Coakley to run for Kennedy's Senate seat

[rox63]

Attorney General Martha Coakley this morning picked up nomination papers to run for the Senate seat of Edward M. Kennedy, becoming the first candidate to throw a hat in the ring for what promises to be a fierce five-month-long race.

Coakley's nascent campaign picked up the documents from the secretary of state's elections division. She now needs to gather 10,000 certified voter signatures to qualify for the Dec. 8 Democratic primary. Those signatures must be submitted to city and town election officials for certification by Oct. 20.

Coakley has been quietly been putting together her Senate campaign over the past year, but has yet to announce officially. She has told associates she will run for the seat even if a Kennedy family member enters the race. Joseph P. Kennedy II is said to be eyeing the race; people close to the family have said the late senator's wife, Vicki, is not interested in the seat. Three members of Congress -- Edward J. Markey, Stephen F. Lynch, and Michael Capuano -- are also considering running.

More here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/09/coakley_picks_u.html


Coakley has morbidly been running a death watch for the last year, so she could pounce on this seat.

[ccharles000]

1. k/r

[Mass]

2. She has been waiting for this for a while. I dont know enough about her to have an informed opinion.

This said, it will be good to have a real primary allowing people to choose their senator.

Will there be a convention to decide who can run in the primary or will it be an primary where any Democrat can run (with a risk of 10 people running together?)

[Inuca]

3. I know nothing about her

You don't like her (that's what your last sentence suggests)? Why?

[rox63]

6. She has been a fine AG

But everyone knows she's been eyeing this seat since Teddy was diagnosed last year, which I think is kinda morbid.

[LiberalAndProud]

4. So you don't like Coakley?

Any reason beyond the "morbid death watch"? Massachusetts has such track record for great Senators. It's going to be a fun race to watch. I've gotta admit, I've got a bias for Joseph, but I'm not a Masshole so ...

[rox63]

9. As I said above

She has been a fine AG, and it would be great for MA to finally elect a woman to the Senate. But I've just been turned off by the way she seems to have been hoping for a loss or death to open a seat up.

[Mass]

10. She has been waiting for an opportunity to run since early 2008,

first eying to Kerry's seat if he became part of the cabinet, then, though she could not say so, for Kennedy's seat to become free.

She is not the only one in this case. The entire MA delegation has been hoping for an opportunity to run for a Senator's seat, as the most recent contested Senate primary was 1984. However, some, like Barney Frank, have now so much power in the House that they will not run.

[rox63]

11. I know they've all been waiting for an opening

It's just that most of the others have been a bit less obvious about their sheer ambition. She just seems very calculating. Yeah, I know that all politicians are ambitious and calculating to a certain degree. Maybe it's just the dour look she always seems to have on her face.

[Warpy]

5. They've all been running a death watch

Kennedy's diagnosis had a poor prognosis, although treatment bought him some good time.

I hope Markey runs. He's probably the best of the bunch.

[David in Canada]

20. I doubt he'll run

Markey has likely been eying the seat for some time. However, he was first elected to the House in 1976 and is in the top dozen (out of 435) in seniority and he is the chairman of the Energy and Climate Change committees. Were he to run, and win, he would be 100th in Senate seniority (out of 100) and he wouldn't even get a subcommittee chairmanship.

Had Kerry won in 2004, he likely would have run as would have Barney Frank. Congressmen with 30+ years of seniority just down go up to the Senate. If he doesn't run, the chances of him becoming a senator is nil as he is already 63.

[zippy890]

7. I'd vote for her

She's made good choices as AG on what issues to go after. Yes she's tough and very political- but I've liked what I've seen of her.
Barring any unknown scandalsshe'd be my choice.

[Beer Snob-50]

8. I am hoping joe kennedy does jump in the race

his work with the oil for the poor has been a success from what i can tell.

[Sebastian Doyle]

12. From her website

Martha Coakley continues to work to address the high cost of health care, promote the state’s historic health reform effort, and protect patients from abuse and deceptive conduct by insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and health care providers.

Prosecuting Fraud: The Attorney General’s office prosecutes Medicaid fraud and works with other agencies to monitor the quality of care, prevent patient abuse and monitor costs in the Medicaid system. Last fiscal year, the office returned over $77 million to the Massachusetts Medicaid Program and convicted six Medicaid providers of abuses. In addition, the office prosecuted doctors for illegally prescribing drugs, and convicted a nursing home employee who was abusing a patient.

Violations by health insurers, providers, and drug companies: The office took action against several insurers that have alleged false or misleading provisions in their insurance policies, fail to cover health benefits and services as represented, disclose personal health information, and/or require fees to gain access to small group insurance.

I'm a little suspicious of anyone who refers to RomneyBullshitCare as a "historic reform effort". If that is her idea of a health care solution, she's not worthy to occupy Teddy's seat.

[Cha]

13. Really..

"..promote the state’s historic health reform effort"

Not from what I've read on DU and from mitt romeney??

Who does she think she's kidding?

[Mass]

14. It is better than nearly everywhere in the US, though far from perfect.

The reform is seen as progress by most healthcare organizations, even though it was weakened by Romney. This is a perfect example of throwing the baby with the bath water.

[Sebastian Doyle]

15. Actually the better analogy here would be

Bottling the dirty bath water (RomneyCare) and trying to sell it as "pure spring water" (actual Reform).

As opposed to the Kent Conrad approach, which would be selling ordinary chlorinated tap water (co-ops) and claiming it's pure spring water.

At least the Howard Dean approach would use a reverse-osmosis filter (true public option).

OK, I think that's about as far as I can go with that analogy.

[Cha]

23. THanks..I can

relate to those analogies.

[rox63]

17. It's a mixed bag

There are a lot more people in the state who now have insurance. But it hasn't done anything to bring down costs. My own brother is now insured because of it. But he is low-income and gets his coverage subsidized. There are still quite a few people in the state who can't afford the insurance they are now required to have, because they don't qualify for subsidies, or the subsidies they qualify for aren't enough to make it affordable.

[sabrina 1]

21. Yes, me too. Romneycare forces people to

buy policies and I know people who have moved out of the state because they cannot afford to do this. Or pay the fines if they don't. That was a major difference to me between Hillary who was FOR Romneycare, and Obama in the primaries. I am worried that Obama has changed his mind about that most important issue for many people. That would be a blow to those for whom this was the main difference between him and Hillary.

A single payer system is the only way and I do not know why it was not on that infamous Democratic table.

[pipi_k]

16. She first made a name for herself back in 1997 as

lead prosecutor in the famous Louise Woodward "nanny" case.

Never would have guessed back then that she would someday run for a Senate seat...


things could get interesting here...

[graywarrior]

18. Ugh.

Ugh ugh ugh.

Please run, Joe. Pleeeeeeeze!

[WI_DEM]

19. I like Congressman Edward J. Markey

[graywarrior]

22. Me, too!