Posted on 01/16/2010 5:57:12 PM PST by Saije
EDWARD M. Kennedy has been gone less than five months, but in political terms he is already ancient history. For 47 years he represented Massachusetts in the US Senate; in his home state, no one wielded greater influence or cast a longer shadow. As recently as a few weeks ago, it was taken for granted that the race for the seat he occupied for so long would be shaped unmistakably by his legacy.
But that’s not at all the way this campaign has worked out. As Tuesday’s special election approaches, Massachusetts voters are not being driven by their esteem for Kennedy’s memory or by affection for his family. Indeed, far from advancing what Kennedy called the cause of his life - universal health care - hundreds of thousands of Bay State voters are fired up in supporting a candidate who promises to derail it.
For the first time in two generations, the outcome of a US Senate campaign in Massachusetts is not a foregone conclusion. Whatever happens on Tuesday, this much is clear: Democrat Martha Coakley will not win in a cakewalk, and Republican Scott Brown will not be a sacrificial lamb. Heading into the final weekend, two of the country’s most respected political handicappers - Stu Rothenberg and Charlie Cook - pronounced the Bay State Senate contest a “toss-up.’’ A new Suffolk University poll showed Brown surging into the lead, with 50 percent of likely voters supporting him vs. 46 percent for Coakley.
How can this be happening? This is the bluest state of them all - a state without a single Republican in Congress or in statewide office, a state Barack Obama won in a landslide. How can the Senate race be too close to call?
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Wow, just wow. I sense that the gleam is wearing off. When the press finally does turn against Obama, we are in for some real fun. This may be an opening salvo of the left-leaning press. I think they are starting to become disenchanted with The One.
“But ultimately the Massachusetts Senate campaign is not about Brown’s personal appeal or Coakley’s shortcomings on the stump. It is about something bigger. This race is a referendum on Barack Obama and the Democratic ascendancy in Washington.”
“A referendum on Barack Obama and the Democratic ascendancy...”
Of course this is Jeff Jacoby, maybe the only sane man on the Glober. But still...
Kennedy Legacy.
On the MLK, Jr Birthday rememberance.
It is more like the Citizens of Mass. shouting “FREE AT LAST...THANK GOD WE ARE FREE AT LAST”
Kennedy Legacy.
On the MLK, Jr Birthday rememberance.
It is more like the Citizens of Mass. shouting “FREE AT LAST...THANK GOD WE ARE FREE AT LAST”
FDR nearly ruined this country. Tried to become king. Prolonged the Depression. Started the welfare system. Consorted with and had Communists as close advisers. Gave away Eastern Europe at Yalta. FDR was a socialist to the core.
The best 'Rat president of the 20th century was Truman, bar none.
How can this be happening? This is the bluest state of them all - a state without a single Republican in Congress or in statewide office, a state Barack Obama won in a landslide. How can the Senate race be too close to call?
"I told Kennedy that he should have suppored Hillary and not Obama.
Obama should be getting coffee for us..."
It's Jeff Jacoby. He's their long-time conservative columnist.
Remember when the Globe suspended Jacoby on a trumped up plagiarism charge over a July 4 Signers of the Declaration of Indepence column just to get him off their editorial pages through the last four months of the Bush-Gore campaign in 2000?
-PJ
-PJ
This is a great article. Very demoralizing for Dems. Maybe they won’t bother to vote.
Every now and then the GLobe allows Jeff Jacoby to speak the truth. He’s their token right-winger.
Chokely is going to lose big and 0bambi's attempt to stroll in and save the day is another bonus as it will weaken him politically even more.
bet you never thought you’d live to see the day that you could actually make that statement and it would be TRUE!
Yes, even worse than Jimmah.
It’s Jeff Jacoby, not typical for the Globe. He’s their one diversity-hire conservative. Good guy, just wish there were dozens of him.
Even worse than Jimmy Carter.
They got a half-black, arugula-eating Osama bin Laden.
And, unlike David Brooks at the Times, Jacoby is really a conservative.
I just got up to Martha Coakley's campaign HQ to help her win Tuesday's crucial special election. I have to tell you -- this isn't like anything Massachusetts has ever seen.
It's happening right after the holidays, so a lot of people haven't even heard about it. Meanwhile, the same guys behind the Swift Boat ads are taking over the airwaves to distort Martha's record, and the same far-right tea-party crowd that's attacking President Obama is funding her opponent.
The stakes in this race are incredibly high. If we don't hold this seat, a right-wing Republican will hold Sen. Ted Kennedy's old seat until at least 2012 -- and we'll lose a crucial vote in the Senate for health reform and the agenda we fought so hard for last year.
That's why we're going all out in Massachusetts with a massive effort to lock up a Democratic victory. But we can only afford to keep this battle up against the far right through Election Day if folks like you chip in.
Please donate $5 or more to help us make Martha Coakley the next senator from Massachusetts.
Democratic ads are highlighting the key differences between Martha, a long-time public servant and one of the nation's best attorneys general, and her extreme Republican opponent who would walk in lockstep with Mitch McConnell and national GOP power brokers.
And our organizers are engaging volunteers by the thousands to make sure Obama voters make it back to the polls.
But we need your help to keep it going. Please donate $5 or more to the Democratic Party to support our work, including our efforts to elect Martha Coakley:
Let's win this,
Hari
Hari Sevugan
Press Secretary
Democratic National Committee
For once, they are writing honestly. A few months back Coakley probably could have won this race hands down...with all the backroom deals to pass the healthcare...it just has turned this race upside down in dem country where we now have Brown a Republican from MASS winning... HA HA
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