The Water Cooler is written by Washington Times staffers.
By James S. Robbins — Published January 18, 2010 Comments
Mid-day Sunday at the Intrade prediction market, shares in Scott Brown winning the special Senatorial election in Massachusetts were trading at 50 -- meaning roughly an even chance of him winning. Shares had dropped around seven points that morning in anticipation of President Obama's appearance in support of Martha "Marcia Marcia Marcia" Coakley. This also reflected a story line making the rounds that polling had shown Brown's surge had basically stalled. But after Mr. Obama's speech, shares in Brown began to climb and by midnight had surged to 70. Over the same period the Coakley market collapsed to 38. Looks like the market has spoken.
by Kerry Picket — Published January 17, 2010 Comments
An LGBT blog known as "Lezgetreal.com" is telling its Massachusetts readership to stay home on January 19 and not vote at all. Paula Brooks writes a scathing piece criticizing President Obama for not delivering LGBT legislation, like repealing DOMA, that he promised on the campaign trail.: "During last years Presidential campaign LGBT’s in large number indeed put on their walking shoes for Mr. Obama… because he promised us change… and most importantly he promised us HOPE. We had Hope, because, when Candidate Obama was courting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters, he said that he would support repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions." After Ms. Brooks explains the case of Mary Ritchie, "...a Massachusetts State Police trooper and lesbian, who has ...
by Kerry Picket — Published January 17, 2010 Comments
Outside of Northeastern University today, individuals, mostly young, waited for a number of hours waiting to catch a glimpse of President Obama. One supporter even admitted he was in line since 11 PM last night. Unfortunately, for the Senate candidate he was campaigning for in the school's sports complex, his fans barely could remember the name "Martha Coakley." (H/T Hot Air pundit) In the video below, the interviewer asks people in line who they came to see. Their answers do not fare well for Democrat candidate for Senate Martha Coakley.
by Kerry Picket — Published January 17, 2010 Comments
Congressman Barney Frank (D – MA) joined the Democratic Party faithful in Boston on Sunday to support Martha Coakley’s campaign for U.S. Senate and watch President Barack Obama give a final campaign pitch for the embattled Attorney General's election. Mr. Frank told reporters the race was only about personality until recently.: “To the extent that she wasn’t doing as well as she expected, it was because the issues weren’t a factor in the race,” said Mr. Frank “It was a personality contest. Mr. Brown is not running as a kind of people committed conservative that he is and that he has the right to be. He’s running as a nice guy.” Mr. Obama took a gamble to campaign in Boston today for Ms. Coakley. Virginia and New Jersey Democratic candidates Deeds and Corzine did not benefit from an Obama presidential visit to their respective states. When asked about how this ...
by Kerry Picket — Published January 17, 2010 Comments
*Updated with original Coakley ad Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley's campaign for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts has become so desperate, her negative campaign ads attacking her opponent ,GOP state Senator Scott Brown, has been relegated to reminding voters in the state that Mr. Brown is a *gasp* "Republican." Boston radio station 96.9 WTKK found the Coakley ads so amusing, the station created a parody of them. Check out their creation below. Original Coakley ad
by Kerry Picket — Published January 16, 2010 Comments
Radio Equalizer's Brian Maloney captured MSNBC's Ed Schultz making a startling remark on his radio show yesterday about supporting voter fraud in Massachusetts, so Scott Brown would lose. The audio is below along with the transcript. SCHULTZ (23:02): I tell you what, if I lived in Massachusetts I'd try to vote 10 times. I don't know if they'd let me or not, but I'd try to. Yeah, that's right. I'd cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. 'Cause that's exactly what they are.
by Kerry Picket — Published January 16, 2010 Comments
President Barack Obama is flying into Boston on Sunday to try and help the struggling Martha Coakley campaign in the final days of the Massachusetts Senate race. Mr. Obama must have swallowed a lot of his pride to make this trip, knowing it is all about keeping the Senate Democrats at sixty, because Ms. Coakley was not as courteous to Mr. Obama during his Boston birthday bash in 2008. Verum Serum has discovered interesting audio of Ms. Coakley, a Hillary Clinton for President supporter, explaining to NPR why she decided to skip Mr. Obama's birthday event. In fact, just 3 weeks later, while representing the State of Massachusetts at the Democratic National Convention, she voted for Hillary Clinton after Mrs. Clinton had formally released all of her delegates to vote for Obama. AUDIO [Transcript H/T Verum Serum] [NPR reporter]: Much has been made of the rift between Hillary Clinton’s supporters and Obama’s in this presidential campaign. Last night ...
by Kerry Picket — Published January 16, 2010 Comments
Dan Winslow, Brown campaign counsel, spoke to reporters (VIDEO BELOW)today about the campaign's filing of a criminal complaint against the Massachusetts Democratic Party regarding a recent mailing paid for and sent by the Massachusetts Democratic Party. The flyer alleges the following: "1,736 Women were raped in Massachusetts in 2008. Scott Brown wants Hospitals to turn them all away." Mr Winslow explained the basis of the criminal complaint against the Democrats in Massachusetts over the said flyer.: "There's a lot of wiggle room in a campaign,of course. In the rough and tumble of campaigns and the elbows that can be thrown...that's all fine and good, but the law also specifies the outer limits and the outer limit is falsity. Its against the law in Massachusetts to make a statement...a false statement for purposes of trying to affect an election. This is a statute that is within the corrupt practices act of Massachusetts. ...
