Obama's Future Tied to Massachusetts Election

The future agenda of U.S. President Barack Obama could change precipitously depending on the outcome of today’s Senate election in the state of Massachusetts.

According to political analysts across the nation, if the Democrats cannot win the Senate seat previously held by the late Democratic stalwart Ted Kennedy, they may see their star fall in this mid-term election year.

Obama’s Future Tied to Massachusetts Election

Should the Democrats lose Kennedy’s old seat, the balance of power in the Senate will shift from 60 Democrats (and Independents) and 40 Republicans to 59 Democrats (and Independents) and 41 Republicans. While this would be a tiny change numerically, it would have huge implications politically because it would mean that the Democrats would lose the ability to block a Republican filibuster. Such a scenario would seriously impede President Obama’s plans to pass bills through Congress.

Obama has campaigned aggresively in favor of Democrat Martha Coakley, who has served as the Massachusetts Attorney General for the past two years. Prior to accepting the job as Attorney General, Coakley was the District Attorney in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, for ten years.

Coakley’s opponent is Republican State Senator Scott Brown, who has served in politics since 1992, when he became an assessor in Wrentham, Massachusetts. After that, Brown worked his way up the ranks from the Wrentham Board of Selectman to the State House of Representatives and then onto the State Senate.

Recently, Coakley has a tete-a-tete with none other than famed Boston Red Sex pitcher Curt Schilling. While Schilling has never held a political office or even managed a baseball team, he has campaigned for GOP candidates in the past. In addition, he has the support of some die-hard Red Sox fans who remember his heroic performances during the Red Sox 2004 season, when they won the World Series and defeated the New York Yankees in a heart-rending 7-game playoff series.

Recently, Coakley attempted to make a joke by calling Schilling a “Yankee fan,” a remark that hurt his feelings and didn’t linger well with the Red Sox nation.