Why We Need Martha
January 14, 2010
by Boston Gal
|The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
It’s getting desperate in Massachusetts.
Bottom line for me- we need Martha- only the 18th women in the Senate- and we can’t forget that she did support Hillary even after the delegates were released. Bill Clinton has been an early supporter and will come for her on Friday- they remember their friends and I will too. There have been many Hillary supporters who are having a problem and I understand it but read this important article and you’ll see why electing Martha is important.
Martha’s being manipulated for sure but there is no other way for her to get elected- She’s in a tough spot but honestly- Brown is a loser- literally just another pretty, too conservative face. It’s such a shame that he could win on the back of a woman who has worked a lifetime in public service-Same MO against her as used against Hillary- Entitled and bad campaign- Remember Martha’s married to Cambridge cop- she’s never had any money nor has she done anything to show it’s a motivator – She’s being painted as an elitist (raised in a middle-class, hardworking western ma “normal” family-like Hillary-real America) Nothing has ever been given to her -she’s worked for it. – while Brown and his pick-up truck is being portrayed as ”average Joe” (he’s got a really sad and totally dysfunctional background) – He owns 5 houses, his wife is a glam newscaster and both of his kids went to fancy private schools.
The lobbyist stuff against Martha is exaggerated (I don’t like it either) but a necessity in raising money- Martha has never been shown to be influenced before-hence the anger from some quarters for suing and bringing cases against big pharma, big business etc. as AG- This is the broken political system-and women are the ones who get hurt first.
If you don’t play the game-you don’t win-end of story. Sure we’d all like her to be a hero now and rage against the system but we need more women to just get a chance before they have the ability to stand tall. I understand the frustration (I also hate the negative ads, lobbyist etc. and I bet Martha does too) but I see how impossible it is for her.
Martha is similar to Hillary in many ways- Does the heavy lifting- moderate, thoughtful and being destroyed by some in the media (although she does have many in the liberal press which pisses off many Hillary supporters I know and so it too works against her-so complicated) . And, I might mention, even men who are supporters have said to me, “I can’t stand her voice.” OY!
We must remember to look at the criticisms through the prism of “Hillary trashing” When the media reports that she dissed Red Sox fans- think about it- She’s a MA native- a major Sox fan- She graduated cum laude from Williams- she’s not that dumb.
If you know anyone who can help in any way- we must-even if it’s with a heavy heart. To make phone calls from anywhere for GOTV - foster@marthacoakley.com or donate http://www.actblue.com/page/gomartha
Please pass along-and let’s try to get all hands on deck. If you know anyone with blogs or has been negative to Martha- please consider encouraging them to take a second look. This is too important to let any feelings about the party get in the way- We can only work from inside the administration-you’ve got to be in it to win it.
You’re assuming that Martha is “one of us,” and she’s not. She’s one of them. The male establishment. What has she ever done for women? Except be one? That’s not enough for me.
fuzzy fuzzy fuzzy you need to clear your head.
haven’t we heard your complaint before. you got at least 30 answers and dare to repeat the same questions. is your intent to get women angry and desperate? I don’t think you will succeed here.
I wonder why all the republicans are so excited about their guy who is soo liberal, a pro abortion guy, posing nude. he is out of lockstep with the republicans and they spend their weekends phone banking for him? isn’t that great, a guy who is our savior against healthcare reform. he pleases enchanted democrats and hard wing republicans at the same time.
how gullible we are.
the right to vote did not help us at all, it seems, at times like this.
No woman is ever part of the “male establishment.” She may try to play that role temporarily in order to survive, but no woman is part of the establishment.
I’ve posted some cites about Coakley’s and Brown’s records at my blog,
http://florasteele.blogspot.com
just checked fsteele’s sight. Martha Coakley’s stand on pro gay, pro choice are spelled out. you pro brown people check out the site. Scott Brown receives strong support form the pro lifers. should not that tell us something. and did n’t we just had another male who was so pro abortion pro gays to overtake Hillary and then just flipped and took out finances for abortion.
Yttik,
Whether women are part of the male establishment temporarily or not is not always relevant. Sometimes their temporary involvement can be very dangerous.
