanwhile a DSCC spokesman is saying the image shouldn't have appeared in the ad and that it is being pulled.

[free ranger]

And even more bonehead blunders:

In the intensifying Democratic precriminations game over who to blame if Coakley loses, here's one for the blame Coakley camp: On another talk radio show, "Nightside With Dan Rea," Coakley jabs Rudy Giuliani as a Yankee fan, then goes on to describe Brown supporter Curt Schilling, the great former Red Sox pitcher, as a Yankee fan as well.

Response:

I’ve been called a LOT of things…But never, and I mean never, could anyone ever make the mistake of calling me a Yankee fan. Well, check that, if you didn’t know what the hell is going on in your own state maybe you could….by Curt Schilling