Who Is Martha Coakley?
November 14, 2009
by Contributor
|The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
I keep hearing a lot of buzz about Martha Coakley, who is hoping to become the first female Senator of the state of Massachusetts. Nancy Pelosi recently made news by endorsing her opponent (a man) in that race. I was left wondering who is this Martha Coakley I’m hearing so much about? I’m always thrilled to hear about a woman running for office, especially one who has a chance to be an historic first in her state. While The New Agenda does not endorse candidates, we are always happy to share information about the newest crop of women who are braving the difficult run for office.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is facing stiff competition in her bid to succeed Ted Kennedy as a US Senator. Congressman Michael Capuano has the endorsement of House speaker Nancy Pelosi, the state’s senior Congressman Barney Frank, and other Washington insiders. Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca has invested almost two million dollars of his own money into blanketing the state with TV ads for his campaign. Social activist Alan Khazei has Hollywood power, having collected endorsements and/or contributions from Lost creator JJ Abrahams, actors Elizabeth Shue, and CSI:NY’s Hill Harper, not to mention having a running gag with Stephen Colbert.
Yet despite those disadvantages, Coakley has been endorsed by over half of state legislators, a slew of mayors, and is polling in the lead at 44%. As Attorney General, she has won settlements against predatory lenders, deceptive advertisers, and polluters. As a former district attorney she established the office’s Adult Sexual Assault Division in 2002, and she successfully prosecuted several high profile cases including pedophiles during the Catholic Church’s child abuse scandal.
Coakley has an interesting background. She received a B.A. degree, cum laude, from Williams College in 1975, and a J.D. degree from the Boston University School of Law in 1979. Coakley was raised with four siblings in a small town in the Berkshire Mountains where she scooped ice cream, worked as a waitress, and cleaned houses before becoming a lawyer, and eventually Massachusetts Attorney General. Growing up, Coakley admired Eleanor Roosevelt, about whom she has said:
“As many of my friends and supporters know, I admire Eleanor Roosevelt. She had a way of tackling problems that was both effective and creative, and worked to give a voice to those who had none. For example, as First Lady, she began calling press conferences, but would only permit female reporters to attend. The major media scrambled to send women to cover the First Lady’s remarks, and the result was a strong, active women’s press corps covering White House activity for years.”
Maybe she is ahead because people are tired of the same old stuff. Maybe they want a public servant that will act in their interest. Off topic–Eleanor Clift wrote a column in Newsweek that was titled, “Both Parties Abandon Women’s Rights.” Yah Think? Now the media has made this discovery, it is fact and we will be hearing about it 24/7 until they latch on to something else that they can breathlessly report and drive their numbers .
Don’t forget that Martha Coakley made news this past week because she had the courage and integrity to publicly state that she wouldn’t have voted for the healthcare bill with the Stupak Amendment (the anti-choice amendment tacked on at the last minute by anti-choice Dems that goes way further than Hyde). Could that be another reason Pelosi decided to endorse her opponent just a couple of days later? Her opponent Capuano first ridiculed Coakley for her pro-woman stance, although he has subsequently come around to saying the same thing (after the public furor).
*sigh* Capuano, Pelosi, Pagliuca … why are my people such political morons all the time?!
I think I’ll contribute to her campaign. We NEED these independent thinking women in office!
I am very impressed by Coakley. She will represent MA well- and the women of the United States. Go Martha!
Have you all gone crazy.
Coakley is a remarkable woman. A different kind of politician – she works and earns her accolades. A woman in a Boston old boys’ political world, she was very successful.
I think she will represent Massachusetts and women very well in the US Senate.
[...] have the support of the Obama administration or the big money Democrats in the primaries and even Pelosi endorsed Capuano. The fact is that politicians are always considered under the light of their party’s main [...]
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