America's Watchtower

Yet another mobile post, hopefully I will have my computer back on Monday.

The Massachusetts special election to fill the “people’s seat” left vacant by the death of Ted Kennedy has turned into a vote on the president’s healthcare reform bill. The fate of the bill could possibly hang in the balance.

Scott Brown has stated that he will provide the 41st vote needed to stop the bill, while Martha Coakley has promised to be the 61st vote needed to pass the bill.

Martha Coakley has even gone so far as to air a commercial using Scott Brown’s promise to be the 41st nay vote on the bill. This would normally be a great strategy in a liberal state such as Massachusetts, but a recent Massachusetts poll shows that only 36% of likely Massachusetts voters agree with the healthcare bill that is now being reconciled in congress.

It appears that this strategy could backfire on Martha Coakley as she continues to remind Massachusetts voters that most of them actually agree with her opponent on this issue.

If this race ends up being a vote on healthcare reform, and this poll is correct, Martha Coakley could actually be running the campaign commercial that delivers Scott Brown the most unlikely victory this country has seen in many years.

Massachusetts voters have seen first hand what universal coverage and healthcare mandates mean, and they disapprove of the president’s plan.

Martha Coakley may say that she approves this message at the end of the commercial, but one has to think that if Scott Brown were asked, he would also approve of this message.

Another mobile post, I think I am getting addicted!

Martha Coakley has been running an attack ad against Scott Brown claiming that he does not support “reproductive rights” (abortion) and that he actually voted against providing emergency abortions to rape victims.

The problem is that Scott Brown supports Roe vs Wade as settled law so Martha Coakley’s attack ad on Scott Brown is a little disingenuous; Scott Brown voted in favor of the “conscience clause” that would allow people working in emergency rooms who oppose abortions for religious reasons to refuse to perform abortions.

When Martha Coakley was asked why a person who opposes abortion for religious reasons should be forced to perform them, she actually cited the separation of church and state. The interviewer then asked Coakley if there is religious freedom in the emergency room, to which Coakley responded that there is, but perhapsCatholics shouldn’t work in emergency rooms.

Brilliant.

Yet another mobile post, the Massachusetts race is too exciting to stay away.

A poll released today has Scott Brown surging ahead of Martha Coakley by four points. This is remarkable considering he was nine points down when the first poll came out last week.

Brown seems to be using his opposition to the healthcare reform bill to his benefit. In Massachusetts– where the people know the pain of universal healthcare coverage and mandates first hand– the poll shows a majority of voters against nationally mandated healthcare coverage. Yet Martha Coakley continues to run ads using Scott Brown’s own voice saying he will be the 41st vote against the bill. Martha Coakley– much like the Democrats in Washington– is out of touch with the voters on this issue. The more she plays that commercial, the more it plays into Scott Brown’s hands.

This poll is certainly good news; Scott Brown has the momentum and Republicans ans conservatives in Massachusetts are energized and motivated, but now is not the time to get complacent. If the Massachusetts race going national did not wake up the Democrats to the fact that they have a real race on their hands, perhaps the news of this poll will. Now that they can see that Scott Brown is for real, as is the tea party movement, they may be more motivated to vote. Massachusetts voters: do not let Scott Brown lose! America is watching!

The revolution will be televised!

Martha Coakley is in real trouble in Massachusetts– a notion that was unthinkable just two weeks ago–so much so that she has been making inquiries to Barack Obama, imploring him to make an appearance on her behalf. As of right now, Barack Obama no intention on campaigning in Massachusetts for Martha Coakley.

Of course, this is subject to change, but this does highlight how much Barack Obama’s star has faded.

He won Massachusetts by 27 points in the election, but recent campaigning embarrassments in Virginia and New Jersey have Barack Obama leary of making an appearance in Massachusetts. He campaigned hard in both Virginia and New Jersey for the Democrat candidates of those states only to see his presence have no impact on the elections in those states.

If he were to come to Massachusetts and campaign for Coakley only to see her lose it would be an embarrassment of enormous proportions, and he seems unwilling to risk what is left of his political capital.

However, his aversion to appearing in Massachusetts tells us all that we need to know about the president’s waning popularity.

Another mobile post, hopefully the provided link works and hopefully I will get the computer back tomorrow or Saturday.

