White House: Brown’s Election Was Expression of Support for Obama

Of all the ridiculous analyses I’ve heard about Scott Brown’s victory last week, none reached the level of the absolutely ridiculous political spin than that of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

WALLACE: Let’s turn to the message from Massachusetts on Tuesday night. Here was the president’s first reaction on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office. People are angry and they’re frustrated, not just because of what’s happened in the last year or two years, but what’s happened in the last eight years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: But, Robert, Scott Brown had a clear platform, and let’s lay it out — stop health care, cut taxes, end backroom deals with special interest, and don’t give terrorists Miranda rights.

It wasn’t the same thing that swept Barack Obama into office. Scott Brown explicitly campaigned against the Obama agenda.

GIBBS: Well, that may be what he campaigned on, but that’s not why the voters of Massachusetts sent him to Washington. If you look at an exit poll that was done by the Washington Post…

WALLACE: Well, it wasn’t an exit poll, but it was a — I mean, they did a poll.

GIBBS: Well, they did a poll of voters that participated…

WALLACE: Right.

GIBBS: … as to why they voted, right. So more people voted to express their support for Barack Obama than to oppose him. His approval rating among that electorate was 61 percent.

Their enthusiasm for Republican policies among that electorate was — for Republicans was 40 percent…

WALLACE: But you’re not suggesting…

GIBBS: No, no.

WALLACE: … this was a…

GIBBS: No, no.

WALLACE: … mandate for Barack Obama?

GIBBS: Of course not. But I’m also not suggesting that what you said a minute ago meets the truth test either, and let’s…

WALLACE: You don’t think that…

GIBBS: No, no. Chris, hold on.

WALLACE: You don’t think that when they voted for…

GIBBS: Hold on, Chris. Chris, hold on.

WALLACE: … Scott Brown they were voting against Obama’s policies?

GIBBS: That’s not what they told pollsters. No. I think people are angry in this country — they were angry in Massachusetts — that we haven’t made more progress on the economy.

Let’s ask the question on health care. They asked specifically — now, again, this is somebody that you’re saying is all about stopping health care reform.

WALLACE: He said he was the 41st vote.

GIBBS: I understand, and I hope he doesn’t misread the electorate. Seventy percent of the voters in Massachusetts want him to work with Democrats on health care reform. Only 28 percent want to stop health care reform from happening.

Chris, if Republicans want to assume that the outcome of what happened in Massachusetts is a big endorsement of their policies, when 40 percent are enthusiastic about them and 58 percent are angry about them, then I hope they misread that election as badly as anybody could.

What people want in this country is they want to us focus on getting this economy moving again. They want us to work together. And the president has tried, and I hope that Republicans will try to work with the president.

But that kind of anger and dissatisfaction at the fact that Washington far too many times puts the special interests ahead of their interests — that anger still persists. That’s what people said in Massachusetts.

So, are you telling me that the White House believes that Scott Brown was elected to the Senate over Democrat Martha Coakley because of support for Barack Obama’s agenda? Really, Mr. Gibbs?

If a vote for Scott Brown was a vote in support of Obama, then what about the votes for Martha Coakley? You know, the candidate that shared a stage with President Obama days before the election…

NRSC Chairman Cornyn Applauds Scott Brown’s Victory

“Nearly one year after President Barack Obama was sworn into office, Massachusetts voters sent a clear message to the nation in favor of fiscal responsibility and checks-and-balances in Washington when they elected Scott Brown to the United States Senate.

“Even in the bluest of blue states, Scott Brown’s message resonated with families, seniors, and small business owners who have rejected President Obama’s massive health care takeover and the Democrats’ out-of-control spending agenda in Washington.

“Senator-elect Scott Brown ran an amazing campaign, and the NRSC was proud to be a part of this incredible effort. This election was won as a result of enthusiastic Republican, Independent, and even Democratic voters who championed Scott Brown’s positive vision over Martha Coakley’s negative attacks and unwavering support for the Democrat establishment.

“As we look forward to the midterm elections this November, Democrats nationwide should be on notice: Americans are ready to hold the party in power accountable for their irresponsible spending and out-of-touch agenda, and they’re ready for real change in Washington.”

Think About It

A brilliant column by Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe, in anticipation of today’s US Senate race.