I think the health care bill is dangerous on many, many levels. That it could financially devastate this country, that it could further give too much power to Big Pharma and the Insurance Industry, that it could further chip away at our reproductive rights.
Also, does anyone know about this case? The Amiraults of Massachusetts who were convicted of sexually assaulting children in their school. This case is widely known as a witch hunt against the innocent based on outlandish claims and no physical evidence. Martha Coakley apparently was involved with this witch hunt when she became a DA of Middlesex County and did her best to keep the innocent in prison.
http://mobile2.wsj.com/device/.....ns_opinion
And then oddly enough, she goes soft on this rapist who assaulted a 2 year old with a curling iron! Did you say she was married to a cop? Interesting enough, the rapist in this case was a cop.
http://www.boston.com/news/loc.....?page=full
Do I have my facts straight here? And is there really enough evidence to suggest that Coakley will lead with a strong sense of ethics? Or will she be spineless in the face of those power players in government who do not lead with the best interests of the people in mind?
We don’t know what is in the health care bill it is being hushed up. Since it is hushed up we know women are going to get screwed. I would bet on it. I don’t care where either candidate stands on gay rights because my interest is women’s rights. Gay groups show no interest in women’s rights and I think that is how things should be everyone needs to take care of their own needs. I don’t get to vote in this race. Martha would be good overall but she also puts the corporate designed insurance tax bill over the top. This bill needs to be dumped and milder legislation that can pass both parties needs to be proposed. Women need to be able to make their own helath care choices not be singled out for exclusion or government or religious interference. If some people don’t like abortion or birth control they should be free to form their own insurance groups. People like me who don’t want to be thrown in with risk taking young males should be able to form insurance groups with all women. We don’t need the government making our health choices for us then dumping tax packages on us.
What ever happened to that woman the Obots put in charge of the office of women and girls? The one who put the Olympic bid together for Chicago. Where does she stand on the health care bill? I wonder if she will be trotted out to celebrate when they unveil that women now have an absolutely equal right with men to government issued Viagra and have our prostate health looked after thanks to the Democrats Obama care. Oh I bet she is still working on getting twice daily Michelle O fashion bulletins and other pressing women’s issues.
We do not need Martha. We need honest politicians who will do what is best for this country. Anyone who would vote for either the house or senate version of the health care sham bill is an enemy to this country.
This election has nothing to do really with Mr. Brown, but rather it is a mandate on Mr. Obama and his cronies. When Mr. Brown wins, perhaps Democrats will wake up. I doubt it, but Obama doesn’t own all the hope in the world…..yet.
OK Jenniferintexas you sold me. I can’t vote in this case but my support goes for Brown. I went out of my way to watch MSNBC last night which you usually couldn’t pay me to watch and after noting that the misogynist channel vigorously supports Martha I know that Brown needs to win. This insurance tax bill needs to be disposed of. As someone said above, if Kennedy cared about Democrats he would have resigned instead of die in office. The men’s Dino club needs a wake up call.
About the crazy stories going around re Coakley’s past cases as AG, I’ve put some information in a post at
http://florasteele.blogspot.co.....going.html
This sort of ridiculous, distorted story is like the stories that were circulated claiming Sarah Palin banned books, wanted rape victims to pay for kits, etc etc.
Thanks Bes. Amy and TNA I like your style and what you are doing but we need to amp it up women. Let’s win like winners and let’s better define the fight. Once again, can you imagine women power if we held like hell against bullshit by elected officials. They would HAVE to do our bidding since was represent 51%…..
The fight is on right now for America–which is one of the last bastions of middle class freedom. Once we win this fight–and mind you it can only be run by getting RID of Obama and his kind and at this point it means the entirety of the Democrappy party–we can begin to pick and choose which pro-woman issue we want to focus on. Entil the first fight is won though, the second fight is irrelevant in the extreme.
And to Coakely and her supporters, why don’t you have her declare independence from the Democraps immediately, apologize for supporting the Health Care Sham bill, apologize for dismissing terrorism as a major threat against this country, and announce her new focus will be two fold get rid of Obots and be pro-America and pro-Women. That would REALLY knock their socks off and I would be on her boat for the entire ride (as long as she was being truthful and really meant it). We need something new people, not the same old same old. I just heard that Mr. O himself was going to run around saying how wonderful she is–to me this is the deathknell indeed. Sort of like having the devil himself declare you an angel……
JeninTexas,
I guess O didn’t get the memo from Virginia or NJ. KOD, his visits seem to be.
