APNewsBreak: AP sources: Obama to Massachusetts

[demoleft]

Source: ap

WASHINGTON – Democratic sources tell the Associated Press that President Barack Obama intends to travel to Massachusetts before Tuesday to campaign for the endangered Democratic candidate in a Senate special election.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to pre-empt a White House announcement. The timing of the visit is uncertain.

A poll is showing a shift in favor of the Republican Party in the race to fill a Senate seat that Democrats have held for more than half a century. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy died of brain cancer last August.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100115/ap_on_el_se/us_kennedy_successor_obama

[AngryAmish]

1. thank god

[Mithreal]

16. I wish him luck

[Owl]

19. I do also.

[alsame]

2. Going on Sunday per MSNBC. nt

[PoliticalOne65]

28. Sunday is about the only time that he can go now.

Monday is a holiday. He should have gone earlier. This may be to little to late.

[monmouth]

3. Ooooh, didn't that twit Mr. Brown tell our President to stay out of MA????

Hahaha, guess Pres doesn't listen to that tripe too much. Go Pres, Go!!

[karynnj]

13. THAT might have been the dare that made him go -

No former centerfold Republican nut can tell the President where he can go.

[NightWatcher]

4. he's a great campaigner, put him to work now and later on in 2010

I saw him at a rally and he could have led us into hell after getting us worked up

[bill]

5. Bad timing

BHO could have made a difference last Monday, before the disaster in Haiti. Now it looks like a last ditch effort.

[Make7]

7. Yes, he definitely should have scheduled for the trip to take place prior to the earthquake. ( n/t )

[Robb]

17. ...

:rofl:

[karynnj]

14. The President is dealing with the disaster in Haiti

- as is the military, the state department and other parts of government. Bill Clinton has a rally today in MA that was long scheduled. He is more directly involved on Haiti.

[icee]

23. I agree. He may even do more harm than good. I don't know

how your neighborhood is, but in mine almost everyone voted for Obama. They turned on him, not so much about Healthcare--though no one likes it--but for his refusal to go after Bush and crew. Oh, well... In a few years, Haiti may be forced to send us aid the way things are going.

[peace frog]

6. I hope he can save her sorry behind

Coakley is not exactly a Democrat in the mold of Ted Kennedy, but she beats hell out of Brown.

[leftynyc]

8. I think it's a mistake

Looks like desperation. I'm afraid she's run a horrible campaign and will have to live with what happens. I think she'll pull it out but it's going to be ugly close.

[gorekerrydreamticket]

10. I agree...Looks like a panic move....n/t

[jsamuel]

11. that's because it is

[shopgreen]

31. I think so also.

[customerserviceguy]

25. I agree, too

and if she loses, it sticks to him just a little bit more.

[Betty]

9. I think she's pathetic

given the campaign she's run, but the alternative is unthinkable. Still, it pisses me off when someone assumes that just because they are a Democrat, they are guaranteed election here. Likewise, I resent the democratic party in general ignoring their base. I have to vote for them only because they are somewhat less evil...not because they actually very progressive.

[JCMach1]

12. I began to worry when the panic fund raising emails started to arrive in my box

for her...

I am not confident here...

It will be completely up to turnout... along those lines, Obama will only provoke the repug base to come out more... :(

[reformist]

15. She really stuck her foot in her mouth

when she said that Catholics who opposed abortion probably shouldn't work in the ER. Now it is true she was talking about the extreme case of those who would refuse to give abortion pills to rape victims, but that point is likely to be lost in the furor her clumsy remark has caused. It's all but over for her.

[Robb]

18. LOL

...Yeah, that's what everyone here is ticked off at her about. :rofl:

[JCMach1]

29. That was a big mistake... probably enough to sink her...

[shopgreen]

32. Nurses can opt out of this sort of thing if they have another person

to take over for any procedure they are religiously opposed it. Its is written in the American nurses association code of conduct.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

20. Orchestrated from the beginning.

imho

[totodeinhere]

21. One poll just out now shows Brown in the lead.

http://www1.whdh.com/features/articles/hiller/BO133471/

Is this even possible? I know that other polls have shown Brown trailing, albeit by a small margin. If Brown should win, it will send panic through Democrats and it may well be a harbinger of disaster in the November elections, akin to 1994.

