Jeff Bennett's Blog

The U.S. Senate is the wing of the legislative branch where each state sends two of their best and brightest to represent their state and to debate the most important topics of the day.  Every Senator must be able to debate vigorously on the floor to support their constituents, positions and legislative agenda.   The Senate has been home to legendary debates over time.

How ironic that Martha Coakley who is running as the Democrat for Senate in Massachusetts is afraid to debate her Republican rival Scott Brown.  How is Coakley going to respond to the daily pressure and regimen of debate if she is to become our Senator?

Coakley is dodging debate trying to create a fair political process for all parties involved in this election.  So Martha will not get on the stage for a debate unless the third party candidate is involved in the debate.  Is she going to drag around these props on Capital Hill to dodge debate there?  Does the Coakley campaign team think we are all idiots?  This is not how we elect U.S. Senators in Massachusetts or anywhere else.

This campaign is so different than the recent battles of Ted Kennedy vs. Mitt Romney or John Kerry vs. Bill Weld.  In both of these campaigns the differences were wide.  The incumbents and leaders in the polls were Kennedy and Kerry and they had a lot to lose if they stumbled in a debate.  They both stood their ground and defended their positions in active debate.   Of course both Kennedy and Kerry were Senators so debating came very naturally.  I remember these debates to this day.  Kudos to Senator Kennedy and Senator Kerry for their courage and and taking their responsibility seriously.  They were rewarded with the support of Massachusetts.

Guess what…in those epic battles between Kennedy/Romney and Kerry/Weld…there were third party candidates running but they were not included in these debates.  Kennedy and Kerry did not need to look for cover behind a third party candidate that would just take valuable time away from their dual with their challenger.

Coakley is proving to be not fit for the job.  Coakley is not…Senatorial.  When the Boston Globe starts to publish editorials to this effect you know there must be something happening here.  The Globe endorsed Allen Khazei over Martha Coakley in the Democratic Primary.

What really gets me going is that Coakley seems to think she has simply inherited the mantle of the prior legacy.   Let me pull out a quote from Senator Lloyd Bentsen when he debated Senator Dan Quayle for the Vice Presidency….”Mrs. Coakley…you are no Jack Kennedy.”  I will add that Mrs. Coakley…you are no Ted Kennedy, Bob Kennedy, Mitt Romney or Bill Weld either.

What a ridiculous situation we are in here in Massachusetts in such a pivotal election or our state and the nation.  I would love to comment on Mrs. Coakley’s positions but I have not been given an opportunity to understand what they are due to the lack of debate.  What are you hiding from Martha?

Enough is enough Martha….go back to State House and focus on the job we are paying you to do right now…be our Attorney General.  Let Scott Brown go down to Washington and fight the good fight.  If you want to get serious about the job then run against Senator Brown in a few years when he is up for reelection because you are not fit to be a U.S. Senator right now.