Obama agenda on trial in Massachusetts?
02:53 PM

Don't be surprised if President Obama campaigns in Boston today as if his entire agenda is at stake.

Because it may be.

An upset win by Republican Scott Brown in a special election Tuesday would give the GOP 41 votes in the U.S. Senate. That's enough to filibuster any Democratic initiative, and that includes pending health care legislation.

Hoping to stave off such a result, Obama speaks at Northeastern University around 3:30 p.m. on behalf of Democratic candidate Martha Coakley. She is running against Scott Brown for the seat held for for more than four decades by liberal stalwart Edward M. Kennedy.

Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have called the surprisingly close race a referendum on health care. " We know that in the most liberal state in America you're going to have a close election for the United States Senate because people in Massachusetts don't want this health care bill to pass," McConnell said today on Fox News Sunday.

A Republican has not won a Senate race in Massachusetts since 1972.

Boston's Democratic Mayor, Thomas Menino, said today that a Brown victory would benefit only those who want to see Obama fail. "A lot of people don't want Barack Obama to succeed, and that's who we're fighting against," Menino said.

Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior adviser to the Brown campaign, said health care is "only one issue" in the campaign, but is a symbolic one. "The rush to pass a health care bill with higher taxes and spending is a symbol of big government amuck," Fehrnstrom ;said. "People want to see us start over and take the time to do it right."

Brown campaigned in Worcester with his own celebrities, a pair of Massachusetts sports legends: Former Red Sox pitching ace Curt Schilling and Boston College All-American quarterback Doug Flutie.

Brown seemed unworried about President Obama's appearance in the state.

"I hope he has a safe trip and enjoys himself and has a good trip looking around a great state," Brown said.

(Posted by David Jackson)

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