Blue Hill Avenue runs like a vein through the city.

It stretches for 4 miles, from River Street in Mattapan to Dudley Street in Roxbury, and a little more than a year ago there was an Obama sign on every block. There were Obama signs in Mattapan barber shops, in the windows of the apartment buildings opposite Franklin Field and Franklin Park, in the restaurants of Grove Hall, in the bodegas near Jermaine Goffigan Park.

Fourteen months ago, there was a buzz on Blue Hill Ave. and the streets that run off it like caterpillar legs. This is the heart of the biggest minority community in the state, and the energy generated by the prospect of Barack Obama becoming president was palpable.

Yesterday, I drove the length of Blue Hill Ave. and counted exactly two Martha Coakley signs. One of them was on a fence next to the Roxbury Energy Gas station, on the corner of Moreland Street. The sign wasn’t properly fastened. It flapped in the wind, revealing a “Mike Flaherty for Mayor’’ sign underneath.

If Martha Coakley loses today, it won’t be because she didn’t put up enough signs on Blue Hill Ave. It’ll be because she failed to convince enough of the people who put up the Obama signs on Blue Hill Ave. and a lot of other avenues across Massachusetts that Obama’s ability to get anything done depends on her winning the election.

Blue Hill Avenue voted for Barack Obama in 2008. Blue Hill Avenue voted for Deval Patrick in 2006–”Together We Can” and “No Ordinary Leader” signs were in virtually every storefront in late-October and early-November of that year.

Think about that as you go into the voting booth today.

UPDATE: Please be sure to join us Tuesday for a special Election Night edition of The Notes on Blog Talk Radio beginning at 8:00pm EST. We will be joined by Stephanie Davis of RFC Radio and Paul Couturier of Blog Talk Radio. Plus, more from WBUR, the Globe and Herald.

Coakley Can’t Run on Her Own Name

What’s really, really sad about Martha Coakley’s campaign is that it isn’t about her. It about hatred for Scott Brown, it’s about hatred for Bush/Cheney, it’s about Ted Kennedy.

Compare that to Scott Brown’s campaign, where the enthusiasm is genuinely for Scott Brown and his message.

In fact, Martha is trying again again to save her campaign by rolling out the Ted Kennedy card again with DoingItForTeddy.org.

This is a sad, desperate attempt by Coakley that is not going to work. Past elections have shown that the anti-vote doen’t beat the pro-vote. Let me explain.

In 2004, John Kerry’s “support” was mostly the anti-Bush vote, not a pro-Kerry vote. He lost.

In 2008, conservatives were not excited about John McCain, and he  lost that election because Obama had more positive support.

In 2010, Scott Brown clearly has more positive support than Coakley does. Coakley knows this, but has no choice. She has to run on a negative campaign against Brown, and using Barack Obama and Ted Kennedy to boost her support.

And it’s not just Coakley, it seems clear to me from the people “supporting” Coakley on Twitter that they most are anti-Scott Brown, because all they can do is attack him.

WFXT: Brown Has Double Digit Lead

WFXT reports that in a poll of three Massachusetts communities, Brown leads Coakley by double digits.

A poll released a day before the special Senate race shows Senator Scott Brown surging to a double-digit lead over Attorney General Martha Coakley in the race for the open Massachusetts Senate seat.

The shift in favor of the Republican Party is a potential disaster for President Barack Obama and his Democratic political agenda.

Brown has surged to a double-digit lead over Coakley in three Massachusetts communities identified as bellwethers, according to the latest SuffolkUniversitybellwether polling of the race for U.S. Senate.

Gardner, Fitchburg and Peabody all show solid margins for Brown, the state senator running against Coakley. The cities were identified as bellwether communities because in the most recent “like election” – the November 2006 Senate race between the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Republican challenger Kenneth Chase – the results in all three communities were within 1 percentage point of the actual statewide results for each candidate. Additionally, party registration in those cities is similar to the statewide voter makeup.

“Brown has continued to build on the momentum that we saw last week in the SuffolkUniversity statewide poll,” said David Paleologos, director of the SuffolkUniversityPoliticalResearchCenter in Boston. “There’s still a day left, and a number of factors, including weather, can affect turnout, but the latest bellwether polls suggest a solid lead for Brown.”