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Bill Clinton to rescue Kennedy Senate seat for Democrat Martha Coakley

JANE WALSHE,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Monday, January 11, 2010, 7:20 AM

Updated Monday, January 11, 2010, 12:13 PM

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News / Ted Kennedy's seat may go to Republican, says new poll / Click here

Bill Clinton will campaign for embattled Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley as she tries to succeed Senator Edward Kennedy in the U.S. senate special election in the state. The election will be held January 19.

Two polls in the past week showed the race very close with her opponent, Republican candidate Scott Brown, leading in one by a point.

However, a Boston Globe poll on Sunday showed her with a fifteen-point lead, though she was only level with Brown among those most likely to vote.

Republicans are now throwing major money into the contest, once considered a shoo-in for Coakley, spending $400,000 in the past few weeks alone. Democrats are now counting by sending former president Bill Clinton to stump with Coakley on Friday of this week. The former president is still enormously popular in the state.

Meanwhile, Democratic insiders are highly critical of the lackluster campaign that Coakley has run in recent weeks, but there are signs that she is turning that around.

She appeared with Ted Kennedy's widow Viki last week, the first time the two have canvassed together. There was deep anger in the Kennedy camp against Coakley because she announced she was running while Senator Kennedy was still ill. A defeat for Coakley would be disastrous for Democrats, especially on their health care bill, which needs 60 votes to pass in the senate and now has that bare minimum.

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2BorNot2B | Jan 13, 2010, 02:18 PM EST

Porickseantuny --Indeed the Cath Church gave Kennedy a royal send-off, more as an act of Christian charity than a testimony to his wayward, and plainly heretical personal views.-- Though this was seen as 'scandalous' by many of the faithful, the task of the Church is NOT to judge but only to provide the teachings, the Sacraments, and the means of 'salvation' for anyone wishing to avail him/herself of their aid. Passing JUDGEMENT, however, happens to be the province of UPPER HEAVENLY MANAGEMENT, as much as we'd like to see every scoundrel castigated by the standards we ourselves set. You might have noticed that the presiding bishop was present but guarded himself from saying a single word. -- In fact, the swooning eulogies were left to the windbag-in-chief and to the rest of the scoundrely family, with one or two heterodox enabling clerics adding to the posterior orifice kissing of the dead man.

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2BorNot2B | Jan 13, 2010, 01:49 PM EST

Clinton to "rescue" Kennedy's seat for Martha? -- Well, isn't that an ironic choice of words! Mr Clinton will most gladly look into any woman's seat... especially one that happens to be 'up for grabs'! (He, He!)-- And isn't it an even more delicious irony that the writer mentions the "rescue" to be performed is on a Kennedy protegê.. yeah, the very man who bailed out of a sinking car, not only failing to RESCUE a woman inside it, but holding back for 10 hours - until he was safely lawyered-up - on calling the police to report the incident? -- Hope the Mass. voters recall that little piece of Kennedy lore and use it to bite the democRAT machine on its crooked, lying and opportunistic behind! -- But wait...it's a lead-pipe cinch that somehow they'll manage to call the voting "too close" then call for a 're-count,' for which they'll surely use the invaluable help of partisan judges. On their part ACORN, who will contribute with rolls of voters ensconced in Mass. prisons, mental hospitals and homeless shelters. Why, they'll even resucitate dead people for a price. Failing that they'll call on SEIU goons with batons. It will be the the Minn. voting debacle all over again folks! Delay, cheat, intimidate, obstruct...until their candidate is declared a winner.

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Porickseantuny | Jan 12, 2010, 03:33 PM EST

The Catholic church gave Teddy such a big send off, I thought they were posthumously going to give him a position in the Church. Seems like the bishop's participation gave an endorsement to Kennedy's pro abortion record.

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Madeleine | Jan 11, 2010, 04:34 PM EST

I don't know what Clinton can do, he is not that popular anymore. My daughter lives in Mass and it is costing her a fortune for health care, she is a democrat but she is voting any democrat out. Mass has raised her taxes for no reason except they need money and they have raised the cost of their socialized medicine, her private insurance was half the price, people can't afford socialized anything because the haves are reduced to the have nots, whom they pay for in the first place, who pays when everyone becomes a have not? Anytime I see the name Clinton I see problems and corruption, there is always something in it for them. The Clintons manage to get their noses into everything. Kennedy emptied out Brazil and Venezuela for the votes, they are now the majority in Mass. so I don't know how clinton will help, I don't know of anyone who trusts him. He just won't go away, neither one of them.

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BishopSean | Jan 11, 2010, 01:52 PM EST

Ms. Coakley, as well as former President Bill Clinton and so many Democrat leaders, are unfortunately moral relativists in their positions on abortion and several other political issues and thus cannot truly represent the moral philosophy upon which our Declaration of Independence and Constitution are founded and which have given the United States such great freedoms and prosperity, making the USA a model for so many other countries to follow. The Irish in Massachusetts will have to take this in consideration.

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mrkennedy | Jan 11, 2010, 12:14 PM EST

Bill Clinton campaigning for Coakley will turn many individuals away from her and finally an ethical and moral Republican will represent the Irish in Massachusetts.

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corncrake | Jan 11, 2010, 11:41 AM EST

It's about the brain, JJ, not the arse...............

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MalcomAC | Jan 11, 2010, 10:58 AM EST

Mass voted solidly for Clinton in the primaries, so this is probably a good move. The survey results for 'likely voters' is sobering for the Democrats. They need to invigorate some demographics so that what happened in VA will not happen in Mass.

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chesapeake | Jan 11, 2010, 10:52 AM EST

Embattled? Incompetent, maybe. When will Massachusetts come to their senses.

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JJKelly123 | Jan 11, 2010, 10:02 AM EST

Bill Clinton should keep his fat, hypocritical, Arkansas ass out of Massachusetts.

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FastEddy | Jan 11, 2010, 09:47 AM EST

Ms. Coakley should probably leave the blue dress at home.

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