Obama fights for key seat

BOSTON (AP) — His agenda at risk, President Barack Obama fought Sunday to save a struggling Democratic U.S. Senate candidate and the critical 60th vote needed for his health-care plan. The White House and congressional Democrats scrambled to find a way to pass the bill quickly if Martha Coakley loses a special election Tuesday.

“Understand what’s at stake here, Massachusetts. It’s whether we’re going forward or going backwards,” Obama said during a rally for Coakley as he tried to energize his dispirited base in this Democratic stronghold. “If you were fired up in the last election, I need you more fired up in this election.”

The president made a direct appeal to independents who are trending away from the Democrat and sought to court voters angry over Wall Street abuses. He assailed GOP candidate Scott Brown, who downplayed his party affiliation during the campaign, as just another typical Republican who sides with special interests.

“Martha’s opponent already is walking in lockstep with Washington Republicans,” Obama said, criticizing Brown for opposing the president’s proposed tax on banks that received federal bailout money. “She’s got your back, her opponent’s got Wall Street’s back. Bankers don’t need another vote in the United States Senate. They’ve got plenty. Where’s yours?”

The unexpectedly tight race for the seat held so long by Edward M. Kennedy, in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 3-to-1, reflects a nasty anti-establishment environment that threatens Obama’s support in Congress now and heading into this fall’s elections.

Brown, a little-known state senator, has tapped into voter anger and anxiety over budget-busting spending, expanded government and high unemployment under Obama to pull even with Coakley, the state’s attorney general.

“It’s us against the machine,” Brown said in Worcester, alongside former Boston College football star Doug Flutie and former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling. “The establishment is afraid of losing their Senate seat. You can all remind them that this is not their seat, it is yours.”

No matter who wins, the shockingly close contest in one of the country’s most Democratic states is likely to put a lasting scare in Democrats, raise questions about Obama’s political strength and test his party’s resolve about his agenda, particularly health care.

If elected, Brown says he would vote against Obama’s health-care bill, robbing Democrats of the 60-vote majority needed to prevent Republicans from blocking it and other parts of Obama’s agenda.

“A lot of these measures are going to rest on one vote in the United States Senate,” Obama said.

Earlier Sunday, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky portrayed the Massachusetts contest as a national referendum on the health-care measure. “If it’s unpopular in Massachusetts, it’s unpopular everywhere,” McConnell said on “Fox News Sunday.”

He said whoever wins should be sworn in promptly.

State officials say it could take more than two weeks to certify the election results, maybe enough time for Democrats to push Obama’s signature legislation through Congress before Brown could take office. Sen. Paul G. Kirk Jr., the interim appointee to Kennedy’s seat, says he will vote for the bill if given the chance.