Could such a nightmare actually happen? I continue to believe that in so far as the Democratic Party is in trouble it's because the party has veered too far to the center. I wish that Obama and the party could move back to the progressive side before it's too late.

I think the American people are waking up to the reality of this poor excuse for a health care reform bill that the DLC types have forced on us. If we could get single payer passed, which is what the people want, then the Dems would win in a landslide in November in my opinion.

[scytherius]

22. *yawn* America, too big to fail?

We operate under the mentality that America is too big to fail. This Nation is a DISASTER. It makes no difference who we elect as NOTHING changes.

LET . . . IT . . . FAIL.

I'll never ever vote GOP (or Dem for that matter), but I sure wouldn't mind seeing them destroy the Nation as only then is there a chance that, finally, we can make it better. In the meantime, I don't care who wins.

[w4rma]

24. He shouldn't have hired Rahm for his Chief of Staff. Rahm does nothing right. (nt)

[judesedit]

26. Say NO to typical politician type that got us into this mess--NO to Brown

Go Coakley. Brown is already showing his lack of credibility

[bemildred]

27. Awesome.

:applause::applause:

[MaineDem]

30. It's all about GOTV

If Obama's visit will spur Democrats to go out on Tuesday and vote, Coakley should have no problems. Desperation or not it's important.

[No Elephants]

33. Coakley is a poor candidate and the DNC and Obama have been asleep at the switch.

Semocrats all over the country barraged the Massachusetts State House to get the Senate vacancy law changed so a Democrat would be in Washington for the health care votes, instead of leaving the seat vacant until now. We did our part and succeeded.

Then, the DNC and Obama ignored this very important election, until Brown started to look like he was winning. Meanwhile, the Republicans, realizing the importance of the election, were talking Brown up on all the talking heads shows and drowning him in money.

When the DNC finally woke up, Vicki Kennedy graciously got into the act, even though Coakley had gone into campaign mode while Ted was still alive. And then Kerry. And the DNC started running ads, mostly negative (though not personal). We are now drowning in ads from both parties. In one commercial break, I can see maybe four or five ads, so they are cancelling each other out. Funnily enough, few ads mention the date of the election.

Now Obama is coming up, but on a Sunday, when many will not be paying attention.

I bet 50% of people still don't know the election is Tuesday and 70% of Democrats still don't know how close the election is. (In Massachusetts, it's easly for Democrats to stay home, in the belief they have no reason to worrry.)

In sum, another cluster flock.

Capuano should have won the primary. While he does not come across as dynamic, either, at least he is tested, seasoned and knows the issues. He could have trounced Brown in debates. As it was, it was the blind leading the blind and dishonest (the latter, of course, being Brown).

I hope Obama's trip attracts a lot of attention and he mentions things like "January 19th, 2010" and "two days from today" every other word.

[demoleft]

34. Obama makes last-ditch attempt to save Senate seat - ap, sunday 17

BOSTON – President Barack Obama was making a last-ditch attempt Sunday to save a Democratic-held Senate seat in Massachusetts — and an important 60th vote for his health care plan — as the top Senate Republican called the shockingly close race a verdict against the bill no matter who wins.

"This is, in effect, a referendum on the national health care bill," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "It is perfectly clear if it's unpopular in Massachusetts, it's unpopular everywhere. The American people don't want us to pass this bill."
...
With the personal visit, Obama is seeking to fire up rank-and-file Democrats who outnumber Republicans in this state but who are dispirited just one year after he took office. Turnout is notoriously low in special elections, and Democrats need their loyalists — particularly blue-collar and minority voters who might not be motivated — to show up at the polls.

Judging by Obama's track record in elections since taking office, however, the strength of his political muscle is in question. He campaigned hard for New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and in Virginia for Creigh Deeds, the Democratic nominee to replace Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine. But both Democrats lost, and Republicans regained power in both states.

source: ap, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100117/ap_on_el_se/us_massachusetts_senate_obama