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Obama will campaign personally for Coakley as Massachusetts Senate race tightens

Friday, January 15, 2010; 3:42 PM

 

BOSTON -- President Obama will travel to Massachusetts on Sunday to campaign on behalf of state Attorney General Martha Coakley, the White House said Friday -- an indication of the difficulty she faces in a U.S. Senate election next week after long being considered a shoo-in.

Republican state Sen. Scott Brown is running neck-and-neck with Coakley in recent polls of the Bay State as both vie for the Senate seat long held by Edward M. Kennedy (D). The winner of Tuesday's special election will become the first person not closely affiliated with the Kennedy family to hold the seat since 1952.

The White House had been saying for days that the president had "no plans" to go to Massachusetts, but the loss of the Senate seat would greatly complicate, if not doom, the fate of health-care reform legislation moving through Congress.

White House officials played down the significance of the president's trip, saying only that Obama is happy to be able to accept the campaign's invitation.

"We're not on the ballot. There's a campaign in Massachusetts going on. We're happy to lend our support," said press secretary Robert Gibbs. "I think the president believes he can be helpful and is happy to accept the invitation."

Brown sought to stay on the offensive Friday by bringing Rudolph W. Giuliani to stump here for him. Coakley planned to counter later in the day with former president Bill Clinton.

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