Run Martha, Run!
Thanks for the link, fsteele. I’m honestly very happy to know that that particular scenario is not as bad as it looks. I supported Coakley in the beginning BEFORE she flipped on the health care bill.
Any thoughts on the Amirault case? As a long time supporter of the Innocence Project (my b-i-l is actively involved) I find this case to be horrifying and Coakley’s actions to be abominable. I’d love to be corrected about this one, too. But the Wall Street Journal article was pretty convincing.
Still, I don’t know if there is anywhere to go on the health care issue. She says she’s voting for it, right? Their is anti-abortion language in both the house and the senate bill so what is she going to do? Go along with the guys?
Mary, I resent your tone and your attempt to silence me. Yes, I “dared” to say what I think and believe. You’ve made it clear that I’m not welcome here, and that’s fine. But I suggest, that *you* clear your head. You and women like you do women more harm than good. I won’t be back again, I wouldn’t “dare.”
Everyone and their opinions are welcome here. I don’t think a disagreement on one issue prevents us from agreeing on many others.
Bes and Jen in Texas have it right. Vote for Scott Brown and against Obama Care-the worst posible thing that could happen to America. If Scott Brown proves to be a threat to abortion rights-LOL, you will have time to vote him out later. Don’t let the dems play you the way they have been playing women on the abortion issue for so long. Obama care will be a disaster for the general health of your daughters. Illnesses that kill women will have a huge advantage under Obama’s plan. To use Obama’s words-”the urgency of now,” stopp Obama care dead in its tracks now. We can elect a real woman later.
Regardless of who wins in MA, Reid can pass the HC bill. He can delay seating the new Senator, or some GOP can ‘push the wrong button’ — or they can use ‘Reconciliation.’
So, I’m supporting the woman who voted for Hillary in Denver, and has worked for women’s issues for years.
Senate Can Pass Health With 51 Votes, Van Hollen Says
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) — Even if Democrats lose the special election to pick a new Massachusetts senator Tuesday, Congress may still pass health-care overhaul through a process called reconciliation, a top House Democrat said.
That procedure requires 51 votes rather than the 60 needed to prevent Republicans from blocking votes on President Barack Obama’s top legislative priorities. That supermajority is at risk as the Massachusetts race has tightened.
“Even before Massachusetts and that race was on the radar screen, we prepared for the process of using reconciliation,” Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said.
_________________________________
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomb.....vcrcy12cwk
Totally agree fsteele. They’ll push this through regardless of what happens in MA. It’s a red herring.
thanks fsteele for the infos on that last case.
I remember from weeks ago that reconciliation was mentioned and I asked my female senator to oppose that procedure for the health care bill. the dems will get this healthcare bill through no matter what it takes. and I am with the majority that the current bills are a windfall for the insurance industry.
I am so appalled that so many fall for Scott Browns propaganda. That he does not get scrutinized. procedure is to hang the unpopular healthcare bill around Martha and drown her. I agree these days quite a bit with republicans, but not when they attack our would be #18 female senator. a group of Hillary supporters here in Maryland we are phonebanking for Martha this weekend. and we do not like the healthcare bill. we also do not like Scott Brown, don’t find him a trustworthy representative, certainly not for any womens issues. he seems to be conservative enough that Sarah Palin did not come out against him as not conservative enough. despite his supposed pro choice and pro gay stance all the republican money and political machine flows for him. as independent I am in several discussion groups with dems and pubs. my email is overwhelmed daily with a bagful of support brown emails. and its not coming from the independents or teaparty, but from straight republicans who are pro-life people. I hope that anti Obama democrats will see that spin in the next two days.
people we need women in the senate. that is the only chance to have a voice for preventative medicine to include women.