Last week the New Hampshire state legislature voted to ban bringing guns into any state building. This bill has been controversial with the people; they seem equally divided on this issue. Many see this as an infringement on the second amendment. And I agree. This legislation was passed after an incident last year when a states rights bill was being debated; many supporters of the bill showed up to the debate openly carrying their weapons. It was a peaceful demonstration but is so spooked many politicians that they decided to institute a weapons ban. These people obeyed the law; they did nothing wrong, yet the state legislature targeted them.

On the heals of that second amendment defeat comes word of a second amendment victory; the New Hampshire House passed HB 160by a vote of 189-166. This bill revises New Hampshire self defense laws to ensure that nobody who brandishes a weapon when they feel threatened will face charges no matter where the incident takes place in the state.

New Hampshire residents already have the legal right to defend themselves. The self defense clause is written into the state constitution, but there have been cases of people brought up on charges for showing a gun when they felt threatened. This new language would prevent that from happening. The added language gives New Hampshire residents the right to defend themselves “anywhere they have the lawful right to be.” In reality, we already had that right, this affirms it.

But this victory could be short lived, Governor Lynch has already vetoed a similar bill. We must call and write the governor and tell him that he needs to sign this bill if it makes it to his desk.

Another mobile post, there is just too much going on in the Massachusetts special election to wait until I get my computer back. Hopefully the link provided will work. If it doesn’t I will correct it when I get my computer back.

The duplicity of Massachusetts’ politics is in full display with this story that the certifying of the results of the “people’s seat” may be delayed by weeks. Needless to say, this is an effort to give the Democrats time to pass healthcare reform before the new senator from Massachusetts is sworn in, in the event that the winner is Republican Scott Brown.

Massachusetts has a recent history of changing the rules in order to thwart what few Republicans there are in the state; when it appeared in 2004 that John Kerry was going to become president, the legislature changed the law to provide for a special election to appoint Kerry’s replacement in order to stop Republican Governor Mitt Romney from appointing a Republican to replace John Kerry as senator. But when Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, the Massachusetts legislator changed the law again, back to the original law, to allow Democrat Governor Deval Patrick to name Kennedy’s successor– which he did.

Massachusetts is at it again; Massachusetts is citing the state law which says the state must wait ten days before certifying the election results in order to count all of the absentee ballots. I would normally agree with this, but Massachusetts ignored this very same rule when they immediately certified a House election result in order to over-ride a George Bush veto. While I cannot condone ignoring the law– two wrongs don’t make a right– this does offer us an opportunity to see how corrupt Massachusetts politics are.

This is being done for one reason and one reason only– to provide more time for Democrats in the House and Senate to reconcile the healthcare reform bill in the event that Scott Brown manages to pull off one of the biggest upsets in political history.

The heathcare reform bill has been delayed too long and Deval Patrick’s appointee has not yet had the chance to help pass the president’s bill. So now Massachusetts is trying to buy more time for the governor’s hand picked senator to vote for the healthcare bill.

Democrats are trying to flaunt the will of the people– support for the healthcare reform bill is falling away all across the country, but the Democrats are hell bent on passing it against the will of the people.

If Scott Brown wins, and if the Democrats delay his swearing in so that they can pass a bill that the American people do not want, the repercussions will not only be felt in Massachusetts at the polls in November, they will be far reaching and wide ranging across the country. Democrats may gain a “victory” on healthcare reform, but they will be facing disastrous election results and a loss of power in November.

Democrats will have to decide what they feel is more important– passing a bill to please the president, or keeping their jobs.

Either way, Massachusetts is in competition with Chicago for the most corrupt political system in the country. If this doesn’t awaken Massachusetts voters to the fact that the legislature doesn’t care about them, nothing will.

Another mobile post, hopefully the link that I provided will work. If not I will fix it when I get my computer back.

After the debate earlier this week between Martha Coakley and Scott Brown for the “people’s seat” vacated by the death of Ted Kennedy, Martha Coakley started running negative attack ads against Scott Brown.

There was one little problem with the ad however– Massachusetts was spelled wrong in the ad. This coming from the woman that claims only she can properly represent the people of her state. She is claiming that Scott Brown is out of touch, yet the people who are running campaign ads on her behalf do not even know how to spell the state that they want her to represent.

