Counting down the last days of a Massachusetts senate race where Coakley may win or Brown may win, the realization becomes clearer and clearer that either way, the outcome will be a win-win for the Democratic Party.
If Coakley wins, Democrats will of course retain the 60 senate seats they need to prevent Republican filibusters on major legislation, beginning with jobs, that Democratic Senators will need to pass if they are to have a good shot at re-election in 2010 and beyond.
If Brown wins, Obama and Reid have a simple choice before them; They can allow Republican Senators to filibuster all major legislation during 2010, which is not a choice at all since it would spell disaster for Democratic candidates in both the Senate and the House in November, or they can change the senate rules on filibusters through means as simple as one recently advanced in a New York Times Op-Ed by Tom Geoghegan, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/opinion/11geoghegan.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnl=1&ref=opinion&adxnnlx=1263582029-H1fasBwQRq8Dxv3tjEZJAw
by Charles Lemos, Thu Sep 03, 2009 at 09:36:10 AM EDT
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley officially declared her candidacy for the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Senator Kennedy. The full story in the Boston Globe:
"The urgency of this time is clear and that urgency drives my decision," Coakley said in a press conference. "Today I announce my candidacy for the United States Senate."
The 56-year-old Medford Democrat spoke of her childhood in North Adams and her history of public service: assistant district attorney, federal prosecutor, Middlesex District Attorney, and her current role as state Attorney General.
"And now I hope to bring my experience to Washington," Coakley said. "I want to go to Washington to represent the commonwealth and to make government work for you to remove barriers, provide opportunities, and to renew the promise of our Democracy."
Meanwhile on the GOP front, former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling who floated the idea of running for the seat is ineligible to run as a Republican according to Politico.
Schilling told the New England Cable Network yesterday that he has been contacted by people looking to recruit him into the race and hadn't ruled out the possibility.
But Schilling, who has enthusiastically campaigned for former President Bush and John McCain in past presidential elections, has said that he's a registered Independent voter. Massachusetts election law requires that anyone seeking a party nomination to be enrolled with the party for at least 90 days before the Nov. 3 deadline for filing nomination papers with the state Elections Division.
That doesn't give Schilling enough time to run as a Republican - only as an independent candidate for office.
Pity. It would have been fun to see Schilling self-implode. Massachusetts has an open Senate seat for the first time since 1984 which is just an amazing fact. Then again, West Virginia hasn't had on open Senate seat over that time frame either.
Under a blog headed "potential Senate candidacy," the Boston Red Sox legend wrote Wednesday: "I do have some interest in the possibility."
It should not necessarily come as a surprise that the political vacancy left by late Sen. Edward Kennedy might hold an attraction for Schilling.
The day after he helped pitch the Red Sox to their first World Series title since World War I, Schilling saw fit to remind viewers of "Good Morning America" to vote, "and vote Bush next week."
Rumors had him pondering a Senate run a year ago against Sen. John Kerry (D) of Massachusetts - a prospect he seemed to dismiss only because he still thought he had a decent split-finger fastball.
He has campaigned for President Bush, rallied voters for former presidential candidate Sen. Jon McCain (R) of Arizona, and told Boston radio station WRKO in 2007 that running for office is "something my wife and I have talked about a couple of times."
He is also a complete nerd. That's no mark against him, just an opportunity to relate this Schilling quote about the game Everquest: "My first foray into Lower Guk was a lot of fun. ... Completing the Robe of the Lost Circle quest was a blast. ... One night I log in, and there's a 55 level monk there."
I was just talking to a friend about the possibility of the top of the Democratic ticket in California next year being Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown vs the Republican duo of Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina. That could get iffy.
But my guess is that life in politics will be a lot rougher for Shilling than it was with the baseball beat writers: ""If you haven't figured it out by now, working in the media is a pretty nice gig," the pitcher wrote. "Barring outright plagiarism or committing a crime, you don't have to be accountable if you don't want to." That thin-skin, surrounding his "fake bloody sock" hoopla (it was real blood but so what). Don't get me wrong. The Democrats in Massachusetts could blow this. Afterall, they allowed Romney to become MA's Gov a term.
by Charles Lemos, Tue Sep 01, 2009 at 08:45:12 PM EDT
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is interested if not in though a formal announcement has yet to be made. On Tuesday, the well-known, highly respected and the first female Attorney General in the history of the Commomwealth picked up the nomination papers becaming the "first" candidate in a special election for the Senate seat left open by the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. Since becoming Attorney General in January 2007, she has focused on a variety of issues affecting the citizens of the Commonwealth, including cyber crime, identity theft, home foreclosures, access to affordable healthcare, and environmental protection.
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.
In addition, Gloucester attorney Ed O'Reilly said in an email to Globe that he is "seriously considering" entering the race. O'Reilly unsuccessfully challenged Senator John F. Kerry in last year's Democratic primary. He got 31 percent of the vote. He said he will make a decision after Labor Day.
I'm thankful, I suppose, that I don't live in the Bay State because I would have a hard time choosing between Ms. Coakley whose tenacity and dedication is admirable and Ed 0'Reilly who is a true working class Democrat.
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