Mass. Voters to Decide Fate of Obama's Agenda
- Associated Press
- Jan 19, 2010
BOSTON -- This isn't what Democrats had in mind. The race to fill the late Edward Kennedy's Senate seat in liberal Massachusetts neared its conclusion with not only its outcome but also the fate of President Obama's agenda in question.
A win by Republican Scott Brown on Tuesday would eliminate Democrats' 60-seat supermajority in the Senate and imperil some of Obama's key legislative objectives, including an overhaul of health care -- a longtime cause of Kennedy's.
The swift rise of Brown, a relatively low-profile Republican state senator, in his race against Democratic state Attorney General Martha Coakley has spooked Democrats who had considered the seat one of their most reliable.
Kennedy, who died in August, held the post for 47 years. The last time Massachusetts elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate was 1972.
Brown has tried to turn Democrats' expectation of an easy win to his advantage, proclaiming, "It's not the Kennedy seat, it's the people's seat."
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