In truth, Martha Coakley did not make the ad herself– although she endorsed it– the ad was run by the DNC, which is slightly odd considering her new big beef with Scott Brown is that he is supposedly being financed by the RNC and “radical right wing” republicans– which is a lie, the RNC has foolishly been ignoring this race, showcasing the latest example that Michael Steele is incompetent. It is Martha Coakley that has been getting support from the DNC, as a matter of fact while Brown was campaigning yesterday, Coakley was in Washington DC for a fundraiser.

Anyway, back on point, Martha Coakley has been attacking Scott Brown for being out of touch and for not understanding the needs of the people of Massachusetts, and she did this in a campaign ad in which Massachusetts was spelled wrong. Who is really out of touch and without understanding in this race? I would say it was the candidate that was in Washington with party insiders while the other candidate was out meeting the people of MASSACHUSETTS.

My computer is still down, please endure/enjoy another mobile post.

Yesterday in New Hampshire there were two special elections, and Republicans won both of them.

Congratulations are in order for both Kenneth Weyler (who is now my state rep.) and Steve Cunningham who both won state house seats.
This makes four Republicans who have won special elections in New Hampshire since Barack Obama became president. The tide is beginning to turn, the voters of New Hampshire are upset, not just with national politics, but also with state politics.

Three of the Republicans who have won recent special elections were elected to New Hampshire positions previously but lost re-election bids in the last three election cycles. The correction is beginning to take place and New Hampshire voters are returning the people to office who should never have been voted out in the first place.

Governor Lynch and the rest of the Democrats in the state had better be on the lookout, we are watching you, we are pissed, and we are coming for you in November.

My computer is still down, this is a mobile post, please excuse any formatting problems that may exist.

The race between Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown for “the people’s” senate seat that was vacated by the death of Ted Kennedy is tightening up. Just days ago, Coakley held a large lead in the polls but Scott Brown has narrowed the gap considerably and one poll even shows him in the lead.

This is remarkable, not only because it is happening in Massachusetts but also because up until now Brown has done it with little national money while Coakley enjoys the endorsements of many of the major unions.

Coakley has gone from cocky and arrogant– she wasn’t even campaigning until the polls tightened– to nervous. And she should be– but so should the other Democrats in Washington– there is voter discontent out there and if Brown could somehow pull off this major upset, all Democrats in Washington will be put on notice. They could be next. While Republicans have done well recently– most notably in Virginia and New Jersey– a win by Scott Brown in Massachusetts would dwarf all of the other Republican gains combined.

While the RNC has largely ignored this race because Michael Steele probably thought it wasn’t worth the effort in Massachusetts– that the election of Coakley was a mere formality– the fact is, not only is it worth the effort, it is critical. Michael Steele has miscalculated the voter discontent that is being felt even in Massachusetts and he has ignored a race that could stop the healthcare reform bill in its tracks. But Americans have not miscalculated and money is beginning to flow in to Scott Brown– over $1 million in contributions have come in in the last week. Not a moment too soon either, Scott Brown was almost out of money.

Democrats are also getting nervous and trotted out Ted Kennedy’s widow and family to a special press conference to announce their endorsement of Coakley, which was something they were hesitant to do when her election seemed like a walk in the park. They were prepared to remain non-commital until the polls started falling, before succumbing to party pressure and begrudgingly throwing their support behind Coakley.

This race is now beginning to attract national attention because of the consequences it could have on the president’s healthcare reform bill. If Coakley wins this election there will be no stopping this bill in one form or another. However, if Brown wins this election, the healthcare bill is dead the moment he is sworn in.

I think that this is the biggest reason why the race is tightening. The more people learn about the healthcare reform bill, the more they do not like it. This could be the sole reason why Scott Brown wins this election if he pulls it off. Massachusetts residents have first hand experience with mandated healthcare and they know what a disaster it has become.

Voters of Massachusetts: the eyes of the nation are upon you. Do what is right and send Scott Brown to the senate. Don’t let Barack Obama do to the country what Mitt Romney did to you.

I have been fighting a nasty computer virus on and off for the last two weeks. After my last post, the virus returned and I have been unable to fix it. Today the computer heads into the shop for two or three days so I will not be around much until I get it back. I apologize for not being able to respond to the comments, I will try to catch up when I am back online.
If an issue arises that I feel compelled to write about I will write a mobile post. See you all again soon.