Obama Hides, Clinton to the Rescue in Mass. Senate Race

Friday, 15 Jan 2010 01:14 PM
By: Jim Meyers

The White House is being tightlipped on whether President Barack Obama will travel to Massachusetts to aid Democrat Martha Coakley, who’s locked in a close battle with GOP opponent Scott Brown in the race for Ted Kennedy’s seat in the Senate.

But former President Bill Clinton is already in the Bay State to campaign for Coakley ahead of Tuesday’s special election, which is crucial to Democrats if they are to maintain their 60-vote majority in the Senate.

Obama sent a letter praising Massachusetts Attorney General Coakley to his massive campaign e-mail list, and he released a videotaped message on Thursday in support of his fellow Democrat's contest with Brown, a state senator.

But the White House has hedged on speculation that the president would appear at a campaign event in Massachusetts on Sunday.

Still, several Democratic officials said that Obama, who won 62 percent of the vote in Massachusetts in 2008, could change his mind and head to Massachusetts after all. The Associated Press, citing two unnamed Democratic party officials, was reporting Friday afternoon that the president was bowing to pressure and planning a trip north after all.

“But there are risks,â€