Oh boy – things are freaky in Massachusetts!!! It’s not April Fools, nor Halloween, but it is a day of reckoning, or so it seems.

Remarkably, Scott Brown (R)’s website has this for his position on gay marriage: “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. States should be free to make their own laws in this area, so long as they reflect the people’s will as expressed through them directly, or as expressed through their elected representatives.”

Nevertheless he’s ahead in the polls, having closed a 15 point lead in Massachusetts’ impromptu Senate election to replace a liberal Hero. Marthy Coakley (D), the highly regarded Attorney General is the anointed one who was ahead until people got to know her in reportedly one of the worst campaigns ever.

A good friend and seasoned political operative told me why, and it’s such a great story I don’t want to verify it: “If you type “Marthy Coakley” on the web the first result is: “Scott Brown for Senate”. Ok, I checked – and on my system in NY it didn’t, but she’s in MA so who knows, and she was very serious.

The whole matter seems to remind her of an inappropriate Dan Aykroyd reference, and glancing at other websites about the campaign, I saw similar. Ouch.

My friend then rattled off a litany of bad choices and moments that got worse and worse. Supposedly Coakley remains in denial about her campaign’s failure to connect with the electorate, they evidently are still over estimating both the loyalty to Ted Kennedy’s legacy, and her ability to capitalize on it, and she’s lost debates on due process for terrorist suspects and abortion, gone negative in ads in off-putting ways, etc., etc., etc.

“Ted Kennedy was Ted Kennedy. Like Elvis Presley was EP.” my friend reminds me. “That’s over.” I argue this could be necessary to stimulate the base to vote, and that Kennedy is the best angle for that. But given my friend’s insistence that no one cares (at least in mid-state), I wonder.

Health care reform in Washington is also not firing, with 51% of the state opposing reform, because some states see themselves worse off? So saving Kennedy’s dream is not a strong sell, and thus, nor is casting Brown as the anti-health care devil. It’s not helping that the Democrats keep insisting that the seat still belongs to Kennedy and in-directly to them. Brown answered that the “seat belonged to the people” and that resonated like a touch down, carried by the truth. Massachusetts doesn’t like being told what to do or think. They are 1/3 independents, a smart bunch and not that emotional.

But a bad campaign does not make a bad Senator, and by many accounts Marthy Coakley, Esquire was a good Attorney General and would make a strong Senator for our concerns. But frankly, that’s almost irrelevant at this point.

WE the PEOPLE need Senator Coakley (D-MA).

We need to win this race to support the Obama Presidency that our community worked so hard for AND for the LGBTIQ Movement which is now facing it’s greatest moment. We need this to rebuke all the opposition building against this President AND his support for our agenda. We need to prove that the message of change can work when given reasonable time. This is no joke.

Fair or not, this race has become a ridiculous one-year referendum on the Obama Presidency. While not perfectly, President Obama has demonstrated unprecedented courage for change. But changing a Monolith of the size of the US Government is a herculean task. Just imagine if you were changing something about your own work operation, then multiply by millions of employees and back seat drivers.

I see an apocalypse if we loose this. It may domino the mid-terms, at which point the game is over or radically altered. The idea of change will suffer, our fight against corporate control of government will suffer, our struggle will loose almost every advantage it just gained moments ago after a decade of despair. The hope we are just beginning to muster will splinter into fear — or so says my gut and my own fear-mongering instinct.

Of course maybe a loss, if it happens, would force Obama to respond to his base, to be less timid and conciliatory on matters of principle, and to move faster, i.e., to start operating like he only has one term. Maybe this will create the lion we need. But more likely, a loss in MA would mean a deeper strategy of caution. Either way, it will have us on the defensive, and we do not need to lose to learn lessons from the close call — hopefully.

We can not let slip the new dream we celebrated so recently.

The opening statement above from Scott Brown reveals a major troubling truth: He does not believe in the role of the Judiciary in resolving the question of our human right to equality. His logic leads us to a US Constitutional Amendment fight and if we loose that, to drastic action. While it may come down to this one day, we can not afford to have elected officials from Massachusetts paving the way.

Let the people speak now – when it matters so vitally and when it is appropriate to vote.

A new perfect storm of bad timing is unfolding in Massachusetts where popular frustration is meeting party arrogance is meeting a campaign problem. But as we look to the horizon, we must keep our eyes on the prize, and ride each wave on course.

This coming Tuesday, January 19, 2010 is an important day for our movement. I pray that everyone who can votes enthusiastically. That everyone who can not vote, helps encourage others to vote for them. And that our community gathers Tuesday in common spirit and intention to manifest equality for all now.

Organizing for America is calling for phone banking (see below).

The President is asking us for help supporting Marthy Coakley.

President Obama is our greatest hope at the moment, and we need to have his back.

On Tuesday – our equality is on the chopping block and it’s the devil of impatience (not Brown) verses the democrats.

Vote early and often.
Tif, (former MA resident 83-02).

p.s. Here is the OFA phonebanking info:

The race for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat in Massachusetts is coming down to the wire.

And if Martha Coakley loses, her opponent could be that final Senate obstructionist the Republicans need to defeat health reform and the rest of President Obama’s agenda.

We need to do everything we can to make sure voters know how important their vote for Coakley is — and that they get to the polls Tuesday.

So I need you to keep calling voters in Massachusetts — or start today if you haven’t yet. Click here to log-in and start making calls.

And this time, we’re going to do it a little differently.

On Sunday, supporters from around the country will call in to a national conference call.

We’ll recognize the top callers from today (Saturday), talk about what we’re about to do, get the lay of the land from some folks in Massachusetts right now, and set some big goals for each other.

And then we’ll get calling.

Can you join us for a conference call at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 17th, followed by a round of calls to Massachusetts?
RSVP

It’ll be a fun way to start our calling off with others around the country — and it could well make the difference in the fight for health reform.

The call-in Number is (712) 432-0075, and the participant code is 404-284.

Please sign up for your call, and submit any questions you’d like:

http://ma.barackobama.com/MAn2nCall

Let’s finish this,

Jeremy

Jeremy Bird
Deputy Director
Organizing for America

P.S. — There will also be a conference call at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. You can sign up for whichever is more convenient for you here: http://ma.barackobama.com/MAn2nCall