My stand is: we need to recognize when a fight is lost. the healthcare bill will discriminate women on many different levels as we have now. number one is rationing out care for our unique organs by phony statistics. the success story of cervical cancer screening is, that it was virtually wiped out and therefore you get a lot of test with pre-cancer lesions and hardly ever a positive. to interpret that situation as ineffective use of screening is coming from the office who will advise us on best practices. second the mandate and the increase in rates will push lower middle class women to not be able to afford health care and pay fines. Next companies over 100 employees can keep insurances who charge more for females (read that yesterday), what would be an incentive to hire less women since their cost would be higher. older women on family health care plans become uninsured when their older husbands go into medicare. this ugly bill will get through. brown can’t stop it. Obama will use any strategy to put this feather on his hat “brought health care to all americans”, remember now the oceans stop to rise and we take care of the sick. the question whether people are better or worse of is not in his mind.
6 years is a long time and we need representation in all things women. Scott brown will be a poor choice.
I think that you are missing that giant elephant sitting on your heads: THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE WOMAN. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WOMAN. The election in MA has to do with telling the Obama Administration NO. It has to do with protecting this country from further sliding into chaos. It has to do with right over wrong.
Coakley voted for Hillary. Fine. So did the majority of Americans. This is not a forever pass. She is CLEARLY part of the problem ( I will not reiterate my complaints with her because you can read them in the three different posts on Coackley this month) because she will vote YES on the health care sham bill. She sealed her own fate people. We need a free country to discuss vagina issues, so we are arguing the cart before the horse. Get rid of the infestation of filth in Washington, Wall Street, and the Media and then we can get back to discussing the vagina, but at this point it is premature indeed.
I don’t care if Mr. Brown is going to rub feces all over his body and chant in an unknown foreign language the entire time he is in elected office, because I also know that he is going to vote NO on all issues Obot. At this point, that is all that matters…
Jenniferintexas wrote:
“The election in MA has to do with telling the Obama Administration NO.”
and…
“I don’t care if Mr. Brown is going to rub feces all over his body and chant in an unknown foreign language the entire time he is in elected office, because I also know that he is going to vote NO on all issues Obot. At this point, that is all that matters…”
Nice. I entirely agree with that first quote. This is about telling the corrupt Obama Admin. NO!!! It is a huge statement to vote against Obama and a Brown victory would certainly weaken his administration.
Now in regard to the vote. If Scott Brown is elected, would he get to vote? Or would that be taken away from him? And if his vote were to be taken away from him, what would such an action do to our country? I think many, many people in our country would be outraged and that their would be overwhelming political fallout for the dems and the obama administration.
Alison,
As far as I can gather, they want to pass the HCB regardless who wins. This came out today:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-.....se-in-mass
They would use a tactic of “reconciliation” where a simple 51 majority is all that is needed.
This whole replacement of Kennedy’s seat has made my heart sink from the very beginning when he wanted Gov. Patrick to regain authority to choose his successor. Today we want to smack the Dems in the gut…Tomorrow it will be the Pubs. Back and forth, back and forth. We go from one fricken voting disaster to another.
Optixmom,
You know, you are right. It is back and forth and forth and back. Honestly, I don’t know what I would do if I lived in Mass. I’m glad I don’t live there, frankly.
My husband, who is moderate/ conservative, surprised me this morning by saying he was ready to vote for Kucinich. And Palin (whom he adores). And Ron Paul and really anyone who isn’t completely tied to a political elite who supports the will of special interest groups and corporations before the will of the people.
Karen’s article a while back about 3rd parties really resonated with me.
Optixmom,
I hear you but I am way beyond smacking the Dems–I am talking about smacking down the Liars, the Cheaters, the Users, the Greedy-beyond-human-beliefers, and all those who propped up this empty shell crook named Obama. Somehow the Democrappy party morphed into Obamaland but it incorporated many others ranging from those in it for the money, Republicans, Independents, etc., etc.
Right now we are in the middle of a rather epic battle for the USA. We are on the edge of the cliff and behind us is a troubled capitalistic society that needs some tweeking and in front of us is the abyss to be defined by that group I just delineated above. Call me crazy, but I think we need to be holding on to the edge of the cliff with every fiber of our being. every single fiber.
