FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
What once seemed unthinkable might just become reality: Democrats are in jeopardy of losing the Massachusetts Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy for almost five decades.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/01/19/art.t.kennedy.jpg caption="Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) lost his battle with cancer last year."]
It took just about a week for the Democratic candidate and state attorney general, Martha Coakley, to implode... Several polls released in the last few days show Coakley now trailing Republican Scott Brown - by as many as nine points. Coakley led Brown - who was unknown and underfunded - by more than 30 points back in November.
Advisers to President Obama say privately they believe Coakley will lose the special election... they've apparently grown increasingly pessimistic about her chances after a series of missteps.
Some analysts suggest that in some ways the Republicans have already won - by forcing the Democrats to invest the time and money in a race for Kennedy's old seat. The Democrats brought out their big guns in Massachusetts - including President Obama and former President Bill Clinton, but it may not be enough.
This being politics - you can bet the Democrats are already trying to figure out where to lay the blame for a potential loss. Chances are they would paint Coakley as a terrible candidate... who ran a poor campaign.
But it's clear The stakes couldn't be much higher: A defeat for the Democrats could destroy the president's attempts to push through his legislative agenda, especially health care. And - it would send a strong message to Democrats up for re-election around the country in November.
Here’s my question to you: How would Democrats explain a loss of Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Albert writes:
Jack, Massachusetts is an enlightened state with universal health care, gay marriage, a black governor and a white majority supporting Obama in 2008. Since then, Obama spoke out stupidly against the police in Cambridge, a city with a black lesbian mayor and a mouthy professor who disturbed the peace yelling "This is what happens to a black man in America." Well, if Ted’s seat is lost, it’s Obama getting slapped upside his head by the majority.
Wyatt from Gales Ferry, Connecticut writes:
I am from Connecticut and I cannot believe that Massachusetts, of all places, might rescue this country from the mistake it made in giving Democrats total and absolute control of government. Hell just might be freezing over tonight as pigs fly over Beantown.
Walt from New York writes:
Hello Jack. Just the thought of losing that particular seat, to a Republican, THIS Republican, is mind-boggling, and depressing. Yet here we are. I am certain that this election is sending chills down the spines (or lack thereof) of the incumbents. I am sure someone will come up with plausible reasons, but there really is only one reason: voter discontent.
M. writes:
I think the Democratic standard of "It's George Bush's fault" could work here. Somehow, some way, this must be George Bush's fault, right?
Pete from Hanson, Massachusetts writes:
I have to say Martha deserves to lose, with her negative campaign and her nonchalant attitude like she is the chosen one. I received at least 10 phone calls from her campaign – all bad, not one stating what she would do for Mass. She has a Democratic arrogance that I also see in Reid and Pelosi, something this country does not need more of. I voted for Brown to end universal health care.
Gary from Michigan writes:
The most specific way to explain a loss in Massachusetts would be to confess that their mascot is not really a donkey, but a jackass.