Editorial: Boston Globe endorses Coakley for Senate

[usregimechange]

PEOPLE IN Massachusetts are understandably frustrated. Next week’s special election comes in the midst of a too-long Senate debate on health care, showcasing much of what is offensive about the rules of the Senate. The fact that a final bill hasn’t even emerged has left many people ready to toss away the whole thing. Stir in the anxiety that comes with a still-faltering economy, and voters are angry.

Both major-party candidates for Senate reflect something of that mood. Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley, after more than two decades in law enforcement, is no pie-in-the-sky dreamer. Thoughtful and empirical, she views issues like a lawyer building a case. She promises hard work and no illusions. And in some cases, that means scaling back the ambition of government programs to carefully monitor what works and what doesn’t. Like the consumer-protection lawyer she is, she looks for measurable results.

Republican State Senator Scott Brown, who drives an old truck, channels voter skepticism more directly. Ignoring signs of improvement in the economy, he casts President Obama as the source of today’s problems, and would give the Republicans enough votes to block, under Senate rules, anything Obama wants to do. Affable in person, Brown nonetheless seeks to be a terminator, stopping the Democratic domestic agenda in its tracks...

Rarely has a pitch been more misleading. A vote for Brown is hardly a symbolic protest against congressional gridlock and the ways of Washington. It’s a vote for gridlock, in the form of endless Republican filibusters, and for the status quo in health care, climate change, and financial regulation. That’s what will happen if Brown gives the Republicans the additional vote they need to tie up the Senate.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/01/14/coakley_for_senate/

GOTV

[rocktivity]

1. I think Scott Brown's campaign is over anyway

Keith showed his Cosmo picture, which he posed for while studying law. Laurence O'Donnell charitably dismissed it as part of his "distant past." But not only does it call his fundamental judgment into question (pursing a legal/political career knowing there are nude photos of you floating around?), it explodes his image as a family values teabagger.

I'd better see that pic all over MA this weekend!


rocktivity

[gateley]

6. I think most of MA has probably already seen it. I WISH it would be a deal

breaker, but I don't think it will be.

[rocktivity]

12. The whole nation is going to see it now

And that just might have the proper "chilling effect."


rocktivity

[gateley]

14. I first saw it several days ago, but didn't see any mention of it in the media. I hope

it goes viral. Before Tuesday. :7

[Omaha Steve]

2. K & R!

[lpbk2713]

3. It would be an insult to Teddy's memory if they did otherwise.

I'm glad the Globe did the right thing. There's so much at stake here.

[usregimechange]

4. Can't lose 60 now

[gateley]

5. I THINK Lawrence O'Donnel said the Kennedy coattails actually weren't that

long in MA, which I found surprising. I got the impression that a "it's what Teddy would want" type of vote doesn't bring all that much to the polls.

[lpbk2713]

7. I heard that and I was surprised too.

The rethugs are spending money on that race like there's no tomorrow. They are desperate for a win in Mass.

[gateley]

8. I'm feeling kind of desperate myself. :-) I honestly can't bear the thought of

us losing that seat. I like the Globe piece -- I hope saying that electing Brown would ensure gridlock will hit home with the people.

I was also surprised that MA has elected several Republican governors. I assumed (I know) since Kennedy was such a big part of that state, that the whole state was All Dem All The Time.

[DonCoquixote]

9. Here is the truth (warning offensive)

The ugly truth is, while there are many liberals in the Northeast, the Catholic Church is still operating in a manner that is not even 20th century, much less Vatican 2. Yes, Yes, there are great catholic liberals, Kennedy and Kucinich being fine examples However, the Church is shelling out the money, and preaching from the pulpit

[gateley]

15. Being raised a Catholic - twelve years of Catholic schools - I don't find that

offensive at all (of course, I'm no longer practicing).

But I don't think the Church holds much sway at all any more, I actually think its pretty impotent.

Biden and Dodd are also good examples.

[FrenchieCat]

10. K&R!

[old mark]

11. Coakley should have run a better campaign instead of waiting for

the election to be handed to her because she is a Democrat. I am glad it seems she will win despite herself.

mark

[spanone]

13. chuck todd is grinning ear to ear at the thought of dems losing that seat