by Kerry Picket — Published January 15, 2010 Comments
If there is one thing the Scott Brown campaign is overflowing with right now, its volunteers. A rousing contingent of Brown supporters appeared at a press conference for him in front of Paul Revere's statue in a park named after the Revolutionary War era hero this afternoon and followed the Republican state Senator and former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani around Boston's north end (see photo on right). Brown supporters are so revved up, a large and loud group of them appeared outside (see photo above) of Brown opponent Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley's rally tonight in Worcester. The crowd of Brown fans was so impressive for a counter-rally, if one did not know any better, it would be easy to mistake, at first glance, that Mr. Brown was speaking to supporters in an auditorium at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and not Ms. Coakley. Mr. Brown and Mr. Giuliani went ...
by James S. Robbins — Published January 15, 2010 Comments
A dozen Pakistani Muslim extremists in Lahore burned a Norwegian flag and chanted slogans after a Norwegian newspaper reprinted the famous Danish Mohammed cartoons and a Norwegian Member of Parliament changed his Facebook profile picture to the caricature of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban. Ulf Erik Knudsen, a fourth term member of Norway's Stortinget, said he posted the picture "in sympathy with one who is threatened by forces that want to restrict freedom of expression." This is a reference to artist Kurt Westergaard, who was the object of a New Years Day assassination attempt by a 28 year old Somali man affiliated with the al-Shabab movement. The picture originally ran in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005. "We must ensure freedom of expression," Mr. Knudsen told the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. "It is threatened by certain sections of fundamentalist Islam, which is opposed by our Western values." Pakistan's National Assembly passed ...
by Anath Hartmann — Published January 15, 2010 Comments
To finance Obama's vision of more affordable healthcare for all, the Senate last month decided to make something else less affordable for some. It removed a measure in the health care bill that would have imposed a 5 percent tax on all elective cosmetic surgeries and replaced it with a 10 percent tax on already-pricey indoor tanning. Tanning beds have been linked to melanoma, which people under age 30 have a 75 percent increased chance of getting if they use such machines. But baby-sitting is not the government's business, though it seems to disagree--at least where there's money to be made. To little effect on quitting rates, last April it hiked the tax on cigarettes 158 percent per pack. (We're awaiting the Big Mac Levy and the Failure-to-Floss Tariff.) The Indoor Tanning Association recently started a petition to get the measure removed, and tanning franchises have begun urging customers to go to the Web site ...
by Kerry Picket — Published January 15, 2010 Comments
Mass Resistance has dug up an interesting press release in Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley's political past. In 2008 Ms. Coakley sent out an endearing press release praising the now scandal embroiled ACORN.: “I am honored to have received this recognition from ACORN,” said Attorney General Coakley. “As our office continues to fight predatory lending practices, it is important for local, state, and federal officials, as well as others to work together to try and provide relief and real solutions to individuals who face the threat of foreclosure.” Ms. Coakley is the top law enforcer of Massachusetts, and her support of ACORN's practices makes one wonder where her ethical compass actually rests in matters of how she handled the licensing of non-profits in her state as well as being responsible for the reporting and financial disclosures of those groups.
by Kerry Picket — Published January 15, 2010 Comments
Today's Water Cooler lineup of off the beaten path online stories are: Corrupt ACORN graded Coakley A+ , The “Kennedy seat” attitude isn’t helping, and The Fall of Obama. Mass Resistance: Corrupt ACORN graded Coakley A+ Martha Coakley received an A+ rating from the corrupt, “criminal enterprise” ACORN for her work “fighting foreclosures” in 2008. She was one of only six AG’s to get that high grade. Coakley issued a press release. Hot Air: The “Kennedy seat” attitude isn’t helping Everyone knew that Vicki Kennedy, the widow of late Senator Ted Kennedy, would eventually make a public pitch for Martha Coakley as the true, legitimate heir to the “Kennedy seat.” Real Clear Politics: The Fall of Obama What went wrong? A year ago, he was king of the world. Now President Obama's approval rating, according to CBS, has dropped to 46 percent -- and his disapproval rating is the highest ever recorded by Gallup at the beginning ...
by Kerry Picket — Published January 15, 2010 Comments
The Boston Phoenix revealed a disturbing piece of information about the 2004 special election which sent GOP'er Scott Brown to the Massachusetts legislature. The article is about the conscience clause debate in the state, which embroiled not only Mr. Brown but also his daughters. After attacking Mr. Brown for introducing a bill with a conscience clause amendment as pay back to the Catholic Church for backing him in his 2004 election, the Phoenix gives a piece of information from an unnamed Democratic source about how dirty the 2004 special election for the state Senate appears to have been.(bolding is mine) : In 2004, Brown won a special election to become state senator, despite the state Democrats scheduling the election to coincide with the Presidential primary, when Democrats would be flocking to vote for John Kerry. (As one Democratic operative recently put it to me: "We cheated, and he still beat ...
by Kerry Picket — Published January 14, 2010 Comments
How can a Massachusetts Senate candidate possibly offend 39 percent of voters in her state? If it's Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley, she would tell devout Catholics not to bother working in an emergency room (H/T Jim Hoft - Big Government). In the audio clip below, Ms. Coakley chokes on a question from radio host Ken Pittman referring to the conscience clause. Under the conscience clause, workers in health-care environments ranging from doctors to maintenance men can refuse to offer services, information, or advice to patients on issues like contraception, blood transfusions, etc..if the workers are morally against it. Here is how Ms. Coakley handled the matter. (audio and transcript below): Ken Pittman: Right, if you are a Catholic, and believe what the Pope teaches that any form of birth control is a sin. ah you don’t want to do that. Martha Coakley: No we have a separation of church ...