The first battle must be getting Mr. Obama and all of his supporters, co-conspirators, and the general dumber-than-dirt people out of Washington. This will mean most of both political parties. Then we–the general population–must turn off the tv, stop listening to MTV and people like Nicole Richie talk about politics, and educate ourselves. A lot of what is going on is our fault people because we have voted for and allowed people like Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy, and others to be in charge of this country. The second battle is going to difficult, but it must be won if things are going to change. Washington is simply a mirror image of society and right now we look really bad.
So buck up people, look at the big picture, and get ready to fight. I think TNA needs to redefine its agenda, but I suppose that is a tad bit bold of me seeing as how I am not part of the group. I just think that if supporting Martha Coakley is what TNA considers a new agenda, we have already lost the war…..
As for passing the HC bill without Coakley’s vote, there are other ways the Dems can do it besides the 51 vote ‘reconciliation.’ They can delay seating the new Senator till after the vote. Or there will be some behind the scenes stuff and some GOP Senators will not show up on the day of the filibuster or will push the wrong button.
JenniferinTexas,
We get your rage. I still hold a fair amount of it toward many people. My family knows not to use words like “transparency” around me (thank goodness the overhead projector is near obsolete) and I still break out in a tirade when a word like “caucus” enters conversation.
Our goal at TNA is to reach parity in all walks of life for women, especially in government representation. I am a life-long Pub. I try to re-state that pretty consistently. I support Martha because I truly believe she is better to represent Massachusetts (the state of my birth) than Brown. That is my opinion and I will stick by it. I do not live there any longer, so I cannot vote for her.
You will notice that no one will call you something derogatory based on your opinion here at TNA. Unless, of course, you slam a woman in a sexist manner then prepare for the onslaught. You are set in your decision it seems, but you cannot vote for Brown either guessing from your username.
Tuesday will be an interesting day. All I can say is let the best woman…er, I mean person win!
Optixmom,
What will gender parity in governmental representation get women if the women elected follow a party mandate that is bad for women? I do not mean to be rude but this makes no sense whatsover. Furthermore, by telling the Democratic party that you will vote for any candidate that is a woman allows them to run Hitlers with vaginas knowing it does not matter what they say as long as they have that V-thing.
Women could gain strength–true strength–in voting for the best person and demanding they tow the line, keep their word, etc., etc. And if women were a pac unto themselves we could really throw a curve ball, or two. But as far as just voting all vagina all the time, sounds like a plan that needs to be revised big time.
How many times in your lifetime have we had the opportunity to vote for a woman in any national election/primary? Definitely not as many times as we have had to vote for a man. How many times has there been a male idiot brought to bear on the American people as a candidate for higher office? A dozen? Fifty? I would bet hundreds. To me Brown represented the same shiny emptiness that Obama represented. That did us so much good in the past 365 days.
How can you say that every time you have voted you have voted for the best person? You have voted for the best person in your opinion. My opinion was that Martha was the best person. It seems that my opinion differed from yours; so be it.
If there was any lesson that Martha should have learned from these experiences since 2008 is that if you go against the establishment once, as she did with backing Hillary at the 2008 convention, then in politics you will pay for it forever as long as that establishment still makes the rules. She made some miscalculations in trying to make nice with the Obama camp and it cost her the Senate seat. To me that one mistake does not cancel out that she is a competent person overall.
Brown is getting his 15 minutes, but eventually he will be just like every other male politician. Discussing male politics and supporting them. I haven’t seen anything to contradict this behavior in past politicians who make promises.
Lastly, if you think Obama and his minions will learn from Brown winning, think again:
http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....=122758285
Her mistakes were many, with the last straw for most of us being her siding up with Mr. Obama and even attending a pharma-political event the night before the election where the lobbyists were lining up to tell her how much they could ‘assist’ her.
Martha Coakley went back on her word at a time in America where we just can’t take it anymore, she made inane remarks about national security issues, and please do not even get me started on her television ads because it was just a total embarrassment.
But none of this even matters because a vote for Martha was a vote for Obama and I am not going to vote against my own interests. And even if it does not make a bit of difference to Mr. Obama, it is good for me and mine. And I see you making the same mistakes the Democratic Party made when it sold out and became Obamaland–do not underestimate bitter women.
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